[Coco] Drive Wire strangeness

[Steve Ostrom]

Tim Fadden wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a strange one.
> ...
> Tim
>
Tim,

Module not found #221 unfortunately does not tell you which module was not
found. The fact that your OS9Boot file contains what you expected, does not 
mean
it contains what is needed.

...

Robert



Robert and others:  I have been in love with the Coco since it first came 
out.  I've created many BASIC programs (games and utilities) and also many 
assembly language programs, both games and utilities.  I own a tremendous 
amount of original Coco software and hardware.  I guess I'm a collector, 
although my wife would claim I'm more of a hoarder.  I've also written a few 
magazine articles for Color Computer News and Rainbow.  So the Coco is in my 
blood, and hopefully will always be there.  When OS-9 first came out, I 
purchased it, and spent many hours reading that big fat manual that comes 
with OS-9 from Radio Shack.  At that time, I understood the basics of OS-9 
programming, although I've had no practical experience in using this 
operating system.

This message is not to start a war between OS-9 users and RSDOS/HDBDOS 
users.  I find BASIC and assembly language to be very straight-forward and 
easy to understand.  Programming is just a matter of planning, writing and 
testing.  Messages to this group often concern problems with OS-9 
programming, scripts, etc.  It seems as if OS-9 is not very intuitive, which 
might mean it is very strong.  If I put a similar effort into learning OS-9 
from manuals and other sources as I have in learning BASIC and 6809 
assembly, will I be able to write OS-9 programs just as easily?  I know this 
is really late in the game for Coco programming, but I've recently retired, 
and now have more time to spend on the Coco.  I'd love to create some kind 
of OS-9 program, even if it is not very useful, and it would be for my use 
only.

Programs that are written in OS-9 for the Coco, could they have been written 
easier in assembly or BASIC?  Were they written in OS-9 for portability 
only, or because the programmer could do things in OS-9 that they could not 
in assembly or BASIC?  I realize that BASIC is slow, and is an interpreted 
language.  Assembly is native and blazingly fast.  What are the advantages 
in writing software in OS-9, besides portability to other systems that also 
run OS-9?

Thanks for your opinions.

--- CocoSteve ---