[Coco] Sdc copy, and multi pak upgrade question

[Bob Devries]

Dunno if this has been answered (I've been moving house....) but in 
Australia, the modified MPI had a small round orange sticker on the 
bottom. Aside from that, you can look into the place where the MPI plugs 
into the COco3, and you can see the daughter board if it is modified.

Regards, Bob Devries
Dalby, QLD, Australia


On 5/12/2014 8:55 AM, Scott O'Brien wrote:
> I have finally joined the esteemed club of CoCo3 owners (they don't seem
> too common here in Australia, judging by what is visible on ebay).
>
> I got it with an 26-3124 MPI (also a first for me).
>
> My question is, if I open it up, how do I tell if it has had the necessary
> CoCo3 modification made, Tandy-sourced or otherwise?
>
> Is there any documentation on the Tandy modification?
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Scott
>
>
> Date: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 21:57:30 -0700
> From: abqpenmaster <abqpenmaster at gmail.com>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Sdc copy, and multi pak upgrade question
> Message-ID: <gj2fji9q76xv3mmocj5riowj.1417496250640 at email.android.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
> Thanks Gene, I'll get that done.
> Sean
>
>
> Albuquerque,  NM USA
>
> <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Gene Heskett <
> gheskett at wdtv.com> </div><div>Date:12/01/2014  8:28 PM  (GMT-07:00)
> </div><div>To: coco at maltedmedia.com </div><div>Subject: Re: [Coco] Sdc
> copy, and multi pak upgrade question </div><div>
> </div>On Monday 01 December 2014 11:09:46 seanruss08 . did opine
> And Gene did reply:
>> I got a shiny new sdc, thanks Darren & Ed.  Question though:
>>
>> I have been able to use the drivewire to copy programs from pc to coco
>> floppy with the sdc card in my multi-pak,   but is there a command to
>> copy from PC to the sd card through drivewire?  Like copy this to
>> that,  or similar command? I have not been able to this far.   Or does
>> everyone just use the PC to setup the files on the card?  Also,  ok to
>> setup files/directories on pc?
>>
>> I ask because right now the only card reader is on my printer and it is
>> adamant that I am not allowed to write to an sd card. I have a better
>> card reader on order.
>>
>> Also,  right now I am using a stock multi-pak (26-3124) that has not
>> been upgraded.  I bought it off ebay. I took the cover off and it's
>> not upgraded.  It seems to work great though with my Coco3 haven't
>> seen any problems,   should I have it upgraded anyways?
>> Thanks,  Sean R.
>
> Absolutely.  It shares its slot switching via a poorly decoded chip select
> ghost that means a white to $FF7F to change the slot, will crash nitros9
> by mapping out the normal $3F used for the top 8k of ram as it will write
> to $FF9F which is in the multipak.  Conversely, a write to the gime chip
> will muck with the slot or irq transmission ability's of the multipak.
>
> Mark at cloud9tech.com has kits for both or all 3 versions of the
> multipak.  Or he can install them for a nominal fee if you send him the
> multipak.
>
> But part of that danger will go away forever if you tie all the slot
> sockets together at each sockets pin 8, which will bypass the slot logic
> and allow an IRQ from any slot to reach the 6x09 in a fraction of a
> microsecond.  That means no more missed interrupts from the serial port,
> losing characters when online thru it.  But, that will load down the per
> pin IRQ pullups by making what ever is pulling that line down to assert
> the interrupt work 4x harder because when the bridging wire is in place,
> it has to pull down all 4 of those resistors. Put a meter on one of the
> pin 8's and check the resistors along the front edge of the board, and cut
> the first 3 that you find have only an ohm or 3 from pin 8, loose on one
> end.  The 4th one you find and leave alone is plenty of pullup to maintain
> the logic 1 when no interrupts have been asserted.
>
> This is actually 2 independent problems, but you might as well do them
> both while the covers are off.  I fixed mine about 28 years ago.
>
> Cheers, Gene Heskett
> --
>