Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting you actually get all the stuff to build a Feather MounT for Z88 and get an Adafruit Feather board and run PDDuino on it, unless you actually wanted to play with something new and shakey just for the fun of it.
It's neat, and it mostly works, but the code running on it is not bulletproof yet. I can't promise that it never corrupts data. I can't even promise it works at all with the tpdd client software for the Z88. It has several known bugs described on the github readme, and it doesn't even work with TEENY, even though it does work with TS-DOS (two different tpdd clients). If it doesn't work with one known good tpdd client, then it might not work with a new completely unknown one (z88 diskmgr). I AM suggesting to actually build the Z88 version of the cable using the recipe from http://tandy.wiki/TPDD#Cable Another option is, You can buy a pre-made tpdd cable from arcadeshopper.com right now. But it has the wrong plug for z88. And the z88's serial port is non-standard, so there are no off-the-shelf adapters or combination of adapters to get you from the z88 to the normal tpdd cable. You're making a custom adapter or cable of some sort one way or another no matter what. Maybe it's worth making a short adapter cable that doesn't do anything but just convert the z88 serial port to a standard plug and standard pinout. Either a male 9-pin like a pc, or a female 25-pin like a "Model T". Then, you could use any/all otherwise normal cables and accessories and standard off the shelf adapters with that as needed, like gender-changers, 9to25, null-modem etc. Then you could just buy a pre-made normal tpdd cable meant for a Model 100 or NEC etc. Then tomorrow when you want to do something else like connect a WiModem instead of a TPDD, you won't need another custom cable, just your z88-to-Normal adapter and an ordinary/standard gender-changer or 9-to-25 adapter. Then the same thing for null-modem to a pc, for a printer, etc. -- bkw On Mon, Sep 7, 2020, 1:25 PM Brian White <b.kenyo...@gmail.com> wrote: > Ooh I can add a Z88 version of https://github.com/bkw777/MounT to use > with https://github.com/bkw777/PDDuino too. > > Though, the 1ma power output from the DTR pin on the serial port isn't > enough to power a Feather or Teensy. > > The Mode T's except for KC-85 all have a BCR port which provides enough > power (using https://github.com/bkw777/BCR_Breakout), but the Z88 doesn't > have that. > The expansion connectors don't look good to use for this because you want > them to remain usable for carts. > > So, There are versions of MounT for Teensy and Feather, and out of those > two, Feather boards have on-board lipo battery managers and a jst > connector. So for a Z88 it makes the most sense to use a Feather version > and include the battery (already included in the BOM anyways for > reference). You leave the lipo cell connected to the board all the time, > and charge it by just connecting a usb cable to the Feather. > > > > On Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 1:14 PM Brian White <b.kenyo...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Good grief the pin numbers for the DE9F are wrong on that drawing too. I >> can't make sense of that drawing at all, and so I'm ignoring it. >> >> I'm going to go by the actual user manual. That too has one slight >> confusion but not really. >> At first glance it looks like it's saying there is a 9pin male connector >> on the z88, but it's really saying to use a 9pin male connector to make a >> cable. >> https://archive.org/details/aa153-Z88_User_Guide/page/n235/mode/2up >> >> It's neat that they included an explicit provision for powering rs-232 to >> cmos level shifters (max232, max3232). >> >> This also shows a female connector on the z88, so between the pics and >> the manual, I'm going ahead assuming it's a female connector on the Z88. >> https://oldcrap.org/2019/10/28/cambridge-z88/ >> >> I've updated the wiki and github project to include Z88 versions of the >> schematic, PCB, and BOM. >> http://tandy.wiki/TPDD#Cable >> >> Untested of course. I don't have a Z88 and only just updated the drawings >> now. But it's all tested with Model 100 and other "Model T"s, so as long as >> the original Z88 manual isn't lying, then it's good to go. >> >> For future reference, note that pin numbers for both male and female >> plugs are the same, in the sense that, pin#1 of a male plug plugs in to >> pin#1 of a female plug. >> That means that, regardless if you're looking at the front on the >> connector where the pins are, or the back where the solder legs are, >> and regardless if you are talking about the port on a device or the end >> of a cable that plugs into that device, >> pin#1 always means the same pin#1. >> IE, pin#1 on the device does not connect to say pin#6 on the cable. It >> connects to pin#1 on the cable. >> >> So, the way to avoid getting confused is, always use the correct pin >> numbers according to standards, and expect everyone else (official) to have >> done so also, and then, you don't care if you're dealing with a male or >> female plug, you just know that you need for example, the ground goes on >> pin #7. Then, on the connector itself, the pins are individually numbered >> explicitly so you don't have to guess which one is pin#7. You can also >> always google up references for standard connectors themselves, regardless >> what kind of device is using the connector or what kind of signals are on >> it. >> >> The same goes for the rectangular pin headers and IDC connectors. There >> is a specific location for pin#1, and a specific numbering pattern to >> proceed from pin#1. They aren't individually labeled on IDC connectors, or >> labelled at all on plain pin headers, but either the connector or the pcb >> silkscreen will always indicate where pin#1 is, and you follow the standard >> to number the rest. The TPDD drive adheres to the standard for the 2x4 pin >> header on the back. >> >> So, the z88 manual lists signals and pin numbers for the de9 plug on it's >> end, and the tpdd manual lists pin numbers and signals for the 2x4 pin >> header on it's end, and it's possible to derive a correct cabling between >> the two without having to guess about anything like what the author means >> by "front", and without the confusion introduced by things like that >> drawing which uses pin numbers, but all incorrect pin numbers. >> -- >> bkw >> >
