[Coco] Any news on the so called CoCo4 or Next CoCo project that Bjork was heading?

[Frank Swygert]

The point of emulating a mythical machine in software is that it can be 
done quickly and cheaply. Ideally the emulation would be pared down into 
a total OS/emulator merged together. Just boot it straight into the 
emulator without all the extra things the OS needs to run other 
programs. With Linux that should be easy, but something like VCC or the 
DOS emulator would be needed. A port of either to Linux would be 
fantastic! Of course it might be just as easy to pare down MESS into 
just a CoCo emulator, then customize something like DSL or Puppy to run 
just that.

Ideally I'd think the best solution for the hardware would be to 
optimize the system for a particular small board computer. One of the 
ITC boards, for instance. Something readily available and low cost, and 
small. I've seen a VIA ITC board mounted in a Commodore 64 case, 
"upgrading" the Commie. Some have mentioned keeping the CoCo keyboard, 
but we've had adapters to get away from that for a long time! Mount a 
mini USB keyboard on the CoCo case if you must have the keyboard on the 
case.

The second step might be a card to allow legacy hardware to be attached, 
but I think that's a moot point (this was "step two" of Bjork's project 
-- a card with cartridge, joystick, and I think another legacy port or 
two). Much of the old hardware is on its last leg or unobtainable. It's 
way to easy to emulate it in such a way that it can even be improved on. 
I can almost see a use for 5.25" floppy connectivity, but almost 
everything ever on floppies is now available in DSK files or some other 
downloadable file format. Plus the RS drives can be connected to a 
standard floppy controller already on the MB... at least some will still 
work with 360K drives, but that might be hard to come by. 1.2MB drives 
will generally read 160-360K disks, but the controller might not work 
with the smaller capacity drives... I don't think they do anymore. 
Making 3.5" drives work should be easy enough though. The lack of a 
5.25" drive shouldn't be more than a nuisance for a few people. USB 
thumb drive or SD card support would be more important.

What would REALLY be needed is a way to connect the machine to the real 
world. The CoCo has always been a good experimenter's machine because it 
could be connected to various things through the joystick and cartridge 
ports. I don't see a real need for connecting to legacy devices of that 
type, but I CAN see a need for easy to program I/O. Something simpler 
than the PCI card slot. Maybe a card with a cable and legacy CoCo 
connector on it, but even those are hard to find. I still think that 
reprogramming the parallel printer port to be accessible as a PIA or 
something similar (maybe just add some special commands to "DECB4" or 
whatever, and a driver for OS-9). I looked at it before, and don't think 
there are enough lines to reprogram the PP to emulate a legacy cartridge 
port. The PP IS programmable on a PC though, and it has been used for 
different I/O in the past.


-----------------
From: Mark McDougall <msmcdoug at iinet.net.au>
Sent: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:38:51 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [Coco] Any news on the so called CoCo4 or NextCoCo 
projectthatBjork was heading?

> > But I also have a netbook thanks to my job, and that works just fine
> > as an emulator box, and weighs a lot less than a CoCo. So I would
> > agree that 'coco 4' hardware might be kind of silly.
>
On the contrary, my view is that 'Coco 4 Software' is kind of silly.
Personally, I really don't see the point; either faithfully emulate the 
Coco
in software, or use a modern PC. What's the point of 'emulating' a mythical
machine in software?

OTOH, having 'Coco 4 Hardware' makes a lot more sense. And what I mean by
that, is fully-compatible hardware that integrates not only with legacy
peripherals (cartridges, floppies etc) but also with more modern
peripherals, like SD card, USB joysticks, etc. You get the *full* legacy
experience (ideally it would be a Coco mobo replacement), with the benefit
of modern convenience where desired. A bit like "pimping" your Coco with an
unlimited credit account at Cloud9!

There's also the opportunity to enhance the hardware as well, say, more
colours, custom palette etc. But this is not the primary point of the
exercise, just stuff that is done "because you can". And because
programmable logic makes it that much easier.

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars"
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://www.amc-mag.com
(free download available!)