Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

Those messages would indicate an error in the pySerial library, not mComm. The 
list_ports functions gets a list of available serial ports. You may want to 
check what version is installed. I think the most recent one is 3.4. There is 
more information at the site below.

https://pyserial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/pyserial.html

Kurt

On Tue, Mar 9, 2021, at 5:57 PM, Peter Vollan wrote:
> Well I've got the "wrapper" file that launches mcomm fixed, so now I am 
> getting the following errors from the actual python script:
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "/usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py", line 199, in 
> main()
>   File "/usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py", line 163, in main
> lPorts = serial.tools.list_ports.comports()
>   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py", 
> line 122, in comports
> return [(d, describe(d), hwinfo(d)) for d in devices]
>   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py", 
> line 122, in 
> return [(d, describe(d), hwinfo(d)) for d in devices]
>   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py", 
> line 93, in describe
> return usb_lsusb_string(sys_usb)
>   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py", 
> line 71, in usb_lsusb_string
> iManufacturer = re_group('iManufacturer\s+\w+ (.+)', desc)
>   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py", 
> line 44, in re_group
> m = re.search(regexp, text)
>   File "/usr/lib/python3.5/re.py", line 173, in search
> return _compile(pattern, flags).search(string)
> TypeError: cannot use a string pattern on a bytes-like object
> 
> On Thu, 4 Mar 2021 at 02:02, Brian K. White  wrote:
>> On 3/3/21 1:50 PM, Peter Vollan wrote:
>> > FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5
>> 
>> I haven't seen an answer to either mine or others questions that would 
>> nail down that the the installed 3.5 is actually what the script is 
>> using. Merely installing a package doesn't guarantee anything.
>> 
>> You're symptoms are unusual, and so it needs debugging on your end if 
>> you want it to work. You have to investigate and verify things that are 
>> usually just assumed and handled automatically.
>> 
>> When you type "mcomm" is it really running the file you and I and 
>> everyone assumes it is?
>> 
>> $ which mcomm
>> /usr/bin/mcomm
>> 
>> ok good, next, look at that file. The problem sytax occurs right in that 
>> file, not later in the real program file, so *that* file needs to be 
>> executed by a python 3.5 or later executable.
>> 
>> And that file is executed by whatever is on it's shebang line, which is 
>> "/usr/bin/python3", point being, not just "python3", so, you can verify 
>> the interpreter for that file a couple different ways. You can look at 
>> "/usr/bin/python3",
>> 
>> $ ls -l /usr/bin/python3
>> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Oct  6 06:28 /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.8
>> 
>> $ /usr/bin/python3 --version
>> Python 3.8.6
>> 
>> 
>> Or you could also add a print statement to show the python version.
>> Insert this line after the import lines and before the subprocess.call() 
>> line:
>> 
>> print(sys.version)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Or, better yet, the problem syntax occurs right in the top level wrapper 
>> script, and that entire line really isn't necessary, the entire script 
>> doesn't even need to be python. You could replace the entire contents 
>> with this simpler sh version:
>> 
>> #!/bin/sh
>> exec python3 /usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py "$@"
>> 
>> What happens when you do that?
>> 
>> -- 
>> bkw

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Peter Vollan]

Well I've got the "wrapper" file that launches mcomm fixed, so now I am
getting the following errors from the actual python script:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py", line 199, in 
main()
  File "/usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py", line 163, in main
lPorts = serial.tools.list_ports.comports()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py",
line 122, in comports
return [(d, describe(d), hwinfo(d)) for d in devices]
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py",
line 122, in 
return [(d, describe(d), hwinfo(d)) for d in devices]
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py",
line 93, in describe
return usb_lsusb_string(sys_usb)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py",
line 71, in usb_lsusb_string
iManufacturer = re_group('iManufacturer\s+\w+ (.+)', desc)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/serial/tools/list_ports_posix.py",
line 44, in re_group
m = re.search(regexp, text)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.5/re.py", line 173, in search
return _compile(pattern, flags).search(string)
TypeError: cannot use a string pattern on a bytes-like object

On Thu, 4 Mar 2021 at 02:02, Brian K. White  wrote:

> On 3/3/21 1:50 PM, Peter Vollan wrote:
> > FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5
>
> I haven't seen an answer to either mine or others questions that would
> nail down that the the installed 3.5 is actually what the script is
> using. Merely installing a package doesn't guarantee anything.
>
> You're symptoms are unusual, and so it needs debugging on your end if
> you want it to work. You have to investigate and verify things that are
> usually just assumed and handled automatically.
>
> When you type "mcomm" is it really running the file you and I and
> everyone assumes it is?
>
> $ which mcomm
> /usr/bin/mcomm
>
> ok good, next, look at that file. The problem sytax occurs right in that
> file, not later in the real program file, so *that* file needs to be
> executed by a python 3.5 or later executable.
>
> And that file is executed by whatever is on it's shebang line, which is
> "/usr/bin/python3", point being, not just "python3", so, you can verify
> the interpreter for that file a couple different ways. You can look at
> "/usr/bin/python3",
>
> $ ls -l /usr/bin/python3
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Oct  6 06:28 /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.8
>
> $ /usr/bin/python3 --version
> Python 3.8.6
>
>
> Or you could also add a print statement to show the python version.
> Insert this line after the import lines and before the subprocess.call()
> line:
>
> print(sys.version)
>
>
>
> Or, better yet, the problem syntax occurs right in the top level wrapper
> script, and that entire line really isn't necessary, the entire script
> doesn't even need to be python. You could replace the entire contents
> with this simpler sh version:
>
> #!/bin/sh
> exec python3 /usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py "$@"
>
> What happens when you do that?
>
> --
> bkw
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

Brian,

Great diagnostics procedures. Thanks.

Kurt

On Thu, Mar 4, 2021, at 2:02 AM, Brian K. White wrote:
> On 3/3/21 1:50 PM, Peter Vollan wrote:
> > FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5
> 
> I haven't seen an answer to either mine or others questions that would 
> nail down that the the installed 3.5 is actually what the script is 
> using. Merely installing a package doesn't guarantee anything.
> 
> You're symptoms are unusual, and so it needs debugging on your end if 
> you want it to work. You have to investigate and verify things that are 
> usually just assumed and handled automatically.
> 
> When you type "mcomm" is it really running the file you and I and 
> everyone assumes it is?
> 
> $ which mcomm
> /usr/bin/mcomm
> 
> ok good, next, look at that file. The problem sytax occurs right in that 
> file, not later in the real program file, so *that* file needs to be 
> executed by a python 3.5 or later executable.
> 
> And that file is executed by whatever is on it's shebang line, which is 
> "/usr/bin/python3", point being, not just "python3", so, you can verify 
> the interpreter for that file a couple different ways. You can look at 
> "/usr/bin/python3",
> 
> $ ls -l /usr/bin/python3
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Oct  6 06:28 /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.8
> 
> $ /usr/bin/python3 --version
> Python 3.8.6
> 
> 
> Or you could also add a print statement to show the python version.
> Insert this line after the import lines and before the subprocess.call() 
> line:
> 
> print(sys.version)
> 
> 
> 
> Or, better yet, the problem syntax occurs right in the top level wrapper 
> script, and that entire line really isn't necessary, the entire script 
> doesn't even need to be python. You could replace the entire contents 
> with this simpler sh version:
> 
> #!/bin/sh
> exec python3 /usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py "$@"
> 
> What happens when you do that?
> 
> -- 
> bkw
> 

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Brian K. White]

On 3/3/21 1:50 PM, Peter Vollan wrote:

FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5


I haven't seen an answer to either mine or others questions that would 
nail down that the the installed 3.5 is actually what the script is 
using. Merely installing a package doesn't guarantee anything.


You're symptoms are unusual, and so it needs debugging on your end if 
you want it to work. You have to investigate and verify things that are 
usually just assumed and handled automatically.


When you type "mcomm" is it really running the file you and I and 
everyone assumes it is?


$ which mcomm
/usr/bin/mcomm

ok good, next, look at that file. The problem sytax occurs right in that 
file, not later in the real program file, so *that* file needs to be 
executed by a python 3.5 or later executable.


And that file is executed by whatever is on it's shebang line, which is 
"/usr/bin/python3", point being, not just "python3", so, you can verify 
the interpreter for that file a couple different ways. You can look at 
"/usr/bin/python3",


$ ls -l /usr/bin/python3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Oct  6 06:28 /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.8

$ /usr/bin/python3 --version
Python 3.8.6


Or you could also add a print statement to show the python version.
Insert this line after the import lines and before the subprocess.call() 
line:


print(sys.version)



Or, better yet, the problem syntax occurs right in the top level wrapper 
script, and that entire line really isn't necessary, the entire script 
doesn't even need to be python. You could replace the entire contents 
with this simpler sh version:


#!/bin/sh
exec python3 /usr/share/mcomm/mcomm.py "$@"

What happens when you do that?

--
bkw

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[David Grissom]

I want to thank Kurt Mc., John H,  Stephen A. and many others for their 
development of both the hardware and software that truly extends our Model 
100/102 laptops usefulness.  

I understand the frustration that users can feel in getting some of this 
hardware and software to work on our wonderful little machines.

A few months ago, I decided to build a Poor Man’s TPDD.  I uploaded the build 
and setup my device on Atariage a while back.  In the documentation, I 
described in detail how to setup a fresh install of Raspberry Pi OS with mComm. 
 See link:  Poor Man's TPDD - Raspberry Pi Zero - Tandy Computers - AtariAge 
Forums

While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea to build the project, some of the 
pages in the “Poor Mans TPDD.pdf”  may be useful for those folks trying to get 
started with mComm on a Linux box.

Specifically, see page 15 for information on installation of mComm on Linux.  
In my case it is installed on a $10 Raspberry Pi Zero W.  Page 21 has a link to 
Kurt’s download page

Pages 16 and  21 has some information on Teeny.  Btw, I used a cool little 
program called TrashTalk.  to easily transfer the teeny.do file to my Model 100 
for my testing.  (The web page link is in the pdf. While I don’t go into 
installation and setup detail in the document but it is actually pretty 
straight forward getting Teeny up and running on a Model 100/102.  

Please note that I consider myself a “user”.  I used the information provided 
by all of you folks in the community to create a device that meets my hobby 
needs.  Maybe, this information will provide another viewpoint to get their 
hardware/software up and running.

David G

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Kurt McCullum
Sent: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 1:07 PM
To: m100@lists.bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

I'll look into this when I get a chance Peter. I have not forgotten but thanks 
for the reminder.

Kurt

On Wed, Mar 3, 2021, at 10:50 AM, Peter Vollan wrote:
FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5


On Tue, 2 Mar 2021 at 17:16, John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:


On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:57 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:
 It's easy to forget that when you're just starting out with this machine

No, I get it. It's complicated. We've lost multiple newbie's coming to the 
list. One guy, "Dunebuggy" departed the list informing us that he had ripped 
all the wires out of his Model 100 and thrown it away, not able to get file 
transfer going.

That said, bootstrap is typically complicated no matter what! If you don't have 
a ROM or REX solution for running TS-DOS, I think TEENY is worth the time to 
figure out.

And you can use it to load DOS100.CO, so, it seems like the best of both worlds.

BTW, another way to inject TEENY is by playing an audio file from an MP3 player 
or phone. That works, if you have the right file. 

CLOAD, or CLOADM, doesn't get easier than that.

Anyone have a known good TEENY audio file? Of course you will need a cassette 
cable, and we all have audio playback devices. Any computer or smart phone 
should do.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

I'll look into this when I get a chance Peter. I have not forgotten but thanks 
for the reminder.

Kurt

On Wed, Mar 3, 2021, at 10:50 AM, Peter Vollan wrote:
> FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5
> 
> 
> On Tue, 2 Mar 2021 at 17:16, John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:57 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:
>>>  It's easy to forget that when you're just starting out with this machine
>> 
>> No, I get it. It's complicated. We've lost multiple newbie's coming to the 
>> list. One guy, "Dunebuggy" departed the list informing us that he had ripped 
>> all the wires out of his Model 100 and thrown it away, not able to get file 
>> transfer going.
>> 
>> That said, bootstrap is typically complicated no matter what! If you don't 
>> have a ROM or REX solution for running TS-DOS, I think TEENY is worth the 
>> time to figure out.
>> 
>> And you can use it to load DOS100.CO , so, it seems like 
>> the best of both worlds.
>> 
>> BTW, another way to inject TEENY is by playing an audio file from an MP3 
>> player or phone. That works, if you have the right file. 
>> 
>> CLOAD, or CLOADM, doesn't get easier than that.
>> 
>> Anyone have a known good TEENY audio file? Of course you will need a 
>> cassette cable, and we all have audio playback devices. Any computer or 
>> smart phone should do.
>> 
>> -- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Peter Vollan]

FYI my problem persists, despite installing python 3.5


On Tue, 2 Mar 2021 at 17:16, John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:

>
>
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:57 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:
>
>>  It's easy to forget that when you're just starting out with this machine
>>
>
> No, I get it. It's complicated. We've lost multiple newbie's coming to the
> list. One guy, "Dunebuggy" departed the list informing us that he had
> ripped all the wires out of his Model 100 and thrown it away, not able to
> get file transfer going.
>
> That said, bootstrap is typically complicated no matter what! If you don't
> have a ROM or REX solution for running TS-DOS, I think TEENY is worth the
> time to figure out.
>
> And you can use it to load DOS100.CO, so, it seems like the best of both
> worlds.
>
> BTW, another way to inject TEENY is by playing an audio file from an MP3
> player or phone. That works, if you have the right file.
>
> CLOAD, or CLOADM, doesn't get easier than that.
>
> Anyone have a known good TEENY audio file? Of course you will need a
> cassette cable, and we all have audio playback devices. Any computer or
> smart phone should do.
>
> -- John.
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

I don't know of a good teeny file but I did upload an MP3 for TS-DOS that could 
be played on a phone.

http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?action=downloadfile&filename=DOS100.CO.MP3&directory=Kurt%20McCullum&;

With these instructions: TS-DOS 4.01 in MP3 Format. For those who don't have a 
ROM or DOS loader.
Go to Basic and type 
SOUND OFF 
CLEAR 0, 57089 
RUNM "CAS:DOS100.CO"

Then play the audio file. Of course, this requires an audio cable which is yet 
another issue.

Kurt

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021, at 5:15 PM, John R. Hogerhuis wrote:
> 
> 
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:57 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:
>>  It's easy to forget that when you're just starting out with this machine
> 
> No, I get it. It's complicated. We've lost multiple newbie's coming to the 
> list. One guy, "Dunebuggy" departed the list informing us that he had ripped 
> all the wires out of his Model 100 and thrown it away, not able to get file 
> transfer going.
> 
> That said, bootstrap is typically complicated no matter what! If you don't 
> have a ROM or REX solution for running TS-DOS, I think TEENY is worth the 
> time to figure out.
> 
> And you can use it to load DOS100.CO , so, it seems like 
> the best of both worlds.
> 
> BTW, another way to inject TEENY is by playing an audio file from an MP3 
> player or phone. That works, if you have the right file. 
> 
> CLOAD, or CLOADM, doesn't get easier than that.
> 
> Anyone have a known good TEENY audio file? Of course you will need a cassette 
> cable, and we all have audio playback devices. Any computer or smart phone 
> should do.
> 
> -- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:57 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:

>  It's easy to forget that when you're just starting out with this machine
>

No, I get it. It's complicated. We've lost multiple newbie's coming to the
list. One guy, "Dunebuggy" departed the list informing us that he had
ripped all the wires out of his Model 100 and thrown it away, not able to
get file transfer going.

That said, bootstrap is typically complicated no matter what! If you don't
have a ROM or REX solution for running TS-DOS, I think TEENY is worth the
time to figure out.

And you can use it to load DOS100.CO, so, it seems like the best of both
worlds.

BTW, another way to inject TEENY is by playing an audio file from an MP3
player or phone. That works, if you have the right file.

CLOAD, or CLOADM, doesn't get easier than that.

Anyone have a known good TEENY audio file? Of course you will need a
cassette cable, and we all have audio playback devices. Any computer or
smart phone should do.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

Actually, here is the generic instructions for preparing to launch any CO
file

http://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=Loading_a_typical_CO_file


And here are instructions about recovering an unresponsive / memory
corrupted laptop.

It actually covers the case of taking a machine from storage, but it does
mention cold start instructions.

http://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=Recovering_an_Unresponsive_Laptop

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Jim Anderson]

> -Original Message-
> But TSLOAD.CO doesn't do anything but loads
> DOS100.CO binary file. Which is 8k.

This is true, but with a difference.  It loads DOS100.CO on demand rather than 
have it reside in your RAM at all times, so when you quit TS-DOS you get the 
RAM back.  Sometimes you might prefer to have it sit there taking up 8k at all 
times, but sometimes you might prefer to have 8k available to work with.

> More than one way to do it!

Well, that's why I suggested two alternatives.  TEENY is definitely smaller, 
but IMHO for some people (and especially for someone just starting out with a 
Model T or with 8-bit computers in general) using TEENY is another hurdle 
compared with the interface of TS-DOS, and they're already trying to overcome 
multiple hurdles at once.  You can learn about how file transfers work with 
TS-DOS and then later decide if you want to learn to operate TEENY to save on 
RAM space.  It's easy to forget that when you're just starting out with this 
machine (like I was a few years ago) it takes a little while before file 
transfers and TPDD servers start to make sense rather than feeling like 
mysterious incantations.  :)







jim

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:24 PM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> Ok I finally found some documentation on TEENY and it looks like I have to
> use Windows and run TEENY.EXE on it. Grrr
>
>>
>>>
No, no... TEENY.EXE is not TEENY. TEENY.EXE is an "injector". But if you
loaded from a DO you don't need the injector.

Do you have TEENY.CO running?

Here are instructions once it's launched:

http://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=TEENY

If you need instructions for CLEAR to launch it, let me know.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[AvantGuard Systems]

Ok I finally found some documentation on TEENY and it looks like I have to
use Windows and run TEENY.EXE on it. Grrr

 Curtis Vaughan  |  Computer Consultant
   AvantGuard Computer and Security Systems
   Phone: (206) 423-6979 ▪ Web: www.avantguardsystems.com


On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:15 PM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> Ok, i've got TEENY.CO running, but have no idea what I'm supposed to do.
> Where are the instructions?
>
>  Curtis Vaughan  |  Computer Consultant
>AvantGuard Computer and Security Systems
>Phone: (206) 423-6979 ▪ Web: www.avantguardsystems.com
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 2:37 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:
>
>> > -Original Message-
>> >
>> > Well, if I try to rename ADVENT1.BA to ADVEN.DO, it still says file
>> already exists and
>> > actually it just creates ADVENT1.BA in RAM.
>>
>> Just wanted to point out that when it was suggested to rename the file,
>> the idea was to rename it on the PC end rather than typing a new name for
>> it when you load it through TS-DOS.  If you give a new name, it will only
>> rename the first part of the name - the two character extension cannot be
>> changed during a TS-DOS load or save operation and it will insist on
>> keeping the original file type.
>>
>> One bit of key information you might not be aware of regarding file
>> types, if the file you are transferring is a plain text listing of a BASIC
>> program it must be transferred as a file ending in .DO so that the Model T
>> will know it is a text file.  You can then go into BASIC on the Model T and
>> load it, at which point it will tokenize it and you can save it as a
>> tokenized .BA file.
>>
>> If you load a .BA file using TS-DOS it must be a tokenized file.  You can
>> check by opening the .BA file in a text editor on your PC and see if it's a
>> text listing or if it's a lot of high-ASCII (looks like garbage) with some
>> plain text strings mixed in.
>>
>> Another thing, something you had said in a prior message sounded to me
>> like you thought you needed to load the file from disk (the mComm server on
>> the PC) and then save it in RAM.  It's useful to remember that RAM in the
>> Model T *is* the filesystem, so you don't load into RAM and then save to
>> local storage.  RAM is the local storage.  What the Save function in TS-DOS
>> is used for is to copy files out of the RAM filesystem onto the disk device
>> (the mComm server).  If you've been hitting Load and Save on a bunch of
>> files, maybe take a minute to double-check what's in your mComm TPDD folder
>> to make sure you didn't write back some of these empty or 1-byte files into
>> your PC...
>>
>> The easiest way to remember the meaning of Load and Save is to remember
>> that originally you were Loading files from and Saving files to an external
>> battery-powered floppy drive (the Tandy Portable Disk Drive, hence the
>> acronym TPDD).  Now, we're using a PC with mComm or LaddieAlpha or dlplus
>> or other TPDD emulators, so we're Loading from or Saving to those devices.
>>
>> Aside from these things (which are useful bits of info to know when you
>> are just starting out), I agree that it does sound like your Model T
>> filesystem is corrupt.  The easiest thing to inject is TEENY because it's,
>> well, tiny :) but IMHO even though it's bigger the easiest to deal with
>> would be TSLOAD (by transferring the contents of TSL100.DO from Joshua's S3
>> bucket which he just posted about).  This will create TSLOAD.CO in your
>> machine which loads TS-DOS on demand from the PC whenever you need it, so
>> it's not taking up so much of your Model T's RAM.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> jim
>>
>>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[AvantGuard Systems]

Ok, i've got TEENY.CO running, but have no idea what I'm supposed to do.
Where are the instructions?

 Curtis Vaughan  |  Computer Consultant
   AvantGuard Computer and Security Systems
   Phone: (206) 423-6979 ▪ Web: www.avantguardsystems.com


On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 2:37 PM Jim Anderson  wrote:

> > -Original Message-
> >
> > Well, if I try to rename ADVENT1.BA to ADVEN.DO, it still says file
> already exists and
> > actually it just creates ADVENT1.BA in RAM.
>
> Just wanted to point out that when it was suggested to rename the file,
> the idea was to rename it on the PC end rather than typing a new name for
> it when you load it through TS-DOS.  If you give a new name, it will only
> rename the first part of the name - the two character extension cannot be
> changed during a TS-DOS load or save operation and it will insist on
> keeping the original file type.
>
> One bit of key information you might not be aware of regarding file types,
> if the file you are transferring is a plain text listing of a BASIC program
> it must be transferred as a file ending in .DO so that the Model T will
> know it is a text file.  You can then go into BASIC on the Model T and load
> it, at which point it will tokenize it and you can save it as a tokenized
> .BA file.
>
> If you load a .BA file using TS-DOS it must be a tokenized file.  You can
> check by opening the .BA file in a text editor on your PC and see if it's a
> text listing or if it's a lot of high-ASCII (looks like garbage) with some
> plain text strings mixed in.
>
> Another thing, something you had said in a prior message sounded to me
> like you thought you needed to load the file from disk (the mComm server on
> the PC) and then save it in RAM.  It's useful to remember that RAM in the
> Model T *is* the filesystem, so you don't load into RAM and then save to
> local storage.  RAM is the local storage.  What the Save function in TS-DOS
> is used for is to copy files out of the RAM filesystem onto the disk device
> (the mComm server).  If you've been hitting Load and Save on a bunch of
> files, maybe take a minute to double-check what's in your mComm TPDD folder
> to make sure you didn't write back some of these empty or 1-byte files into
> your PC...
>
> The easiest way to remember the meaning of Load and Save is to remember
> that originally you were Loading files from and Saving files to an external
> battery-powered floppy drive (the Tandy Portable Disk Drive, hence the
> acronym TPDD).  Now, we're using a PC with mComm or LaddieAlpha or dlplus
> or other TPDD emulators, so we're Loading from or Saving to those devices.
>
> Aside from these things (which are useful bits of info to know when you
> are just starting out), I agree that it does sound like your Model T
> filesystem is corrupt.  The easiest thing to inject is TEENY because it's,
> well, tiny :) but IMHO even though it's bigger the easiest to deal with
> would be TSLOAD (by transferring the contents of TSL100.DO from Joshua's S3
> bucket which he just posted about).  This will create TSLOAD.CO in your
> machine which loads TS-DOS on demand from the PC whenever you need it, so
> it's not taking up so much of your Model T's RAM.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> jim
>
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

So TSL100.DO is a 3K file, that can be downloaded through TELCOM or the
RUN"COM  command. It's a text form of a BASIC program that creates TSLOAD.CO,
a 526 byte CO program. But TSLOAD.CO doesn't do anything but loads DOS100.CO
binary file. Which is 8k.

It all works... but if you go straight to TEENY which is only about 300
bytes more than TSLOAD.CO, then you have full ability to transfer files,
including DOS100.CO if you want.

More than one way to do it!

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Jim Anderson]

> -Original Message-
> 
> Well, if I try to rename ADVENT1.BA to ADVEN.DO, it still says file already 
> exists and
> actually it just creates ADVENT1.BA in RAM.

Just wanted to point out that when it was suggested to rename the file, the 
idea was to rename it on the PC end rather than typing a new name for it when 
you load it through TS-DOS.  If you give a new name, it will only rename the 
first part of the name - the two character extension cannot be changed during a 
TS-DOS load or save operation and it will insist on keeping the original file 
type.

One bit of key information you might not be aware of regarding file types, if 
the file you are transferring is a plain text listing of a BASIC program it 
must be transferred as a file ending in .DO so that the Model T will know it is 
a text file.  You can then go into BASIC on the Model T and load it, at which 
point it will tokenize it and you can save it as a tokenized .BA file.

If you load a .BA file using TS-DOS it must be a tokenized file.  You can check 
by opening the .BA file in a text editor on your PC and see if it's a text 
listing or if it's a lot of high-ASCII (looks like garbage) with some plain 
text strings mixed in.

Another thing, something you had said in a prior message sounded to me like you 
thought you needed to load the file from disk (the mComm server on the PC) and 
then save it in RAM.  It's useful to remember that RAM in the Model T *is* the 
filesystem, so you don't load into RAM and then save to local storage.  RAM is 
the local storage.  What the Save function in TS-DOS is used for is to copy 
files out of the RAM filesystem onto the disk device (the mComm server).  If 
you've been hitting Load and Save on a bunch of files, maybe take a minute to 
double-check what's in your mComm TPDD folder to make sure you didn't write 
back some of these empty or 1-byte files into your PC...

The easiest way to remember the meaning of Load and Save is to remember that 
originally you were Loading files from and Saving files to an external 
battery-powered floppy drive (the Tandy Portable Disk Drive, hence the acronym 
TPDD).  Now, we're using a PC with mComm or LaddieAlpha or dlplus or other TPDD 
emulators, so we're Loading from or Saving to those devices.

Aside from these things (which are useful bits of info to know when you are 
just starting out), I agree that it does sound like your Model T filesystem is 
corrupt.  The easiest thing to inject is TEENY because it's, well, tiny :) but 
IMHO even though it's bigger the easiest to deal with would be TSLOAD (by 
transferring the contents of TSL100.DO from Joshua's S3 bucket which he just 
posted about).  This will create TSLOAD.CO in your machine which loads TS-DOS 
on demand from the PC whenever you need it, so it's not taking up so much of 
your Model T's RAM.







jim

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Joshua O'Keefe]

On Mar 2, 2021, at 1:04 PM, John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:
> In which case you need something in plain text .DO file format to start with. 
> I think the "IPL.BA"

A solution that worked for me before I had a REX was to inject TSLOAD which is 
small, and use that to run TSDOS off the emulated disk as needed.  This saved a 
few K of RAM over the solution of just keeping TSDOS whole hog on the 
filesystem.

I keep a copy of TSLOAD on my S3 bucket, because I had a fair amount of trouble 
locating it until Kurt dug it up for me.

S3 bucket: http://public.nachomountain.com/files/m100/

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

And if you want to ditch TS-DOS RAM altogether, you can just inject TEENY
in one step:

http://club100.org/memfiles/index.php?&direction=0&order=&directory=John%20Hogerhuis/TEENY

This is a TEENY loader in DO format. You run it, and it creates TEENY.CO

It's bare bones but it gets the file transfer job done. It's only downfall
is it has no support for listing directories on either side. You have to
know the names of the files you are transferring, no fancy menu.

And in fact if you want to go back to TS-DOS RAM, once TEENY is installed,
you use TEENY to load DOS100.CO.

So TEENY can be used to bootstrap TS-DOS RAM.

The other advantage of TEENY is it works over even the slowest links. So
Bluetooth, Wifi, etc. should all work without any issues, since TEENY does
not have any timeouts. If it hangs, it hangs until you hit reset.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:25 PM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> Well, if I try to rename ADVENT1.BA to ADVEN.DO, it still says file
> already exists and actually it just creates ADVENT1.BA in RAM.
> I even tried LOADing a .DO file. Again it says file already exists, but
> this time the file in RAM has 1 bit. In reality it should be around 511.
>
>
By Bit I think you mean byte, but yeah.

ADVEN1.DO should show as about 17875 bytes, not 1 or 511.


> Uh RAM is corrupted possibility. Well, then I have to figure out how
> to get TPDD over to M100 from Linux, right?
>
>
A near certainty. Since you have a known working way to do this from
Windows I suggest you a) do a cold start to clear the corruption and b)
re-inject it from there.

Or embark on the journey of discovery... your choice :-)

In which case you need something in plain text .DO file format to start
with. I think the "IPL.BA"

http://www.club100.org/library/doc/tsdos.html

Section on IPL.BA
I guess the IPL is included with mcomm as a file? Since it is able to
inject it. Maybe you can get it from there.

The other thing you could do is type in the IPL.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Gregory McGill]

pretty easy to do just copy the file listing for it and paste it into a
terminal on the pc side while doing the load on the m100 side

Greg

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:25 PM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> Well, if I try to rename ADVENT1.BA to ADVEN.DO, it still says file
> already exists and actually it just creates ADVENT1.BA in RAM.
> I even tried LOADing a .DO file. Again it says file already exists, but
> this time the file in RAM has 1 bit. In reality it should be around 511.
>
> Uh RAM is corrupted possibility. Well, then I have to figure out how
> to get TPDD over to M100 from Linux, right?
>
>  Curtis
>
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:13 PM John R. Hogerhuis 
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:06 PM Kurt McCullum  wrote:
>>
>>> So true.
>>>
>>> So the philosophy is that when you touch a hot stove, you should get
>>> burned.
>>>
>>>
>> Here endeth the lesson, newbs :-)
>>
>> -- John.
>>
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[AvantGuard Systems]

Well, if I try to rename ADVENT1.BA to ADVEN.DO, it still says file already
exists and actually it just creates ADVENT1.BA in RAM.
I even tried LOADing a .DO file. Again it says file already exists, but
this time the file in RAM has 1 bit. In reality it should be around 511.

Uh RAM is corrupted possibility. Well, then I have to figure out how to
get TPDD over to M100 from Linux, right?

 Curtis

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:13 PM John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:

>
>
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:06 PM Kurt McCullum  wrote:
>
>> So true.
>>
>> So the philosophy is that when you touch a hot stove, you should get
>> burned.
>>
>>
> Here endeth the lesson, newbs :-)
>
> -- John.
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 12:06 PM Kurt McCullum  wrote:

> So true.
>
> So the philosophy is that when you touch a hot stove, you should get
> burned.
>
>
Here endeth the lesson, newbs :-)

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

So true.

> So the philosophy is that when you touch a hot stove, you should get burned.
> 
> 

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

Ah. I think it is a file format/ extension problem. A Known issue

ADVEN1.BA is misnamed. It is a text file, so its extension should be .DO
not .BA . .BA is only for tokenized basic programs.

TS-DOS sees the BA extension and tries to load the contents as a tokenized
(binary) BASIC program, into that area, and corrupts the file system.

So to load ADVEN1, you need to rename it from your host PC as ADVEN1.DO and
then  load it. Never load a plain text BASIC program from a BA extension.

Also your Model 100 RAM file system is probably corrupted, you must do a
cold start to reset the system.

I added code in LaddieAlpha to detect files misnamed like this. It would
have renamed it on the fly. But I don't think other TPDD servers do this
renaming.

So the philosophy is that when you touch a hot stove, you should get burned.

-- John.

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 11:56 AM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> Right, so I push Disk to see the files in my TPDD directory. So for
> example, let's say I want to load ADVEN1.BA, which under FILE on the M100
> shows as having 17875 bits (17.9 KB according to the computer). So all's
> good.
> RAM free is 23477
> So I've killed ADVEN1.BA on the RAM side. I go to DISK, push LOAD. A
> dialogue Load as comes up and I usually just keep the same name by entering
> nothing. It says File exists, press any key. When I go to RAM it is there,
> but nothing is in it. Even if I change the name it'll say File exists press
> any key and the new file is also 0 bits
>
>  Curtis Vaughan  |  Computer Consultant
>AvantGuard Computer and Security Systems
>Phone: (206) 423-6979 ▪ Web: www.avantguardsystems.com
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 11:48 AM John R. Hogerhuis 
> wrote:
>
>> "But what happens when I load a file is that it will always say that the
>> file already exists, but when I go to RAM it's an empty file. So even if I
>> try to save it, it says it's an empty file."
>>
>> What file are you trying to load?
>>
>> When you launch TS-DOS you are looking at the M100's directory. If you
>> toggle to Disk (I think, F4) you can look at the TPDD directory.
>>
>> Always keep in mind there are two sides... the M100 directory, and the
>> TPDD directory.
>>
>> It sounds like the file in RAM *is* empty and it will stay empty until
>> you delete it or allow it to be overwritten.
>>
>> The other question is, what is in the file on the TPDD side you are
>> trying to load. Obviously if it is empty on the TPDD side it will also be
>> empty when you load a copy into M100 file system.
>>
>> What's the name including extension? How many bytes are in it? If you are
>> in Disk Mode and move the widebar cursor over the file, TS-DOS should tell
>> you a byte count.
>>
>> -- John.
>>
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

Is ADVEN1.BA a text file or tokenized basic? Quite a few of the files from 
club100 have a .BA extension but are actually .DO files.

Kurt

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021, at 11:56 AM, AvantGuard Systems wrote:
> Right, so I push Disk to see the files in my TPDD directory. So for example, 
> let's say I want to load ADVEN1.BA , which under FILE on 
> the M100 shows as having 17875 bits (17.9 KB according to the computer). So 
> all's good.
> RAM free is 23477
> So I've killed ADVEN1.BA  on the RAM side. I go to DISK, 
> push LOAD. A dialogue Load as comes up and I usually just keep the same name 
> by entering nothing. It says File exists, press any key. When I go to RAM it 
> is there, but nothing is in it. Even if I change the name it'll say File 
> exists press any key and the new file is also 0 bits
> 
>  Curtis Vaughan  |  Computer Consultant
>AvantGuard Computer and Security Systems
>Phone: (206) 423-6979 ▪ Web: www.avantguardsystems.com
> 
> 
> On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 11:48 AM John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:
>> "But what happens when I load a file is that it will always say that the 
>> file already exists, but when I go to RAM it's an empty file. So even if I 
>> try to save it, it says it's an empty file."
>> 
>> What file are you trying to load?
>> When you launch TS-DOS you are looking at the M100's directory. If you 
>> toggle to Disk (I think, F4) you can look at the TPDD directory.
>> 
>> Always keep in mind there are two sides... the M100 directory, and the TPDD 
>> directory.
>> 
>> It sounds like the file in RAM *is* empty and it will stay empty until you 
>> delete it or allow it to be overwritten.
>> 
>> The other question is, what is in the file on the TPDD side you are trying 
>> to load. Obviously if it is empty on the TPDD side it will also be empty 
>> when you load a copy into M100 file system.
>> 
>> What's the name including extension? How many bytes are in it? If you are in 
>> Disk Mode and move the widebar cursor over the file, TS-DOS should tell you 
>> a byte count.
>> 
>> -- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[AvantGuard Systems]

Right, so I push Disk to see the files in my TPDD directory. So for
example, let's say I want to load ADVEN1.BA, which under FILE on the M100
shows as having 17875 bits (17.9 KB according to the computer). So all's
good.
RAM free is 23477
So I've killed ADVEN1.BA on the RAM side. I go to DISK, push LOAD. A
dialogue Load as comes up and I usually just keep the same name by entering
nothing. It says File exists, press any key. When I go to RAM it is there,
but nothing is in it. Even if I change the name it'll say File exists press
any key and the new file is also 0 bits

 Curtis Vaughan  |  Computer Consultant
   AvantGuard Computer and Security Systems
   Phone: (206) 423-6979 ▪ Web: www.avantguardsystems.com


On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 11:48 AM John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:

> "But what happens when I load a file is that it will always say that the
> file already exists, but when I go to RAM it's an empty file. So even if I
> try to save it, it says it's an empty file."
>
> What file are you trying to load?
>
> When you launch TS-DOS you are looking at the M100's directory. If you
> toggle to Disk (I think, F4) you can look at the TPDD directory.
>
> Always keep in mind there are two sides... the M100 directory, and the
> TPDD directory.
>
> It sounds like the file in RAM *is* empty and it will stay empty until you
> delete it or allow it to be overwritten.
>
> The other question is, what is in the file on the TPDD side you are trying
> to load. Obviously if it is empty on the TPDD side it will also be empty
> when you load a copy into M100 file system.
>
> What's the name including extension? How many bytes are in it? If you are
> in Disk Mode and move the widebar cursor over the file, TS-DOS should tell
> you a byte count.
>
> -- John.
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 11:42 AM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> I'm wondering how I'm supposed to get that over to M100 should I lose it?
>

Well, many people have a ROM version of TS-DOS either in a option ROM or in
a REX. So they never need to bootstrap TS-DOS into RAM.

TS-DOS RAM version is really big, like 8k, so it is really a non-starter
for me.

For LaddieAlpha, I encourage either REX, a  real option ROM, or TEENY.
TEENY is purely a software thing, but only takes 800 bytes. TEENY can be
injected in DO format using any terminal program. On Linux, that would be
Minicom for me.

I assume there's a version of TS-DOS RAM can also be injected with a
terminal program though I don't think I've ever tried it.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

"But what happens when I load a file is that it will always say that the
file already exists, but when I go to RAM it's an empty file. So even if I
try to save it, it says it's an empty file."

What file are you trying to load?

When you launch TS-DOS you are looking at the M100's directory. If you
toggle to Disk (I think, F4) you can look at the TPDD directory.

Always keep in mind there are two sides... the M100 directory, and the TPDD
directory.

It sounds like the file in RAM *is* empty and it will stay empty until you
delete it or allow it to be overwritten.

The other question is, what is in the file on the TPDD side you are trying
to load. Obviously if it is empty on the TPDD side it will also be empty
when you load a copy into M100 file system.

What's the name including extension? How many bytes are in it? If you are
in Disk Mode and move the widebar cursor over the file, TS-DOS should tell
you a byte count.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[AvantGuard Systems]

OK back to mcomm on linux. It does seem so far more stable than on windows.
However! when running my CPU is being taxed by python3.
Anyhow After I launch TS-DOS on M100, I can go to Disk and see all the
files that will fit on the screen. Looking at the TSDOS documentation it
seems that I should choose LOAD to put a file into RAM and then I'm
guessing that I would then SAVE it. But what happens when I load a file is
that it will always say that the file already exists, but when I go to RAM
it's an empty file. So even if I try to save it, it says it's an empty
file. If I load it in Basic, there is nothing there. So obviously I'm
missing something.

Another thing I've noticed is that under Windows you can load TPDD to the
M100. But when I launch mcomm on linux there is no such option. I'm
wondering how I'm supposed to get that over to M100 should I lose it?

 Curtis

On Sun, Feb 28, 2021 at 6:46 AM Brian K. White  wrote:

> On 2/26/21 6:28 PM, Chris Fezzler wrote:
>
> > Hey, after I type RUN "COM:98N1E" in BASIC, do I hit ENTER on the M100?
>
> Yes.
>
> --
> bkw
>

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Brian K. White]

On 2/26/21 6:28 PM, Chris Fezzler wrote:


Hey, after I type RUN "COM:98N1E" in BASIC, do I hit ENTER on the M100?


Yes.

--
bkw

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Chris Fezzler]

 Over a decade of Club100 and multiple decades with Model T computing and I 
never tried mComm.  Looks cool.
Dug out my old Win7 subnotebook, my Gigaware USB-to-serial cable and a null 
modem gender changer.  Connected everything up.mComm installed perfectly and 
put a nice icon on my desktop.  It sees the USB serial port as Com3.  Cool.
Hey, after I type RUN "COM:98N1E" in BASIC, do I hit ENTER on the M100?  
So the notebook and Model T were definitely communicating but I was not able to 
get TSDOS pushed to the Model T.  Should I see text echoed to screen?  How long 
does it take?
Anyway, I got another Model T that already has TSDOS on it and it works great 
with mComm.
Thanks to all you innovators out there.  


On Friday, February 26, 2021, 03:14:34 PM EST, AvantGuard Systems 
 wrote:  
 
 I have yet to get the cables for connecting my M100 to my computer to access 
files. However in the meantime I have installed mcomm. I'm wondering how I'm 
supposed to use it. 

So if I enter the command: mcomm -l    it says there are no serial ports 
available. Perhaps once it's plugged into the M100 it will see the USB as a 
serial port, but.Now I can issue the command mcomm --port to open a serial 
port.I'm wondering if that is what I will have to do. So I'll have to figure 
out which /dev/tty is the usb port in question, set it as a serial device 
and then tell mcomm to set it as the serial port to use?
Maybe once I get the cables it'll make more sense.
Setting the path to the base directory seems self explanatory. (mcomm --path 
PATH) or I can create a TPDD directory right in my home directory as that would 
be the default.

 Curtis 
  

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[John R. Hogerhuis]

udev is the way, IMO. At least on the Pi that I have a lot of experience
with.

The rules are a pain in the rear. Probably because I don't fully understand
how it works, so it is a process of trial and error. But udev is the only
way I've gotten consistent control of device naming for projects.

The key is to find enough distinct attributes to match on, that are at the
same "level". There are lots of USB device properties, but a single udev
rules must match properties all at the same level.

-- John.

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Daryl Tester]

On 27/2/21 7:04 am, Kurt McCullum wrote:


Once you plug your USB to serial adapter into your system, it will show
up under /dev. You have to have permissions to access it so you
will likely need to use chmod on it before you can use it.


Because the permissions are ephemeral and will disappear when you unplug
the USB device (unless you hack at udev, the subsystem responsible for
creating the device entry when the USB device is plugged in), a more
persistent method is to add yourself to the supplementary group that
/dev/ttyUSB* belongs to.

e.g.

$ ls -l /dev/ttyUSB0
crw-rw 1 root dialout 188, 0 Feb 27 09:59 /dev/ttyUSB0

$ id -a
uid=1000(dt) gid=1000(dt) 
groups=1000(dt),4(adm),20(dialout),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),116(lpadmin),126(sambashare),129(libvirt),999(docker)

If you're not a member, add yourself with the following command:

$ sudo usermod -a -G dialout 

Then logout, and back in, so your process will pick up the new group membership.

Cheers,
  --dt

Re: [M100] mcomm on linux

[Kurt McCullum]

Curtis,

Once you plug your USB to serial adapter into your system, it will show up 
under /dev. You have to have permissions to access it so you will likely need 
to use chmod on it before you can use it. By default, mComm will use the first 
serial port (if there are any). By default, mComm will create a TPDD folder in 
your user folder. If permissions on the tty device are proper, then calling 
mcomm from a prompt should work with the defaults.

Kurt

On Fri, Feb 26, 2021, at 12:14 PM, AvantGuard Systems wrote:
> I have yet to get the cables for connecting my M100 to my computer to access 
> files. However in the meantime I have installed mcomm. I'm wondering how I'm 
> supposed to use it. 
> 
> So if I enter the command: mcomm -lit says there are no serial ports 
> available. Perhaps once it's plugged into the M100 it will see the USB as a 
> serial port, but.
> Now I can issue the command mcomm --port to open a serial port.
> I'm wondering if that is what I will have to do. So I'll have to figure out 
> which /dev/tty is the usb port in question, set it as a serial device and 
> then tell mcomm to set it as the serial port to use?
> 
> Maybe once I get the cables it'll make more sense.
> 
> Setting the path to the base directory seems self explanatory. (mcomm --path 
> PATH) or I can create a TPDD directory right in my home directory as that 
> would be the default.
> 
>  Curtis