On Tue, May 16, 2023 at 11:42 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > On Tue, 16 May 2023, Wayne S via cctalk wrote: > > Tony in response to your original idea of wanting to download images for > > use on you existing machines ( did i get that right?), i think you have
Yes. I've got the machines running, I see software for them on websites (including bitsavers), I want to use it. > > everything you need already. Download the images to your win 8 box then > > use file transfer software (kermit or xmodem) to serially transfer to > > the specific box you want to use the software on and the use the floppy > > on that box to write the floppies. It seems like there is a version of > > kermit made for every box imaginable. The only possible gotcha is does > > the box have a serial port. > > He would have to add a serial port (USB to serial dongle). That was the first thing I bought for this machine. And Kermit was one of the first things I installed. Last time I used it was yesterday to transfer an EPROM dump file from my HP95LX... But I really would like to get a more direct solution. As for the target machine having a serial port, one of the machines I want to get stuff onto is an Osborne 1A. The serial port on that is horrible. The baud rate generator divides down the master clock to get 19200Hz. That's fed to the serial chip which, amazingly for a Z80 machine, is a 6850. You can program that to divide by 16 (for 1200 baud) or divide by 64 (for 300 baud). That's it. OK, there's a jumper on the mainboard to double those rates, and a cut-n-wire modification in the technical manual for 9600 and 2400 baud, but.... > > Although, . . . > many years ago, in the early days of USB, there was a cable and software > provision for transferring files USB yo USB. 'course, it's doubtful that > any of his other machines have USB. If my other machines had USB I'd just put the files on a memory stick. > > > Similarly, he could buy a cheap external USB 3.5" drive. Write content to > that drive on the modern machine, and read those floppies on the older > machines. The readily avaailable one have firmware that only supports > 720K, 1.4M, and [sometimes] NEC-style "mode 3". I have one but AFAIK it only supports 1.4M. A format that few of my other machines support. > I get the implication that he is considering USB flux-transition devices > that could be coerced into acting as a general purpose floppy controller. EXACTLY! I was told that was the best solution for this sort of thing. Are there any downsides to doing it that way? If I do go that route, what are the options? I have no knowledge of them and thus no preference for one over another As I said at the start I am clueless about this. I really need somebody to talk me through it, what to get, what to build, what to download etc. -tony
