Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
I wrote... Looks like I'll have to get my hands dirty with some Z80 at the weekend... And I have! The patched ROM3 is ready. By removing the rainbow stripes and the copyright message I freed up 130 bytes and just managed to squeeze my new code in the ROM to first check that the Trinity Ethernet Interface is connected then fetch in a 1K bootblock from the Trinity's 128K EEPROM and execute it. I've just got a simple test routine stored in the EEPROM for the time being so I could check it was all working, but the next step is to write code so it can then fetch in the full DOS from the EEPROM too which should be a relatively straightforward task to write. Of course though the 1K bootblock in the EEPROM could contain whatever you want so there's nothing stopping anyone else to write their own code to pop in the EEPROM to execute on startup. I'll be writing up all what I've done for the next SAM Revival magazine and including all the source code for the ROM patch, the finished bootblock and installer for getting it to load DOS on startup. There'll also be some skeleton code for creating your own bootblock routine for it to execute on startup. I've got some EPROM chips on the way so will have the new ROMs available later this week. Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Thomas wrote: I'm a bit confused about all this — how will this all work from a technical point of view? I don't know what hardware ethernet controllers tend to have... presumably the ethernet controller can self assemble packets, then the z80 will run a TCP/IP stack and the various HTTP protocol-related tasks? Are you planning to claim well-defined pages and publish well-defined entry points/etc, or just offer the TCP/IP and HTTP code for linking directly into programs that want to use it? Simply put, the ethernet controller is taking care of sending and receiving packets - it has an 8K buffer, and can flag when it was received a complete packet etc. Simon Owen has already done a great job on writing an Ethernet driver to take care of all the hardware initialising, setting up the buffers, sending and receiving packets between the SAM and the ethernet controller on the Trinity. Adrian's been working on porting the uIP TCP/IP stack to the SAM to process the packets to provide the TCP/IP connectivity and handling various protocols. From the chats I've had with Adrian the 'interface' for using the TCP/IP stack is probably the one area that's been the most thought out - coming up with a versatible and easy way of using the code in your own programs - from the ideas that he has come up with it should be straightforward for both machine code and BASIC programs to be able to use the stack. Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
It should be able to be loaded to just about any page you want so you can fit it around your things, itll nick a couple of unused system vars to track a few things but again these will be documented. -Original Message- From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Thomas Harte Sent: 10 January 2009 13:31 To: Adrian Subject: Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now! I'm a bit confused about all this - how will this all work from a technical point of view? I don't know what hardware ethernet controllers tend to have... presumably the ethernet controller can self assemble packets, then the z80 will run a TCP/IP stack and the various HTTP protocol-related tasks? Are you planning to claim well- defined pages and publish well-defined entry points/etc, or just offer the TCP/IP and HTTP code for linking directly into programs that want to use it? Quite possibly I'm asking the wrong questions. If so, please don't hesitate to say so! Re: the SD/MMC card and reading it on full-size computers, I think there isn't a solution yet for Trinity-format cards (?), presumably for us people using an OS with a UNIX layer, this is just a case of someone writing something to find the correct block device and read it back in the expected formats, and could even be added to something like FUSE (the filesystems in userspace one, not the Spectrum emulator)? How hard would it be to add to Sim Coupé? On 8 Jan 2009, at 22:27, Adrian Brown wrote: Ill be glad when the HTTP stuff is sorted so i can add all the final interfaces for it all - once its all done, i need to get my nice cross platform compiler/debugger working using it - so i can rewrite it all ;) I forgot how hard it was to dev something of this size even in the great comet assembler (I cant remember which assembler i first started with - but it had line numbers ;). When a project starts getting above 4000 lines of code its a pain to follow. I guess im too use to multiple files and headesr to keep everything simple these days :D Adrian -Original Message- From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Colin Piggot Sent: 08 January 2009 22:00 To: Adrian Subject: Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now! Thomas wrote: To my mind, this would add significantly to the value of the Trinity, and if you were to develop such a thing (presumably it'd just be however long it takes to modify the OS ROM, then existing Trinitys could be reflashed?) then I would definitely go on the pre-order list. No need to reflash existing Trinitys. The EEPROM on the Trinity is both readable and writeable from software. It's on there to store settings and such like for programs (e.g. network configuration). It's allocated with a simple system giving 120 x 1K chunks and a table which has a record of what is using each chunk. There's all the info on how it stores stuff as well as all the source code needed to do everything included with the Trinity (and also printed in SAM Revival 20) A simple program could be made to allocate a chunk (or chunks) for the extra boot code or the whole DOS, which the patched SAM ROM could then fetch when the SAM starts up. In fact, I guess you'd just be able to offer the OS ROM as an upgrade (?), so I guess I could order a Trinity right now and get myself in order with whatever tiny number of discs I didn't long ago image while the drive is still working. Yeap. When it's ready it would just need the modified SAM ROM to be fitted inside the SAM and then a program loaded on the SAM to dump the extra chunk of code in the Trinity's EEPROM and then it would be all set to go. While the Atom and that ROM would clearly solve my solid-state needs, it would be nice to throw some ethernet on in there while I'm spending the cash. I'm itching to see stuff using the Ethernet up and running as you'll have seen from the latest magazine - I'll update information on my webby of what I've got in the works at the weekend when I've got some spare time. From chatting with Adrian I know he's been making great progress with the TCP/IP code, running his DNS program and just seeing it pop the results up shows it's well on the way! With all the ideas that he has been kicking about for the completed stack it is going to be fantastic - and easy to use for all the programmers out there. Colin. = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/ APB Computer Services Ltd. Registered Address: 3 Springfield, Trevadlock, Congdons Shop, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 7PW. Registration Number: 4942193. V.A.T. No: 826 0005 70 This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Having just received a copy, obviously I have to say that the 3d demo is truly awesome. As is the rest of the magazine and disk. But it does make it apparent that the floppy drive in my Sam isn't long for this world. I have an external one too, so I should be fine - but is there any solution yet for an entirely solid state Sam? As I understand it, neither the Trinity nor the Atom attempt to look like a WD177x, so the ROM can't load DOS from them. Is there anything else I can do? Is there maybe a Trinity and a modified ROM that I can purchase, or maybe something else I haven't thought of? If not, is anyone working on anything in this respect? On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 9:43 AM, Colin Piggot qua...@clara.net wrote: Hi folks, Just a quick note to say that SAM Revival issue 22 is now out, and subscribers copies have been posted this morning. All the info on the issue and PayPal buy now options are up on my website at www.samcoupe.com All the best, Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2008 - Celebrating 14 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Thomas Harte wrote: but is there any solution yet for an entirely solid state Sam? I have an Atom [Lite] card in the drive 2 slot, and use Edwin's modified ROM to boot directly from it. As a bonus, you can use the CF card with SimCoupe on your desktop machine to share all the same programs and data (well, once I've done a release with Lite support!). It's sometimes still be handy to have drive 1 as a working floppy, though not essential if you have access to a desktop PC for disk imaging. I'll see if I've got a spare SAM drive kicking around, as I rarely have 2 fitted anymore. Otherwise Colin can probably help with repair or replacement. Si
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
I use this as my default SAM setup, that's how the Atom Lite Pro-Dos (ALPD) came about. ( Thanks Edwin for the time spent on the ALPD hacks). It's a real treat to just swap the CF cards between Atom Lite and SIM Coupe. But remember the Atom Lite is not a hot swap system. Steve(spt). I have an Atom [Lite] card in the drive 2 slot, and use Edwin's modified ROM to boot directly from it. As a bonus, you can use the CF card with SimCoupe on your desktop machine to share all the same programs and data (well, once I've done a release with Lite support!). It's sometimes still be handy to have drive 1 as a working floppy, though not essential if you have access to a desktop PC for disk imaging. I'll see if I've got a spare SAM drive kicking around, as I rarely have 2 fitted anymore. Otherwise Colin can probably help with repair or replacement. Si
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
How hard is it to obtain a copy of the modified ROM in the correct physical format and subsequently to install it? I'm a complete electronics dunce. Also, any thoughts on how hard it would be to put together a similar ROM for the Trinity? On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Steve Parry-Thomas morriga...@aol.com wrote: I use this as my default SAM setup, that's how the Atom Lite Pro-Dos (ALPD) came about. ( Thanks Edwin for the time spent on the ALPD hacks). It's a real treat to just swap the CF cards between Atom Lite and SIM Coupe. But remember the Atom Lite is not a hot swap system. Steve(spt). I have an Atom [Lite] card in the drive 2 slot, and use Edwin's modified ROM to boot directly from it. As a bonus, you can use the CF card with SimCoupe on your desktop machine to share all the same programs and data (well, once I've done a release with Lite support!). It's sometimes still be handy to have drive 1 as a working floppy, though not essential if you have access to a desktop PC for disk imaging. I'll see if I've got a spare SAM drive kicking around, as I rarely have 2 fitted anymore. Otherwise Colin can probably help with repair or replacement. Si
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Well, all you need is the Atom Lite Boot ROM 2.2 its on the pro-dos site, and a way to burn it to EPROM. I don't have all my software install on this machine yet, if I did I could burn it for you, Edwin could as well. My be others ?? Colin? Si? And the BDOS .. Which is also on the Pro-Dos site. I don't know about Trinity, I don't have one. One for Colin to answer? -Original Message- From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Thomas Harte Sent: 08 January 2009 15:34 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now! How hard is it to obtain a copy of the modified ROM in the correct physical format and subsequently to install it? I'm a complete electronics dunce. Also, any thoughts on how hard it would be to put together a similar ROM for the Trinity?
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
On Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:18:06 +, I wrote: I don't have an UV eraser lamp otherwise probably http://uk.farnell.com/stmicroelectronics/m27c256b-15f1/eprom-cmos-256k-27c256-dip28/dp/1125431 For low-cost, would this work? http://uk.farnell.com/atmel/at27c256r-70pu/eprom-256k-4-5-5-5v-27c256/dp/1095781 Obviously the one-time nature of the programming would make it a bit hairy on the old stress levels :-) but it's nearly half the price even of the EPROM. I assume the fact that it's rated at 70ns wouldn't be a problem? Geoff
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
On Thu, 8 Jan 2009 15:54:47 -, Steve Parry-Thomas morriga...@aol.com wrote: I don't have all my software install on this machine yet, if I did I could burn it for you, Edwin could as well. May be others ?? Colin? Si? I also have a Willem programmer in a drawer in the unlikely event that no-one else has immediate access to one. I assume this http://uk.farnell.com/atmel/at28c256-15pu/eeprom-parallel-256k-28c256/dp/1095782 would do the job for the chip itself? I don't have an UV eraser lamp otherwise probably http://uk.farnell.com/stmicroelectronics/m27c256b-15f1/eprom-cmos-256k-27c256-dip28/dp/1125431 would do too? Geoff
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Sign me up for one.. Pretty Please :D -Original Message- From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Colin Piggot Sent: 08 January 2009 21:16 To: Adrian Subject: Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now! Thomas wrote: Also, any thoughts on how hard it would be to put together a similar ROM for the Trinity? Simon wrote: Spare space in the ROM is fairly limited and Edwin spent a while shaving extra bytes of his AL detection and booting code. Still, with the Trinity being a single device on known ports, it might require less space Evening, Just sitting here thinking about about it, it could probably be done a lot simpler with the Trinity. For the Trinity, space in the ROM would only have to be found to fit in a very small routine to see if the Trinity is connected and then if it is load an extra chunk of code from the onboard 128K EEPROM into memory. It would then execute what it fetched from the EEPROM to load the full DOS into memory. Although, why not then just go the whole way and store the DOS in the 128K EEPROM to save having to fetch that from the SD card. From what I remember back when I was changing ROM3 for the Mayhem - removing the copyright message and coloured bars would possibly be all that's required to get enough room for the tiny chunk of code to fetch stuff from the EEPROM. Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/ APB Computer Services Ltd. Registered Address: 3 Springfield, Trevadlock, Congdons Shop, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 7PW. Registration Number: 4942193. V.A.T. No: 826 0005 70 This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
To my mind, this would add significantly to the value of the Trinity, and if you were to develop such a thing (presumably it'd just be however long it takes to modify the OS ROM, then existing Trinitys could be reflashed?) then I would definitely go on the pre-order list. In fact, I guess you'd just be able to offer the OS ROM as an upgrade (?), so I guess I could order a Trinity right now and get myself in order with whatever tiny number of discs I didn't long ago image while the drive is still working. While the Atom and that ROM would clearly solve my solid-state needs, it would be nice to throw some ethernet on in there while I'm spending the cash. On 8 Jan 2009, at 21:02, Colin Piggot wrote: Thomas wrote: Also, any thoughts on how hard it would be to put together a similar ROM for the Trinity? Simon wrote: Spare space in the ROM is fairly limited and Edwin spent a while shaving extra bytes of his AL detection and booting code. Still, with the Trinity being a single device on known ports, it might require less space Evening, Just sitting here thinking about about it, it could probably be done a lot simpler with the Trinity. For the Trinity, space in the ROM would only have to be found to fit in a very small routine to see if the Trinity is connected and then if it is load an extra chunk of code from the onboard 128K EEPROM into memory. It would then execute what it fetched from the EEPROM to load the full DOS into memory. Although, why not then just go the whole way and store the DOS in the 128K EEPROM to save having to fetch that from the SD card. From what I remember back when I was changing ROM3 for the Mayhem - removing the copyright message and coloured bars would possibly be all that's required to get enough room for the tiny chunk of code to fetch stuff from the EEPROM. Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Thomas wrote: To my mind, this would add significantly to the value of the Trinity, and if you were to develop such a thing (presumably it'd just be however long it takes to modify the OS ROM, then existing Trinitys could be reflashed?) then I would definitely go on the pre-order list. No need to reflash existing Trinitys. The EEPROM on the Trinity is both readable and writeable from software. It's on there to store settings and such like for programs (e.g. network configuration). It's allocated with a simple system giving 120 x 1K chunks and a table which has a record of what is using each chunk. There's all the info on how it stores stuff as well as all the source code needed to do everything included with the Trinity (and also printed in SAM Revival 20) A simple program could be made to allocate a chunk (or chunks) for the extra boot code or the whole DOS, which the patched SAM ROM could then fetch when the SAM starts up. In fact, I guess you'd just be able to offer the OS ROM as an upgrade (?), so I guess I could order a Trinity right now and get myself in order with whatever tiny number of discs I didn't long ago image while the drive is still working. Yeap. When it's ready it would just need the modified SAM ROM to be fitted inside the SAM and then a program loaded on the SAM to dump the extra chunk of code in the Trinity's EEPROM and then it would be all set to go. While the Atom and that ROM would clearly solve my solid-state needs, it would be nice to throw some ethernet on in there while I'm spending the cash. I'm itching to see stuff using the Ethernet up and running as you'll have seen from the latest magazine - I'll update information on my webby of what I've got in the works at the weekend when I've got some spare time. From chatting with Adrian I know he's been making great progress with the TCP/IP code, running his DNS program and just seeing it pop the results up shows it's well on the way! With all the ideas that he has been kicking about for the completed stack it is going to be fantastic - and easy to use for all the programmers out there. Colin. = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Adrian wrote: Sign me up for one.. Pretty Please :D Looks like I'll have to get my hands dirty with some Z80 at the weekend... Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
RE: SAM Revival issue 22 out now!
Ill be glad when the HTTP stuff is sorted so i can add all the final interfaces for it all - once its all done, i need to get my nice cross platform compiler/debugger working using it - so i can rewrite it all ;) I forgot how hard it was to dev something of this size even in the great comet assembler (I cant remember which assembler i first started with - but it had line numbers ;). When a project starts getting above 4000 lines of code its a pain to follow. I guess im too use to multiple files and headesr to keep everything simple these days :D Adrian -Original Message- From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Colin Piggot Sent: 08 January 2009 22:00 To: Adrian Subject: Re: SAM Revival issue 22 out now! Thomas wrote: To my mind, this would add significantly to the value of the Trinity, and if you were to develop such a thing (presumably it'd just be however long it takes to modify the OS ROM, then existing Trinitys could be reflashed?) then I would definitely go on the pre-order list. No need to reflash existing Trinitys. The EEPROM on the Trinity is both readable and writeable from software. It's on there to store settings and such like for programs (e.g. network configuration). It's allocated with a simple system giving 120 x 1K chunks and a table which has a record of what is using each chunk. There's all the info on how it stores stuff as well as all the source code needed to do everything included with the Trinity (and also printed in SAM Revival 20) A simple program could be made to allocate a chunk (or chunks) for the extra boot code or the whole DOS, which the patched SAM ROM could then fetch when the SAM starts up. In fact, I guess you'd just be able to offer the OS ROM as an upgrade (?), so I guess I could order a Trinity right now and get myself in order with whatever tiny number of discs I didn't long ago image while the drive is still working. Yeap. When it's ready it would just need the modified SAM ROM to be fitted inside the SAM and then a program loaded on the SAM to dump the extra chunk of code in the Trinity's EEPROM and then it would be all set to go. While the Atom and that ROM would clearly solve my solid-state needs, it would be nice to throw some ethernet on in there while I'm spending the cash. I'm itching to see stuff using the Ethernet up and running as you'll have seen from the latest magazine - I'll update information on my webby of what I've got in the works at the weekend when I've got some spare time. From chatting with Adrian I know he's been making great progress with the TCP/IP code, running his DNS program and just seeing it pop the results up shows it's well on the way! With all the ideas that he has been kicking about for the completed stack it is going to be fantastic - and easy to use for all the programmers out there. Colin. = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupe 1995-2009 - Celebrating 15 Years of developing for the SAM Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/ APB Computer Services Ltd. Registered Address: 3 Springfield, Trevadlock, Congdons Shop, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 7PW. Registration Number: 4942193. V.A.T. No: 826 0005 70 This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
