Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!emory!att!cbnewse!gmark From: gmark@cbnewse.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart) Newsgroups: comp.sys.m6809 Subject: Re: COCO upgrade Summary: Okay, now... Message-ID: <1991Feb5.162031.13456@cbnewse.att.com> Date: 5 Feb 91 16:20:31 GMT References: <1991Feb5.005957.14282@wlbr.imsd.contel.com> Distribution: na Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 48 In article <1991Feb5.005957.14282@wlbr.imsd.contel.com>, pete@wlbr.imsd.contel.com (Pete Lyall) writes: > In article rh2y+@andrew.cmu.edu (Russell E. Hoffman, II) writes: > >Gilbert M. Sterart writes: > > > >>[paraphrased] .. I have a CoCo I, I wanna replace it with a CoCo III, > >> what can I keep / what can I throw away... > > > >Well, you are pretty much in luck.. > >You can re-use the disk controller and drives. If you have the VERY old style > >disk controller (v1.0 ROM instead of v1.1), you may have a small problem, > >but I don't think so. > > Not fully accurate.... the 1.0 DOS rom wasn't the only problem. The > primary difference between the two ROMS was that the latter one > (version 1.1) had a built in DOS command that would bootstrap track 34 > into memory, and kickstart it. If you have a 1.0 ROM, a simple basic > program can be used to achieve much the same thing. Okay, you people convinced me. I ran out (yes, I kind of sprinted, in a purposeful-yet-unhurried gait) and got the COCO III for 99 bucks. Such a deal. When I remember how much soldering and money I put into that COCO I 4K integer BASIC so many years ago... Anyway, I hooked up the monitor and pushed in the disk controller. The E-BASIC is, I believe, V1.1, and the disk controller ROM is V 2.0. I can't get COCOMAX to work (it's the second release for the original COCO). The prompt comes up with "DISK BASIC 2.0, blah, blah". Now, does this mean that the controller would probably work with a different version of COCOMAX? In other words, does the display of the BASIC tell me the controller will work? Or do I have to do something else (change "modes", whatever). What chips can I scavenge from the old COCO? 6821s? What is the difference between the 6809E and the 68B09E? What improvements were made in the III as opposed to my much-hacked-and-modified I with 64K, composite output, etc.? What does the new version of OS9 get me? What does the new COCOMAX III get me? Anybody use the COCO 10 word processor? Any experience with MIDI programs? I'm writing songs for some public access programs, so are they usable for more than just "Hey, look what I can do, Ralph"-type demos? And about that Dan Quayle, is he for real? Why are mountains bigger on Mars? And... You get the idea. Thanks muchly in advance. If this doesn't get this newsgroup more articles, I can start randomly flaming people with unecessary insults... :-) G. Mark Stewart ihlpq!gms Ready, set, START TYPING! Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com