#: 20740 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    07-Feb-95  19:18:24
Sb: CoCo 3 Emulator and OS9
Fm: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762
To: All
Judging from a few messages I've seen slide by, there are a few others out
there using Jeff Vavasour's remarkable CoCo 3 emulator on a fast PC. This
appears to work flawlessly on Disk Basic stuff, but I'm having no end of
problems with OS9 and maybe someone else has solved the problems.
The basic trouble is that ALL of my OS9 diskettes are double sided; drive 0 is
an 80 track 3.5 and drive 1 a 40 track 5 1/4". Apparently, the CoCo 3 emulator
cannot manage double sided diskettes. After I discovered this, I was able to
get it to boot with the original Tandy-supplied OS9 system disk, but it had
trouble reading files after that and I couldn't do much with it. Anyway, my
extensively patched system is a far cry from that oldie by now. I just can't
see spending the hours required to try to convert everything to single sided
diskettes; there are dozens of diskettes involved.
So, a couple of questions. Does anyone out there know if, should I make a
reasonably modern, bootable, single sided OS9 system diskette, with suitable
device descriptors for d0 and d1, would the emulator use these descriptors and
then be able to read the double sided diskettes? If not, any other suggestions?
Secondly, has anyone considered coming up with a CLOCK module that would access
the PC clock? Typing in the date and time every time I boot is not my idea of
fun.
In the meantime, I'll just have to move the CoCo closer to the operating
position.
Press <CR> !>

#: 20748 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    11-Feb-95  17:07:37
Sb: #20740-#CoCo 3 Emulator and OS9
Fm: John Murphy 73077,2305
To: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762 (X)
Ian,
THANK YOU!
I have sent Jeff V. literally dozens of messages stating that there seems to be
a problem with the emulation of double sided disks.
His only response so far has been that I am either the only person having
trouble, or that I am the only person trying to use double sided OS-9 disks.
He has conceded that there does seem to be a problem, but has said that a fix
will have to wait for the next version.
Anyway, NO it does not seem that anything you do will allow you to read double
sided disks correctly. I have put a lot of effort into this, and have had no
luck. I finally bit the bullet and converted the majority of my disks to single
sided.
Also, be aware that you cannot format disk images as anything other than ss 40
track. Trying to format a single sided 80 track image results in an image file
around 600K in size.
This does not seem to be a problem if you "retrieve" a single sided 80 track
disk, just if you are trying to create an image from scratch. I keep a
read-only blank image and copy it to a scratch image everytime I need a new
"disk".
John 
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20754 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    13-Feb-95  00:44:26
Sb: #20748-#CoCo 3 Emulator and OS9
Fm: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762
To: John Murphy 73077,2305 (X)
Well, I, for one, do not intend to spend the hundred hours or so needed to
convert all my disks to single sided. Even worse, I'm using a 720K 3.5" drive
for my /d0 on the CoCo, and that has BARELY enough room for the programs and
files that I use on a daily basis. To drop to 1/4 that space is out of the
question.
Couple that with the loss of the hardware clock (though I daresay that could be
remedied by one more skilled in system programming than I) and the result is a
system that is sort of a neat toy but of no practical use. Too bad, but maybe
the next version will fix things up. By the way, Jeff did acknowledge that
"other users have reported problems with double sided disks". Guess that was
you!
My solution, for the time being, is simple; I have moved the CoCo 3 next to the
PC, and as soon as I have an internal modem for the PC will use the freed RS232
port to connect the two with a null modem cable. Then I can use double sided
disks till my eyes bubble.
In the meantime, I'm passing stuff back and forth using PCDOS, but it is a
nuisance to have to use SDISK on the CoCo and give up the no-halt operation.
Gosh, now I have a feeling that I have something that will let me read OS9
disks on the PC (dating from when I had a borrowed PC here for a few weeks a
year or two ago). Could be OS9MAX, but I think that is an evaluation version
and not fully functional. Is there anything else that does that job?
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20756 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    13-Feb-95  17:41:25
Sb: #20754-CoCo 3 Emulator and OS9
Fm: John Murphy 73077,2305
To: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762
<<Even worse, I'm using a 720K 3.5" drive ... To drop to 1/4 that space is out
of the  question. >>
Try single sided 80 tracks. 1/2 the space, not 1/4. They work, but yeah, you
have to convert. I'm about to try some code that will do 160 track single
sided. Still need to convert, though.
<<Couple that with the loss of the hardware clock (though I daresay that could
be remedied by one more skilled in system programming than I)>>
No, I'm afraid that is not the case. Jeff originally planned to leave in hooks
to the underlying H/W, but pulled it at the last minute. As a result, any
software running under the emulator only has access to the emulated hardware,
not the PC clock.
<<Gosh, now I have a feeling that I have something that will let me read OS9
disks on the PC (dating from when I had a borrowed PC here for a few weeks a
year or two ago). Could be OS9MAX, but I think that is an evaluation version
and not fully functional. Is there anything else that does that job? >>
OS9MAX is demo-ware. Out of curiosity, if the emulator is a toy, why would you
still want to read OS-9 disks on a PC?
There is a file called UTIL9.ZIP by Tony O'Bryan on the fido echoes that will
allow you to read OS-9 disks to MS-DOS, but not Dos to OS-9... I'll see if I
can dig up more  info.
John

#: 20747 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    11-Feb-95  15:53:59
Sb: For Sale
Fm: Dean Whitehead 73662,2557
To: All
Color Computer 3 with 512K upgrade Disto Disk Controller w/4 dos slots 2 - 360K
Disk Drives (drive 0 and drive 1) Viva 2400 Modem CM-8 Tandy RGB Monitor Tandy
DMP-120 Printer High Resolution Interface Joysticks 2 - Mouse Controllers Also,
much software (VIP Library, OS-9 Level I and Level II, Home Publisher,
           C-Compliler, Multivue Level II, Dynacalc, and much, much more!)
E-Mail me or call (410) 876-0374
BEST OFFER!! All reasonable offers will be considered!

#: 20769 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    17-Feb-95  20:48:36
Sb: Basic09 windows
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: ALL
Hello:
Is there a way I can coax a Basic09 program to test certain location on the
text screen (any 24 row screen, 32 col, 40 col or 80 col) and find which
character is lying there?. In RSDOS I have ways to do PEEKs to return the ASCII
code of a character, and in Hi-Res text I have HSTAT to find more than the
ASCII code..... I have looked all over the OS9 LII docs to find something but
to no avail.
I need this for a short arcade-style game I am writing, I do have the RSDOS
version (I wrote it way back in school time). I had done some of the scrolling
and player-moves routines, but lack of a proper method to test if the player
has crashed or not...
Any help, hints?
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO

#: 20770 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    17-Feb-95  20:49:06
Sb: Koronis file lost?
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: ALL
One more.....
There was suposedly a file here called KRWIN.AR which has patches (I think) to
Koronis Rift.... has this file been moved to FILE13? (the trashcan)...
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO

#: 20771 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    17-Feb-95  20:49:49
Sb: #Basic09 Windows part 2
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: ALL
..huh, oops! another Basic09/OS9 question:
How does an application (text based) adjust to any window parameters?. I mean,
how do I prepare an application to run in a 40*20, 80*24, 32*16 window?, can
OS9 get the parameters of the window from which I launch the text based
application and then (the Basic09 program) adjust its output to conform to
those parameters?..
Hope I made my question clear....... :-)
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20773 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    18-Feb-95  10:54:54
Sb: #20771-Basic09 Windows part 2
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
Rogelio -
You can use the SYSCALL module from within a Basic09 program to effect a
'getstat' call that will return the specifics of the environment to you.
Pete Lyall

#: 20784 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    19-Feb-95  18:53:30
Sb: #20756-CoCo 3 Emulator and OS9
Fm: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762
To: John Murphy 73077,2305 (X)
There is no point in going to the trouble converting to single-sided 80 track;
I'm just as happy to keep using the CoCo where it is appropriate to do so.
Yes, I do have the demo version of OS9MAX; the real one might do but the demo
version is not much use.
Oh, the reason for transferring files? I have a lot of stuff in text,
spreadsheet, database etc. form that will be exchanged between the two. For
example, the PC has much nicer database entry than the CoCo, but won't run the
specialized report generator I wrote for OS9. I expect to transfer stuff back
and forth for some time to come.
Ian

#: 20779 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    19-Feb-95  00:44:46
Sb: #20769-#Basic09 windows
Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204 (X)
 > Hello:
 >
 > Is there a way I can coax a Basic09 program to test certain location on
 > the text screen (any 24 row screen, 32 col, 40 col or 80 col) and find
 > which character is lying there?. In RSDOS I have ways to do PEEKs to
 > return the ASCII code of a character, and in Hi-Res text I have HSTAT to
 > find more than the ASCII code..... I have looked all over the OS9 LII docs
 > to find something but to no avail.
 >
 > I need this for a short arcade-style game I am writing, I do have the
 > RSDOS version (I wrote it way back in school time). I had done some of the
 > scrolling and player-moves routines, but lack of a proper method to test
 > if the player has crashed or not...
 >
 > Any help, hints?
 >
 > Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO
 >
     As far as I know, there isn't any legal way to get the screen information
   in Basic09. Depending on what the program does, you can get the info in
   a round about way. If you are using a 80x24 screen, setup an array
   Scrn(80,24), and whenever you write to the screen you also write to the
   array. Then to check for a particular character at a certain location,
   you would just look in the array.
        The array could be Scrn(80,24):STRING[1] or Scrn(80,24):INTEGER
     depending on if you want to work with character strings or character
     values.
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20793 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    21-Feb-95  19:26:05
Sb: #20779-#Basic09 windows
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 (X)
I had thought about doin' the STRING thing, but it will s-l-o-w down the
program considerably, beign it an arcade type text screen game. mmmmm, maybe I
will have to try with OS9 Pascal ... sheesh!
Rogelio
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20796 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    22-Feb-95  00:53:11
Sb: #20793-Basic09 windows
Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
 > I had thought about doin' the STRING thing, but it will s-l-o-w down the
 > program considerably, beign it an arcade type text screen game. mmmmm,
 > maybe I will have to try with OS9 Pascal ... sheesh!
 >
 > Rogelio
 >
   Not knowing what you are trying to do, I can't say how much the program
would be slowed down, but I don't believe it would even be noticeable.
   When you do a print to the screen, are you doing something like this:
   RUN gfx2("curxy", 20,10)
   Print "X";
   How much time would you lose by doing this:
   RUN gfx2("curxy", 20,10)
   Print "X";
   ScreenArray(20,10) = 88      REM 88 = decimal ascii X
   Then to check for a character at a particular screen location just look
   in the ScreenArray at that x,y.
       There was another way of getting screen info legally, but I'm not
   up on exactly how its done, it involves using the GET function to get
   a portion of the screen, and then looking in the GET buffer.
   Larry

#: 20782 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    19-Feb-95  12:13:35
Sb: #20769-#Basic09 windows
Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204 (X)
If you want to know what is in a certain location on the screen you'll have to
remember what you put there <g>. Since OS9 is designed to be run on a
terminal...and terminals usually don't tell. Easy enuf to set up an array to
duplicate the screen (dim screen(80,24):byte) and then just copy the values
into the array as you "print" them onto the screen.
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20794 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    21-Feb-95  19:29:56
Sb: #20782-#Basic09 windows
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X)
Gee-whizzz.... As I was telling Larry Olson, I had thought about storing the
text lines in an array, but with a corresponding loss of speed.... Is there a
way to do it in assembly language?. I do not know if the text screens of (text)
windows share the same hardware RAM locations, if so, then it would be a matter
of PEEKing in RAM, but as I said, there's some information lacking 'bout the
video RAM....
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20797 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    22-Feb-95  16:57:40
Sb: #20794-Basic09 windows
Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
One never knows till you try...but I'd be willing to bet a cup of coffee (ya
gotta come to my place to collect <g>) that it'd be faster to store the status
of the characters, etc. in a byte array and then to check that for further
action than it would be to use PEEKs to check the actual screen data. Probably
not a bad method to use in any event since if you are using graphic-type
screens you will not have any choice at all. Give it a try...if it is too slow
you can always recode parts into assemebler--but if you are using a text screen
I'm sure that any slowdowns will come from other areas besides this.

#: 20792 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    21-Feb-95  19:24:02
Sb: #20773-Basic09 Windows part 2
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)
Seems like I have some more reading to do... :-) GREAT!!, everyday I can learn
something new...
Rogelio

#: 20799 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    23-Feb-95  20:17:22
Sb: #Status calls
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)
Pete,
I found two or three system calls that might be useful. One of them actually
returns the caracter code found at the current cursor position, but it does it
only in a VDG screen. The other calls work in the bigger screens but only to
return which screen type is beign used and the other one returns the attributes
of the screen.
From this, it seems that the easiest thing to do will be to RUN the program in
a VDG window. The other SYSCALLs will probably get some use to determine the
screen type where the user is trying to run the program, and alert him of any
"illegal" attempt.....
..huh, I had been avoiding using SYSCALL for sometime now, but there's always a
first time :-)
Rogelio Perea
There are 2 Replies.

#: 20800 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Feb-95  10:32:20
Sb: #20799-Status calls
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204 (X)
Syscall is a wonderful tool - it really opens up the whole operating system to
you from within Basic09, so look forward to using it!
Pete

#: 20801 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Feb-95  11:05:47
Sb: #20799-#Status calls
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204 (X)
Rogelio,
There's a Syscall tutorial in Library 2 that I wrote a while back... it's
geared towards Basic09 under Level 2.  Do a "bro syscal" to find it.
best - kevin
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20802 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Feb-95  13:45:45
Sb: #20801-Status calls
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)
Thanks Kevin!
I do it right now   :-)
Rogelio

#: 20803 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Feb-95  13:46:43
Sb: #Basic09 tid-bits
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Larry Olson 72227,3647
Larry,
>> Not knowing what you are trying to do... >> How much time would you lose by
doing....
The program itself  *is*  not too complex.  I am just trying to cross- over to
Basic09 an old text  based arcade game I  did sometime ago in RSDOS. The
program is structured as follows:
- Setup variables - Scroll the screen --- This is done by printing a character
at a random position in --- the lowest text row thus scrolling the screen one
row upwards. - Check the keyboard for user input - Maneuver the play-piece
accordingly * Check for collision - If hit <exit> else go to <Scroll the
screen>
The  line marked with  *  is the troublesome part,  currently,  I have one
System  Call  that  returns  the  status  for  the current cursor position on
screen.  This  call works  only in  a VDG screen though; I had  hoped  to find
something  similar for the 40 and 80 columns wide text screens,  on which  it
seems the  ScreenArray(x,y) you suggest is the way to go.
As the  original program  (RSDOS)  was setup for the CoCo 1 and 2 text screen,
maybe  I should give  it a try using the array technique first and stear  away
of  using  SysCall,  which will be used  if the  array method doesn't give
satisfactory results......
I think  the main changes  will have to be  done to the scroll portion of the
program,  maybe by  tagging each  row with  the TAB position at which  the
obstacle is  placed,  then  checking for  same  horizontal coordinates at a
given point would be a breeze to do :-)
....got to go and boot up OS9!
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO
"MEXICOCO - A CoCo with a *taste* that's really south of the border"
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20807 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    26-Feb-95  03:44:36
Sb: #20803-Basic09 tid-bits
Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
 > - Setup variables - Scroll the screen --- This is done by printing a
 > character at a random position in --- the lowest text row thus scrolling
 > the screen one row upwards. - Check the keyboard for user input - Maneuver
 > the play-piece accordingly * Check for collision - If hit <exit> else go
 > to <Scroll the screen>
 Rogelio,
       The way you are describing the action, the ScreenArray(80,40), may
   not be needed at all.
       You say that the program will place a character at a random location
   on the bottom line of the screen, and then scroll to the top. There is
   the key, you already know the screen x,y location, because you put the
   character there, and as the character scrolls up, the x location stays
   the same, while the y location is decremented. You could just use 2
   variables for the player character and 2 for the target character.
       If I understand correctly, the program would be something like:
   DIM  PlayerX, PlayerY, TargetX, TargetY:INTEGER
   (* Place Player character in center of screen ? *)
   PlayerX = 40
   PlayerY = 12
   TargetX = RND(79) + 1
   TargetY = 24
   CurXY(PlayerX,PlayerY)
   PRINT "*";
   CurXY(TargetX, TargetY)
   PRINT "+";
   (* Here you would be doing your loop, checking for Player moves *)
   HitFlag = 0
   EndFlag = 0
   WHILE (HitFlag = 0 AND EndFlag = 0)  DO
       REM First erase Player character
       CurXY(PlayerX, PlayerY)
       PRINT " ";
       REM Scroll screen up, check for top of screen
       REM If you want to continue scrolling characters, you could use the
       REM EndFlag to tell you when to place another character at bottom
       CurXY(0,0)
       RUN gfx2("DELLIN")
       TargetY = TargetY -1
       IF TargetY < 0 THEN
           EndFlag = 1
       ENDIF
       REM do routine to check & move player character
       CurXY(PlayerX, PlayerY)
       PRINT "*";
       REM Check for hit
       IF PlayerX = TargetX AND PlayerY = TargetY THEN
           HitFlag = 1
       ENDIF
   ENDWHILE
   This example may be way off from what you are trying, but maybe it will
   give you some ideas. You didn't mention it but will you be using more
   than 1 target character at a time ? If so, these can be treated the same
   way but instead of just a TargetX,TargetY, you could use:
       Target(number, xloc, yloc)
   Which would keep track of all the targets. You might also look into using
   the Basic09 gfx2 command ("INSLIN"), which would allow you to scroll the
   screen down instead of the normal scroll up. Some more things you might
   try are, if you want to stay with characters, try making up your own
   character set with different objects, or you might try using GET/PUT
   buffers for larger objects.
   I hope this helps
   Larry

#: 20804 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Feb-95  13:47:31
Sb: #Basic09 tid-bits
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Bob van der Poel
Larry,
It  is my  understanding that  you live in  Canada.... if so,  then it would
be  *quite*  a trip  for me  for a  cup of  coffee <grin>. Just imagine,
crossing  the US  all the way  from southern Arizona... maybe someday I'll
visit  Canada, a country  I always have  admired. Perhaps I'm  a bit of  topic
here --  about three  or four  years ago  I was a volunteer firefighter  here
in Nogales,  and a  family of (guess what) firefighters  came to visit us  at
the station and I had the chance to show them around,  what a  surprise  when
they said  they  were  from Ottawa  (is that  city's name well spelled?).  We
exchanged souvenirs, decals, baseball  caps  (with the  respective Department
logos).  They even  invited me to drop by their homes in  case of traveling by
those parts ....<sigh>...
Back to OS9 ... <click> ... I  will give it  a try to the STRING thing for my
...humble-little... Basic09 program :-)
Take care, and keep the coffee maker plugged in... you never know....
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20806 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Feb-95  18:22:00
Sb: #20804-Basic09 tid-bits
Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
Hmmm, seems like you have me and Larry a bit confused. So, I'll assume that the
message was for me...
>It  is my  understanding that  you live in  Canada
Yes, that is why I am so rash in making bets.
>I  will give it  a try to the STRING thing for my Basic09 program :-)
Please let us know how it works out.
>Take care, and keep the coffee maker plugged in... you never know....
It is always on. Mind you, I must warn you that we still have snow on the
ground here.

#: 20815 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Mar-95  20:18:39
Sb: #20807-Basic09 tid-bits
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 (X)
Sheesh! Thanks Larry, I'll look at your message more closely at home...
Rogelio

#: 20814 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Mar-95  20:17:45
Sb: #20806-Basic09 tid-bits
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X)
It was Bob! it was!
BIG GRIN -->  :-D
Rogelio Perea Nogales Sonora MEXICO

#: 20844 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    15-Mar-95  18:07:51
Sb: Ugrades
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: Sysop (X)
I've been away from the OS/9 and Coco scene for a while but the new
emulators have stimulated a return, for a while at least.  When I broke away
before, certain disks had crashed, and the boot drive had acted up, and I
lost much of the upgrades to various modules in OS/9 and MultiVue.  So my
question is:  will there be, or is there already, a kind of history of the
important
module modifications which show the new idents, describe the reasons for,
and benefits to,  the upgrades;  all in one file, preferably?
My partially upgraded MV disks have an error:  the version is 1.24a and the
icon titles are way out of register with the icons themselves, actually
bleeding
across the window borders.  What's wrong?
Also, where does one obtain SDISK as mentioned in RSDOSPlus, or a
substitute for same?   thx,  -ph-

#: 20874 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    28-Mar-95  08:21:22
Sb: #20844-#Ugrades
Fm: Bill Dickhaus 70325,523
To: Paul Hanke 73467,403 (X)
Paul,
Its been talked about for years, but as far as I know, nobody has ever put
together a comprehensive list of all the patches. I don't think SDisk is
available commercially any more, although you might be able to pick it up as
part of a system for sale here or on the CoCo forum.
-Bill-
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20878 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Mar-95  21:04:52
Sb: #20874-Ugrades
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: Bill Dickhaus 70325,523 (X)
Well, for example, what system(s) contain(s) SDisk?   Haven't been able to
locate anything using sdisk as keyword.
Without a modification list, per se, it would seem that virtually anyone not
using a stock OS/9 disk would have a 'unique' enhanced copy because not
everyone would necessarily be making the same changes among those avail-
able.
I've tried using shellplus2.2a; first time I ever modified shell.  But all
screens
other than the vdg are scrambled up.  Problem is, I've added so many changes
all at once, to save having to make a new boot disk each time, that
I can't pinpoint where the problem arises.  yecchh.  Any suggestions?   -ph-

#: 20889 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    04-Apr-95  20:10:11
Sb: SDISK for OS9 Level 1
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: ALL
Recently I bought OS9 Level 1 (....a tried and true classic) and sandwiched in
between the Boot and System disks came the original D.P.  Johnson's SDISK
diskette.... of course, the docs were nowhere to be found. I also got a copy of
OS9 Level 1 Version 2, which is the one I want to use in my F Board CoCo 1.
Now, the tour de force:
The v2.0 system disk has been hacked (softwarely speaking) to boot in a special
51*24 hi-res screen. I need to create a new v2.0 boot using the standard CO32
and associated modules, a task I am currently doing, but in the meantime, I
would like to add the SDISK upgrade to be able to use (and boot from) 40 track
double sided disks. I have asked elsewhere for general guideance on
SDISK/BOOTFIX, to no avail.  The questions are:
- Can I just replace CCDisk with SDISK in the bootlist?
- Are there any command line parameters for options?
- Does BOOTFIX need to be performed on *every* SDISKed boot disk?
I hope someone can help me with this, also, if I could get D.P.   Johnson's
address (if still in business/current) I would try to contact the company
directly.......  help!
                                                Rogelio Perea

#: 20891 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    06-Apr-95  08:12:27
Sb: #20889-SDISK for OS9 Level 1
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204 (X)
Rogelio -
SDISK can be used to replace CCDisk (be sure to use the SDisk descriptors as
well).
I can't recall about any required options, but I think you will need to run
BOOTFIX.
Pete

#: 20922 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    24-Apr-95  12:45:54
Sb: SmartWatch on sale
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: ALL
Hello there:
Amongst some sad news for the CoCo community (Zack's departure), I have
something that might be of interest. Last week I was browsing around the
"Discontinued Items" table at my local RS and amongst other stuff in there, I
found a 25-1033 SmartWatch for a mere $14.95, the latest catalog price I have
for that is $39.99, so at the sale price the SW is quite a bargain.
The drivers for the SW can be found in the libraries here in this forum
(SMART.AR) and this file includes utilities to retrieve/set the time with the
SW chip installed in any of the 4 slots the MPI provides. I installed the SW
inside my FD-502 controller, and am using the drivers for SLOT 4 --- works
great!
I recommend you go to your local RS store and ask around, maybe they'll have it
for the sale price. Currently, the SW can be ordered thru National Parts, but I
think the asking price is the higher one.
....it is so much enjoyable to use OS9 now without fussing around with the
'setime' utility!    ;-)
Rogelio Perea

#: 20952 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    12-May-95  16:57:04
Sb: #shellplus2.2a
Fm: Rick LaVallie 76653,2244
To: Curtis Boyle/ 71310,1271
 Curtis , Hi My name is Rick LaVallie I've just downloaded shell2.2a and
installed it .the first thing i've noticed is that the wildcards are defaulted
off. Now while reading through some old messages concerning this i see where
you wrote to Ian Hodgson that the wildcarding offsets are at $4FA and should be
$27 default off $26 default on. now when I ded shell2.2a at offset $4Fa I find
that it is set at $C9 now I am wondering if this right if I have a differend
version or what?
Please check this address again for me thanks
A new old COCO user  -Rick LaVallie-
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20956 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    13-May-95  17:38:23
Sb: #20952-#shellplus2.2a
Fm: David Breeding 72330,2051
To: Rick LaVallie 76653,2244 (X)
 > Curtis , Hi My name is Rick LaVallie I've just downloaded shell2.2a and
 > installed it .the first thing i've noticed is that the wildcards are
 > defaulted off.
Rick,
Just a note here.  Of course, I suppose it's just a matter of "to each his own"
but I never did turn wildcarding on.  You can turn it on at any time by
preceding the command line with a colon (or off this way if you have it
defaulted to on).  Many utilities and apps use wildcarding in their parameters,
and if you use them with the shell also recognizing it and you can get some
problems; it seems more this way than if you don't have it.
When you try wildcarding and forget the colon and about all that happens is
that you get error 215, or the like and you can go back and do it right. If you
have wildcarding on, something wrong might happen and you might not notice it.
You can do whatever you like, but you might try it defaulted off and see how
you like it.
                         -- David Breeding --
       CompuServe : 72330,2051             Delphi :  DBREEDING
    *** Composed with InfoXpress/OSK Vr. 1.02 & VED Vr. 2.4.0  ***
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20958 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    15-May-95  07:57:50
Sb: #20956-#shellplus2.2a
Fm: Rick LaVallie 76653,2244
To: David Breeding 72330,2051 (X)
Dave. Thanks for the tip I'll give it a try for a while and see if I like it.
I've been useing shellplus2.1 for a long time with wildcards on and have not
had any problems but i'll give it a try with them off.
May be you know why when I EXIT from TSWORD the menu fmt for TSEDIT my vdg
screen locks up this has only started since  I have installed
Shellplus2.2a.None of the windows lock up and as soon as  I kill the process
the VDG screen comes back to life. Thanks in advance for any advice you can
give.
     Rick LaVallie
There is 1 Reply.

#: 20962 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    17-May-95  19:13:25
Sb: #20958-shellplus2.2a
Fm: David Breeding 72330,2051
To: Rick LaVallie 76653,2244 (X)
 > Dave. Thanks for the tip I'll give it a try for a while and see if I like
 > it. I've been useing shellplus2.1 for a long time with wildcards on and
 > have not had any problems but i'll give it a try with them off.
I just never went to the trouble of turning it on, and just thought it would be
easier this way.  Either way should be good.  Of course, if you are used to it
turned on, it might be hard to get used to it the other way.  While I was using
the Coco, I _normally_ could remember to hit the colon when needed, but now,
after being used to wildcarding all the time in OSK, when I go back to the
coco, I'm always forgetting..
 > May be you know why when I EXIT from TSWORD the menu fmt for TSEDIT my
 > vdg screen locks up this has only started since  I have installed
 > Shellplus2.2a.None of the windows lock up and as soon as  I kill the
 > process the VDG screen comes back to life.
It didn't do this with shell+2.1?  My guess would be that it is in the way it
is blocking the signals..  If you call this window from another window, try
going back to that parent window and doing either "dir" or "procs". If this
unlocks it, this would be the cause, IMO..  I'm not very well versed on how the
system works at that level, but I would give this a try. I know that often,
when a process died, often you would see "DEAD" in the process name for procs
(or proc, maybe), till you did this.. It seemed that only certain commands
would erase this, and the two above would, if I remember correctly.
                         -- David Breeding --
       CompuServe : 72330,2051             Delphi :  DBREEDING
    *** Composed with InfoXpress/OSK Vr. 1.02 & VED Vr. 2.4.0  ***

#: 21106 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    11-Aug-95  12:22:55
Sb: #Hard Disk Formatting
Fm: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
To: Chris Burke
Help! About a month ago I decided to upgrade my hard disk with with another one
that would give me about 30 megs more storage. I purchased a Seagate ST-157R
(RLL) hard drive and a Western Digital WD1004-27X (RLL) controller. I use the
Burke & Burke interface with a Multi-pak. The problem is in formatting the hard
drive. I get a Seek Error #247 when it tries to do the logical format after the
low level format. The hard disk and controller combination format ok on an IBM
clone system. I have tried different options on the controller card with no
help. Reading through some of the Burke & Burke documentation it appears that
the software may be at fault. The documentation states that "version 2.5
drivers correctly initialize both old and new controllers". I have version
2.4b. Is this the problem? Any help you can offer would be appreciated.
There is 1 Reply.

#: 21119 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    14-Aug-95  18:34:12
Sb: #21106-Hard Disk Formatting
Fm: Paul Tesch 73500,3703
To: Clinton Huber 75112,3015 (X)
It's been a few years, but when I first tried using a B&B with an RLL drive I
couldn't get the combination of low level and logical formats to work. I ended
up doing the low level format on a PC and then doing only the logical format
under OS9.

#: 21113 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    13-Aug-95  12:14:04
Sb: Seek Error #247
Fm: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
To: all
Help! About a month ago I decided to upgrade my hard disk with with another one
that would give me about 30 megs more storage. I purchased a Seagate ST-157R
(RLL) hard drive and a Western Digital WD1004-27X (RLL) controller. I use the
Burke & Burke interface with a Multi-pak. The problem is in formatting the hard
drive. I get Seek Error #247 when it tries to do the logical format after the
low level format. The hard disk and controller format ok on an IBM clone
system. I have tried different options on the controller card with no help.
Reading through some of the Burke & Burke documentation it appears that the
software may be at fault. The documentation states that "version 2.5 drivers
correctly initialize both old and new controllers". I have version 2.4b. Could
this be the problem? If so where can I get an updated driver? I have been
unable to contact Chris Burke so far on Compuserve, and his phone number in
Maple Valley WA seems to be disconnected.

#: 21129 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    16-Aug-95  01:20:51
Sb: #Error Code #247
Fm: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
To:  72330,2051 (X)
I already had made a new Device Descriptor using Burke & Burkes DDMAKER to
match the new drives characteristics which I had taken off the Data Sheet from
the manufactorer. However after reading your note I did some more checking and
found something that was not mentioned in the Seagate hard drive documentation.
On unrelated Seagate documentation for two of their controllers ST11M and ST11R
it stated that "user cylinders are calculated from logical zero, ie 0 to 614
equals 615 cylinders". This drive has 615 cylinders so I changed the number of
cylinders to 614 in the device descriptor thinking that the Burke & Burke
driver maybe trying to format cylinders 1-615. Cylinder 615 wouldn't exist of
course. Now the drive comes back with error code #241 (the specified sector is
out of range) when it attempts to do the logicl format. I think I'm closer to
the solution.
Incidentally the WD1004-27X RLL controller DOES format my old Seagate ST-124
(MFM) hard drive without any seek errors but the old drive wasn't designed for
RLL and comes back with read or write errors occasionally. The errors usually
disappear after a second read or write attempt. This is not good, and is part
of the reason I would like to get the new drive up and running.
Thankyou for your help. Any more help you or anyone else can offer is
appreciated. :)
There is 1 Reply.

#: 21141 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    18-Aug-95  00:55:15
Sb: #21129-Error Code #247
Fm: David Breeding 72330,2051
To: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
 > On unrelated Seagate documentation for two of
 > their controllers ST11M and ST11R it stated that "user cylinders are
 > calculated from logical zero, ie 0 to 614 equals 615 cylinders". This
 > drive has 615 cylinders so I changed the number of cylinders to 614 in the
 > device descriptor thinking that the Burke & Burke driver maybe trying to
 > format cylinders 1-615. Cylinder 615 wouldn't exist of course. Now the
 > drive comes back with error code #241 (the specified sector is out of
 > range) when it attempts to do the logicl format. I think I'm closer to
 > the solution.
Did it stall on the low-level format before?
It seems that I read an article somewhere about someone trying to format a
drive and he had it set too high, maybe like you, and he found that when the HD
was formatting, when it came to that too high track number it would loop back
and try to format track 0.  I think he did what you did.
It could be that this particular Disk formats itself with the first sector as
1, thus when you try to do the logical format, when it commands the HD to seek
to Track 0, it of course cannot find it.  There may be a command to make it
low-level format starting with either 0 or 1.
                         -- David Breeding --
       CompuServe : 72330,2051             Delphi :  DBREEDING
    *** Composed with InfoXpress/OSK Vr. 1.02 & VED Vr. 2.4.0  ***

#: 21130 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    16-Aug-95  01:28:05
Sb: Error Code #247
Fm: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
To:  73500,3703 (X)
Thanks for the information Paul. Although I prefer not to follow the route you
had to, I may have to. I will keep it in mind. Clint

#: 21134 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    16-Aug-95  14:28:41
Sb: Sale
Fm: Mike Fahy 74656,2340
To: All
From: mikefahy@third-wave.com (Mike Fahy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy
Subject: Tandy Equipment For Sale or Free to a Good Home
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 17:50:52 GMT
Organization: A poorly-installed InterNetNews site
Message-ID: <40st3h$bs1@news.third-wave.com>
I have run out of room and have a large bunch of old Tandy Computers
for sale or free . . I just refuse to give it to the landfill so make
any kind of offer for all or part of this stuff.  If you live in
Western PA, you can come and get it and I will help you load your vehicle.
(2) TRS80 Model I's w/monitors.
(1) TRS-80 Model 1 Expansion Interface.
(3 at last count) External Disk Drives
(1) TRS80 Model III
(1) TRS80 Model IV w/green screen and 128K w/ External 5 1/4 & 3 1/2
(2) Color Computer III's w/512K
(1) CM-8 Color Monitor for Coco III
(1) Coco Multipak Interface
(Many) Coco Cartridges, including Software Paks, RS232 Paks, Sound
Cards, Disk Controllers, Modem Pak, etc. etc.
(1) Disto Super Controller w/RS232 Interface.  If you don't know what
this is, you don't need it.
(1) Seagate 30 Meg SCSI Drive for Disto Interface formatted with OS9
Level 2 and quite a bit of software.  You  frunish the power supply.
Tons of Software for all above computers.
Respond via email on CIS or to above internet address.--
Mike Fahy
mikefahy@third-wave.com

#: 21152 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    24-Aug-95  21:49:31
Sb: #21134-#Sale
Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142
To: Mike Fahy 74656,2340 (X)
Dear Mike:
How about $30.00 for Seagate HD plus shipping.
With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy, CSJW
There is 1 Reply.

#: 21153 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    24-Aug-95  22:10:22
Sb: #21152-#Sale
Fm: Mike Fahy 74656,2340
To: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 (X)
Sorry, my friend, already gone . .
> Mike <
There is 1 Reply.

#: 21154 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    25-Aug-95  00:52:48
Sb: #21153-Sale
Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142
To: Mike Fahy 74656,2340 (X)
Dear Mike: Oh well.  If you ever get any other Seagate SCSI's 40-80 megs, let
me know.
With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy, CSJW

#: 21148 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    23-Aug-95  08:52:30
Sb: #Seek error #247
Fm: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
To:  72330,2051 (X)
Sorry I took so long in getting back but its been busy around here lately. I
finally managed to get the drive to format by making sure that nothing in the
device descriptor makes the heads go past the 614th (0-614) cylinder including
the PARK track. But... now I have another problem. The drive can be formatted
ok and files copied to and from it ok, but when my system is powered off and on
you may not be able to access it again. Most times I get Seek Error #247 right
off the bat. Powering off and on up to several times seems to be the only way
to access the drive again if it works at all. And if that isn't enough, some
files may "disappear". I ran DCHECK three times and on the third check it
displayed a "fatal error" which was a Seek Error again.
I think you may have something there about the drive not being low level
formatted on track 0 while the logical format tries to start at track 0.
Although if this is the case I'm not sure why the Seagate ST157R drive gets
seek errors while the older ST124 doesn't using the same WD1004-27X controller.
Part of it may be due to the fact that the older drive can be formatted for any
number of cylinders up to about 670 which is much greater than the 615 shown in
the data sheets. There may be other things that are tolerated on this older
drive that are not tolerated on the ST157R.
I am still interested in finding an updated Vers 2.5 Burke & Burke hard disk
driver which is reported in their documentation as correctly initializing both
old and new controller cards. There is nothing in vers 2.4b software that you
can set to allow you to start the format at track 0 or 1.
There is 1 Reply.

#: 21149 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    24-Aug-95  08:21:17
Sb: #21148-#Seek error #247
Fm: Bill Dickhaus 70325,523
To: Clinton Huber 75112,3015 (X)
Did you ever get in touch with Chris Burke? Try: burke@MDD.COMM.MOT.COM
He stays active on the coco list, but I don't know that he hangs out on the
commercial services much any more.
Bill
-Bill-
There is 1 Reply.

#: 21159 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    28-Aug-95  00:39:52
Sb: #21149-Seek error #247
Fm: Clinton Huber 75112,3015
To: Bill Dickhaus 70325,523 (X)
Thanks for the info. No I never did get ahold of him. I am still having
problems with the new drive though. At this point I can format it ok and copy
files to and from it, but after power off-on, it comes back with Seek Error
#247 most of the time. I found out that I do have version 2.5 software on my
disk that is labelled 2.4b. So now I don't know what to do with this problem.
Bad drive ???  The drive can still only be formatted for 614 of the 615 tracks.

#: 21151 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    24-Aug-95  21:47:08
Sb: Hershey Fonts
Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142
To: SYSOP (X)
Dear Sysop:
I need to get a copy of the following:
HERSH.AR/binary           07-Feb-90 8576
    Title   : Software to view the Hershey fonts on a Coco3
    Keywords: HERSHEY FONTS VECTOR GRAPHICS COCO3
    Software to view hershey vector fonts on a coco3.  Fonts are in herfon.ar
elsewhere in this dl.  You need a c compiler as binaries are not included.
Plus I also need the HERFON.AR files.
Thank you, With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy, CSJW

#: 21182 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    16-Sep-95  13:26:07
Sb: The Interbank Incident
Fm: Rogelio Perea 72056,1204
To: ALL
Hello,
I have been trying to put the Interbank Incident (3 floppies) on a single
double sided 40 track disk. I managed to cram all the game files onto such
disk, short of the OS9 boot files and some commands not needed to play the
game. The turn came to create a new VDG bootdisk on my CoCo 3.... the system
does boot ok and do:
chd /d1
chx /d1/cmds
keeping the system disk in /d0 and the game disk in /d1. When I start the game
('bank') /d1 spins and begins loding the game but all I get on the VDG 256x192
screen is a mess of dots and the system hangs.  Booting the game with the OS9
L1 v2 provided works ok...
Does the Interbank Incident specifically needs the OS9L1 boot files?
Has someone tried this before and been successfull?
Thanks ;-)
Rogelio Perea
AZ-TEC Group  

#: 21219 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    14-Oct-95  03:14:37
Sb: #20747-For Sale
Fm: Markus Blumrich 76312,3264
To: Dean Whitehead 73662,2557
Hi Dean,
I don't suppose your computer is still for sale? (coco)
Thanks,
Markus

#: 21218 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    14-Oct-95  03:08:53
Sb: #21134-Sale
Fm: Markus Blumrich 76312,3264
To: Mike Fahy 74656,2340 (X)
I would be interested in your Coco stuff. Especially the multipak, the Disto
Super controller, the sound card (the RS one??) and any software you may have.
Do you still have any of this around?
Thanks,
Markus

#: 21226 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    16-Oct-95  21:08:43
Sb: Ram Pak
Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142
To: all
Dear friends:
I am looking to buy a DISTO 512K Ram Pak.  This was a 512k ram disk that
plugged into a multipak.  I will buy either in working or reasonably fixable
condition.  I would also need any associated software.
With all best wishes,
Brother Jeremy, CSJW

#: 21242 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    20-Oct-95  21:08:14
Sb: IDE Drives on the CoCo
Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003
To: All
Is it possible to connect an IDE drive to the CoCo using a HyperIO interface
card and an 8 bit IDE controller?

#: 21289 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    06-Dec-95  06:33:38
Sb: HD partition info?
Fm: John L. Wilkerson Jr. 71140,77
To: ALL
i am looking for Hard drivre partitiion software.... any good choices for the
latest, or rather most recent B&B software?
Thanbnks
 j
[D
Press <CR> !>