Table Of Content

Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc. Mebane, North Carolina Volume 38, Number 4 Winter 2018 CoCo ~ 123 Memory Map Routines Address --------- --------- GCCC Officers..........................................1 GCCC Information, Contributions........................2 Contributors to this Issue, G.C.C.C Meetings...........2 From the President's Platen............................2 Trea$ury Note$, Secretary’s Scroll.....................3 Editor’s Clipboard.....................................3 New Paths for CoCoFEST! Check-in.......................3 CoCoFEST!..............................................3 CoCo Bits: A Radio Shack Cameo.........................5 Computers with a Front Panel Interface.................5 Jim Gerrie Software....................................7 CoCo Happenings........................................7 MAME Installation......................................8 CoCoFEST! Awards Ceremony.............................12 Calendar of Events....................................13 The 28th Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST!..............13 Upcoming Events: Regular meetings every 2nd Thursday @ Schaumburg Library. The 28th Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! May 4-5, 2019 G.C.C.C. OFFICERS ----------------------- Here is the list of 2018 club officers and how to contact them. If you have questions about the association, call one of the officers for the answers. POSITION NAME PHONE PRIMARY FUNCTION -------------- ---------------- ------------ ---------------------- President John W. Linville 919-744-8139 The buck stops here... Vice-President Tony Podraza 847-340-1801 Meeting planning, etc. Treasurer Brian Goers 708-805-1888 Dues and Purchasing Secretary Rich Bair 847-835-1309 Records and Reporting Director Tony Podraza 847-340-1801 CoCoFEST! Organizer Librarian Brian Goers 708-805-1888 Club Software Keeper Editor John Mark Mobley 847-409-8604 Newsletter Production -------------- ---------------- ------------ ---------------------- Copyright ©2018 Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc. John Linville Tony Podraza Rich Bair Brian Goers John Mark Mobley CoCo~123 - A Glenside Publication Since 1985 Volume 38, Number 4 1 Winter 2018 CoCo~123 INFORMATION attending back in 2001. Since then CoCoFEST! has CoCo~123 is the newsletter of the Glenside Color become a yearly touchstone, acting as a metronome to Computer Club. Your annual contribution of $15.00 helps keep time throughout my adult life. to keep our club going. Send your check to: Knowing that CoCoFEST! is coming reminds me to take Brian Goers, Glenside Treasurer a break from time to time to enjoy my CoCo collection. 3312 Miller Avenue Attending CoCoFEST! rejuvenates me each year, giving South Chicago Heights, IL 60411 me a chance to relive a bit of my youth. Not only that, but [email protected] CoCoFEST! introduced me to the best friendships that I have ever had as an adult. Going to CoCoFEST! really is Our treasury provides newsletters and good times with as big an event in my life as any holiday or anniversary -- fellow CoCo users at our Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! truly marks the CoCo New Year. You owe it CoCoFEST! and our Annual Glenside Picnic. to yourself to “Make The Trek!” Should you attend the Annual CoCoFEST! your annual With that in mind, I assure you that CoCoFEST! contribution will be covered for that year. preparations are well underway. I hope that you have already made travel plans. Did you reserve a table? Most CoCo~123 CONTRIBUTIONS of the exhibitor tables are already claimed, but we still If you have any suggestions for the newsletter or would have the smaller "A Place To Call Home" tables like to submit an article, please contact the CoCo~123 available. Did you make your hotel reservation? Mention Newsletter editor: "Glenside CoCoFEST!" to get the special rate. Did you John Mark Mobley, Editor reserve a place for dinner on Saturday night? The 4104 Wren Lane catered dinner will be at 6:00 pm Saturday evening, with Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 the menu including Pulled Pork, Shredded Chicken, Beef [email protected] Brisket, Pig Wings, Au Gratin Potatoes, Cole Slaw, Baked Beans, Garden Salad, Fresh Rolls, BBQ sauce, CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Gluten-Free Cheese and Veggie Lasagna, Lemonade, Rich Bair John Linville Tea, and Soft Drinks. The cost is only $20 per person Salvador Garcia John Mark Mobley (free for 12 years and younger). Reserve your dinner to Brian Goers Robert Swoger ensure there is plenty for you to eat! G. C. C. C. MEETINGS We already have as many pre-registrations for this year's The Glenside Color Computer Club meets the second CoCoFEST! as we had total attendees a few years ago. Thursday of each month at the Schaumburg Township What does that mean for this year's attendance? District Library at 7:30 pm. If you need a map, see the NOBODY KNOWS! But how bad could it be? One thing is following link: for sure -- if you aren't there, you'll miss it... In all http://ncmedals.com/glenside/splmap.html seriousness, if you are coming to CoCoFEST! and you haven't already pre-registered then please do so. Various A social get-together we lovingly call “The Meeting After” links are on the website to pre-register either as an always follows the meeting at a nearby restaurant. exhibitor or as a regular attendee, but the easiest way to Visit our website at: pre-register as an attendee is at the Tandy List link http://ncmedals.com/glenside/index.htm below: FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PLATEN https://www.tandylist.com/ CoCo New Year NOTE: As a friendly reminder to exhibitors making sales by John W. Linville at CoCoFEST!, please consider issuing receipts to Springtime is a favorite time of year for many folks -- it purchasers. Those CoCoFEST! attendees that need to certainly is for me. More daylight (with or without Daylight cross an international border may be subject to some Savings Time) and warmer temperatures come back into hassle regarding their CoCoFEST! treasures. The word is our lives, brightening our moods and warming our hearts. that these hassles can be mitigated or even avoided with But that's not really what makes this time of year so just a bit of paperwork. Be kind to your CoCo friends from special for me. abroad! For those of us living in North America, spring means the Well, that's about it for now. As I write this, there are months of March, April, and May. These same months, of about 49 more days until CoCoFEST! -- I can hardly wait! course, are exactly the time of year when CoCoFEST! I hope you are making arrangements to join me in has happened every year for more than half of my life. As Lombard, IL on May 4-5, 2019. In any case, I hope you I have written before, I used to dismiss the idea of are having fun with Tandy's little underdog -- CoCo attending CoCoFEST! It was then I wised-up and started Forever! John Linville, President Glenside Color Computer Club 2 Trea$ury Note$ New Paths for CoCoFEST! Check-in Treasure report for March 2019 by John Mark Mobley and Bob Swoger For some years now we have had a turnout of 50 to 70 The beginning balance on Feb 2019 was $9,727.96. attendees at our fests. Expecting a greater number last Interest of $1.12, PayPal Transfer of $166.04 was year we tried to modify our check-in procedure. We had a collected. total of 120 attendees at last year’s fest. In order to get The end of February month balance is $9,895.12. enough folks into the showroom to start the show we had Money received since March 1, 2019 from PayPal to hold back the starting of the show until about 9:40 am, (03/14/19). $570.08. Available Balance of $10,465.20. 40 minutes late. Brian Goers, Trea$urer On Saturday at 8 am in the morning you will want to get Glenside Color Computer Club in line for fest check-in. We will have you verify your Secretary's Scroll address, phone number and email address. We will add up your bill, take your money or credit card and give you Rich Bair here with a summary of the last three monthly a receipt. We will give you a nametag/badge and enter membership meetings: your name in a door prize drawing. If there is a problem In January we passed an amendment to the Glenside with your information you can correct it on the ticket stub Color Computer Club’s constitution clarifying who are the or enter it into a computer. We have improved things officers of the club. The four elected officers (president, form last year to make check-in faster. We have a faster vice-president, treasurer, and secretary) are receipt printer and we plan to pre-print receipts for people supplemented by directors appointed by the president to that preregister. accomplish specific tasks. An example is your hard- working newsletter editor. The elected officers plus the CoCoFEST! appointed directors constitute our Board of Directors. by John Mark Mobley The February meeting focused on the fantastic TandyList CoCoFEST! is a vintage computer festival for web site developed by Randy Weaver. He has added the Tandy/Radio Shack computers and compatibles. This ability to preregister and prepay (through PayPal) for year CoCoFEST! will be held on May 4 & 5, 2019 in attending the CoCoFEST!, which will help greatly to Lombard, IL. ameliorate the crush of registration on Saturday morning of the fest. We urge you to take advantage of this option If you would like to preregister for the CoCoFEST! then fill for the above reason, but also because it gives us a out one of the forms on the following link. better idea of how much food to order for the catered dinner Saturday night. Speaking of the dinner, did you Link: know that it includes vegetarian options in addition to the https://bit.ly/2CV7jSZ traditional fare? It’s an excellent time to get to know others in your CoCo community, and it’s right on-site so Link: you have more time for conversation. http://www.glensideccc.com/index.shtml Click Documents The March meeting was focused on making sure we Click CoCoFEST! Contract for Exhibitors and Vendors have all the necessary preparations made for the fest. We think we’re on target. See you on May 4th and 5th! Click Exhibitor/Vendor contract Happy CoCoing! If you would like a vendor table then fill out the Rich Bair, Secretary Exhibitor/Vendor contract. Glenside Color Computer Club If you would like a table but not be a vendor then fill out THE EDITOR’S CLIPBOARD the Exhibitor/Vendor contract and look for the words “a We rely on people just like you to help write articles for place to call home”. the newsletter. John Mark Mobley, Editor Send money via PayPal. Send money to a friend by Glenside Color Computer Club sending money to [email protected] . By sending money to a friend you pay a little more to cover the service fee. If you would like to not be a vendor and not have a table then visit https://www.tandylist.com/ and fill out the online form. Click “HERE” where it says Click HERE to register. Make the selection before you log in. 3 Also visit https://www.tandylist.com/ and verify your name, address, phone, and email. That is how preregistration is done. The Inn is on the left and the Heron Point Building is on the right This is the sign for the Inn This statue is in the lobby of the Heron Point Building. It is customary to touch the heron. This is the Inn 4 There is a brief scene inside the store. I was not able to clearly make out any specific products, but then, the scene went by fast. If anyone sees this movie, it might be possible to make something out. The movie overall was typical MARVEL fare, complete with a cameo from Stan Lee. Aside from the Radio Shack, there were other 90s references, including one where she destroys a True Lies poster. Not exactly Ready Player One, but still nice to see these references. What you came to see. Also come and see the people. CoCo Bits: A Radio Shack Cameo Computers with a Front Panel Interface By Salvador Garcia By John Mark Mobley I first became interested in front panel interfaces when I Hello out there! Are there any MARVEL movie/comics saw Roy Justice’s Mark-8 Computer at a CoCoFEST!. fans out there? I recently went to see Captain Marvel and was pleasantly surprised when a Radio Shack reared its The MITS Altair 8800 is an example of a computer with a beautiful head! front panel interface. It has toggle switches and blinky lights. We learned from movies and Television (TV) that In this scene, the titular character ends up in a 1995 strip computers should have blinky lights. mall. She is anxious to call home, but there is something wrong with her comm device. She walks over to a security guard that’s in a car. The guard looks at her with an almost gaping mouth as she is wearing her iconic suit. She asks him where she can get communications equipment. In a robotic, almost zombie fashion, the guard points his finger. The next scene presents the façade of none other than a Radio Shack! Modern MITS Altair 8800 Emulator 5 Something similar to the Cactus could be done for the Altair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800 6809. The front panel interface could be hardware driven or software driven. Emulator: https://s2js.com/altair/ If hardware driven then you can use a Complex The MITS Altair emulator runs in a web browser. You Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) or Field use your mouse to click the switches. No video terminal Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to drive the interface. interface is offered with the emulator. You can get a feel for what it is like to work this kind of computer. I find it is If software driven then the lights and switches could be fun for a few days, but then I want to move on to a video connected to a Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) and terminal interface. You program in machine code. Single driven by a machine code monitor. This is similar to the stepping is accomplished by just sending a few clock KIM-1. If the switches are laid out like a keyboard matrix pulses to the microprocessor. Note not all then each switch should have a diode so that more than microprocessors can work with a 1 milli-Hertz (perhaps one switch can be on at a time. 400K Hz is the slowest DC) clock. clock frequency you can run a MC6809 at, so single stepping the clock input is a bad idea. Single stepping on The RCA CDP1802 microprocessor has a Direct Memory a 6809 is made easier by using the SWI (Software Access (DMA) mode that makes it easy to support a front Interrupt) instruction. Insert a SWI at a RAM location panel interface. The COSMAC ELF 1802 “Membership where you want processing to stop. When running at full Card” is a good example of a simple front panel interface. speed (non single step mode) the address and data lights The address can only be cleared or incremented by the can be driven by a 60 Hz interrupt. The lights are just a front panel interface. On some models of COSMAC ELF blur anyway. the address is not displayed so you have to keep track of how many times you increment the address. Diode and switch matrix example: https://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=14175 1802 “Membership Card” http://www.sunrise-ev.com/membershipcard.htm 1802 “Membership Card” http://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/memship.html EMMA02 Emulator: https://www.emma02.hobby-site.com/ The KIM-1 (while not a front panel interface) has 7- segment displays and a keypad. It is software driven with what I call a machine code monitor. The KIM-1 allows you to single step code that is in RAM. ROM cannot be single stepped because that is where the machine code monitor is located. Also the KIM-1 will allow you examine registers. The user application can make use of the display and keypad while in run mode. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_code_monitor KIM-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIM-1 Emulator: https://www.asm80.com/kim.html The Cactus is a resent design for the 6502 microprocessor. It is believed to be the first front panel interface for the 6502. This is controlled by hardware. I am very impressed by the dedication it took to develop this product. Read about it using the link below. Cactus: http://commodorez.com/cactus.html Diode Switch Matrix 6 CoCo Happenings The diode switch matrix works by driving one row low at a By Salvador Garcia time and reading the columns. The rows can be driven by a 3-to-8 one-low (1-of-8) decoder. Without the diodes, 2018-12-26 Allen Huffman posted a message with a link a 3 switches on situation can look like 4 switches are on. to his article where he discusses how strings work in If S2, S4 and S5 are on then S1 will appear to on also. BASIC: The diodes cost about 7 cents each in 10 lot quantities. http://tinyurl.com/y2o6exle If using a Tandy Color Computer you can have a similar experience by using (Disk) EDTASM+ with ZBUG. 2019-01-05 Neil Blanchard announced the availability of ZBUG will give you debugging, single step, and the ability Evan Wright’s Hunt the Wumpus for the CoCo. The game to examine registers. is available on a cartridge and requires a Color Computer with at least 32K RAM. Contact Neil for ordering Also, many emulators such as Multiple Arcade Machine information. Evan posted a video with more information: Emulator (MAME) have a debugger built into them. This is a very nice way to debug a program. https://youtu.be/UsuywWSyL6E Also you can emulate a front panel interface on a Tandy 2019-01-05 Carlos Camacho announced that he had Color Computer. Pressing a key on the keyboard can finished scanning all of the content that he had of the toggle a switch on the screen. 0-9 and A-F can toggle 16 Dynamic Color News, kindly provided by Steve Ostrom. switches. The F1 key can select the address switches. While Carlos has posted a few issues on the Color And the F2 key can select the data switches. Now we Computer Archive, he still has lots of work to do to are toggling 16 address switches and 8 data switches for complete this task for the entire collection. a total of 24 switches. So, without building any new hardware, you can emulate a front panel interface on a 2019-01-09 Walter Zambotti announces the availability of Tandy Color Computer. You just have to write the OVCC, the Open Source Virtual Color Computer. emulator software. Download at: Alternatively, you can use a screen and mouse to toggle http://tinyurl.com/y2bkof27 the switches on the screen. 2019-01-09 Jason Reighard announced the availability of So if you are interested in a front panel interface for a his WallabY-Cable which is a dual RGB cable for the 6809 microcontroller then you have many options. Coco 3 and allows the connection of two RGB devices. More info here: Jim Gerrie Software By John Mark Mobley http://tinyurl.com/y2bkof27 Jim Gerrie continues to write new software for 2019-01-11 Neil announced the “Call for Papers” for Tandy/TRS-80 computers. 2019. Do you have an interesting idea or project that is Below are some links that will show you what is available. completed? This is your chance to share your research and innovation with the community. More information at Home: the following link: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/ https://tinyurl.com/y5s8er8n Software: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/jsoft.html 2019-01-13 George Ramsower shared the link to a video that he found about the rise and fall of Radio Shack: Software Icons: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/jgames.html https://youtu.be/JFivtOmXPPM Blog spot: http://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/ 2019-03-02 Rietveld shared the link to a video from Joe’s Computer Museum discussing the CoCo SDC: Online MC-10 Emulator: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/MC10/ https://youtu.be/mL-IJUoSDQs Game Jolt: 2019-03-08 Rietveld shared another video link to a https://gamejolt.com/games/jgmc-10games/339292 documentary further discussing Radio Shack: 7 https://youtu.be/GJTKtkqSEVs 2019-03-09 M. David Johnson, responsible for the CF83 Forth, shared a link to his Website where people can download the full CF83 Forth package: http://www.bds-soft.com/ #2. Scroll down and click on the download button 2019-03-16 Joe Schutts posted a question regarding the corresponding to the operating system. Linux is also TL866A USB Minipro Programmer. It seems that those in available, but not shown in the above image. This the CoCo community who have purchased this item have document describes the process for a Windows based had success with it. This programmer connects to the computer. USB port of a PC. 2019-03-17 Rietveld published a short video demonstrating the transfer of files between DriveWire and the CoCoSDC. Contact Rietveld for more information. https://youtu.be/yt5tNnI1vFY 2019-03-19 Pere Serrat announced that he posted version 2 of BigPack, a ZIP file containing all of the game packs that he previously published. V2.0 corrects some #3. MAME is available for Windows x86 (32-bit) and x64 “details” that were found in some games in V1.0 of the (64-bit). Click on the download that corresponds to the BigPack. Windows edition on the target machine. https://tinyurl.com/y2syrcdu Download the file that corresponds to the Windows https://tinyurl.com/y4b3pk5d edition. If you don’t know which edition you have, follow the steps below. If you do know, then skip to step #6. MAME Installation By Salvador Garcia Introduction MAME is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator and is a virtual environment where different types of computing machinery can be emulated. This document describes the process to install and configure MAME so that it will emulate a Color Computer 1, 2 and 3. #4. To check which edition of Windows is installed, right Procedure click the Windows start button, then select System. This The following describes the process to get a Color procedure varies depending on which Windows version Computer emulation running on MAME. you have. The above image shows the process for Windows 7 and Windows 10. #1. Open the mamedev.org Website. #5. Once the System/Properties window opens, locate the item captioned “System type”. There, it will say whether it is a 32 or 64-bit operating system. 8 #6. Once the executable MAME file is downloaded, run it. This EXE file contains the compressed files. A small window will pop up asking where the extracted files should be saved. Either accept the default or select a folder. A new folder can be created here, if necessary. In the image above I created and selected the folder c:\MAME. Finish up by clicking the Extract button. Once #8. Open the ROMs/MESS page of the link above and the extraction process is done, click the Cancel button to download the ZIP files corresponding to the Color Computer that you’ll want to emulate. Make sure they are exit. saved to the MAME\ROMs folder on the local machine. The ROM files that were downloaded for this presentation were the following: Coco.zip Color Computer 1 ROM Coco2.zip Color Computer 2 ROM Coco2b.zip Color Computer 2 with enhanced video Coco3.zip Color Computer 3 ROM Coco3dw1.zip Color Computer 3 with Drivewire support #7. Navigate to the ROMs subfolder that’s in the folder Coco3h.zip Color Computer 3 with Hitachi 6309 where the files were extracted. Given the folder in the previous image, this would be c:\MAME\ROMs. The full list of available ROM files as of December 2018: This folder should be empty, save for the text file. The File name Date Size ROMs corresponding to the Color Computers must reside coco.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 7.4K in this folder. We need to go to the Internet resource coco2.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K where these ROMs are available and download them to coco2b.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K this folder. A place to download these ROM files is the coco2bh.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:07 21K coco2h.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:07 21K following: coco2_hdb1.zip 29-Sep-2017 15:05 6.8K coco3.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 28K http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/ROMs/MESS/ coco3dw1.zip 16-Aug-2014 04:50 28K coco3h.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 28K coco3p.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 30K coco3_hdb1.zip 29-Sep-2017 15:05 6.8K cocoe.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 22K cocoeh.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:06 21K cocoh.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:05 7.2K coco_dcmodem.zip 06-Jun-2017 04:13 3.9K coco_orch90.zip 01-Jun-2017 20:15 6.8K coco_rs232.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:11 3.6K coco_ssc.zip 01-Jun-2017 19:48 5.5K cp400.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K cp400e.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K cp400_fdc.zip 06-Jun-2017 04:17 7.0K dragon32.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 20K dragon64.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 34K dragon64h.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:08 34K tanodr64h.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:08 34K 9 The next step is to create and configure the setup file. #9. Open a console window (command prompt). Windows 7: Click the Start button, enter cmd in the search box and then select the cmd.exe option. Windows 10: Enter cmd in the search box #14. Open the Find dialog box and search for video options. Once the text is entered, the editor will search for it automatically and highlight it as shown in the image. If not, click the Find Next button. Once the text is located, close the Find dialog by clicking the Cancel button. Edit the entries window and maximize. #10. Navigate to the MAME folder. #11. Run MAME to create the configuration file: mame -cc #15. Partial contents of the mame.ini file. The window option needs to be 1 and the maximize option needs to be 0. After the edit save the MAME.ini file and close the editor. The next step is to set up MAME to emulate Color Computers. #12. Close the command prompt. Enter exit followed by pressing the Enter key. #16. Navigate to the folder where the MAME files are stored and run mame.exe by double clicking the filename. #13. Locate the file MAME.ini and open it by double clicking it. 10

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CoCo ~123 Volume 38 Number 4 (Winter 2018) PDF

2018·2.2 MB·English
by  Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc.
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Preview CoCo ~123 Volume 38 Number 4 (Winter 2018)

Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc. Mebane, North Carolina Volume 38, Number 4 Winter 2018 CoCo ~ 123 Memory Map Routines Address --------- --------- GCCC Officers..........................................1 GCCC Information, Contributions........................2 Contributors to this Issue, G.C.C.C Meetings...........2 From the President's Platen............................2 Trea$ury Note$, Secretary’s Scroll.....................3 Editor’s Clipboard.....................................3 New Paths for CoCoFEST! Check-in.......................3 CoCoFEST!..............................................3 CoCo Bits: A Radio Shack Cameo.........................5 Computers with a Front Panel Interface.................5 Jim Gerrie Software....................................7 CoCo Happenings........................................7 MAME Installation......................................8 CoCoFEST! Awards Ceremony.............................12 Calendar of Events....................................13 The 28th Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST!..............13 Upcoming Events: Regular meetings every 2nd Thursday @ Schaumburg Library. The 28th Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! May 4-5, 2019 G.C.C.C. OFFICERS ----------------------- Here is the list of 2018 club officers and how to contact them. If you have questions about the association, call one of the officers for the answers. POSITION NAME PHONE PRIMARY FUNCTION -------------- ---------------- ------------ ---------------------- President John W. Linville 919-744-8139 The buck stops here... Vice-President Tony Podraza 847-340-1801 Meeting planning, etc. Treasurer Brian Goers 708-805-1888 Dues and Purchasing Secretary Rich Bair 847-835-1309 Records and Reporting Director Tony Podraza 847-340-1801 CoCoFEST! Organizer Librarian Brian Goers 708-805-1888 Club Software Keeper Editor John Mark Mobley 847-409-8604 Newsletter Production -------------- ---------------- ------------ ---------------------- Copyright ©2018 Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc. John Linville Tony Podraza Rich Bair Brian Goers John Mark Mobley CoCo~123 - A Glenside Publication Since 1985 Volume 38, Number 4 1 Winter 2018 CoCo~123 INFORMATION attending back in 2001. Since then CoCoFEST! has CoCo~123 is the newsletter of the Glenside Color become a yearly touchstone, acting as a metronome to Computer Club. Your annual contribution of $15.00 helps keep time throughout my adult life. to keep our club going. Send your check to: Knowing that CoCoFEST! is coming reminds me to take Brian Goers, Glenside Treasurer a break from time to time to enjoy my CoCo collection. 3312 Miller Avenue Attending CoCoFEST! rejuvenates me each year, giving South Chicago Heights, IL 60411 me a chance to relive a bit of my youth. Not only that, but [email protected] CoCoFEST! introduced me to the best friendships that I have ever had as an adult. Going to CoCoFEST! really is Our treasury provides newsletters and good times with as big an event in my life as any holiday or anniversary -- fellow CoCo users at our Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! truly marks the CoCo New Year. You owe it CoCoFEST! and our Annual Glenside Picnic. to yourself to “Make The Trek!” Should you attend the Annual CoCoFEST! your annual With that in mind, I assure you that CoCoFEST! contribution will be covered for that year. preparations are well underway. I hope that you have already made travel plans. Did you reserve a table? Most CoCo~123 CONTRIBUTIONS of the exhibitor tables are already claimed, but we still If you have any suggestions for the newsletter or would have the smaller "A Place To Call Home" tables like to submit an article, please contact the CoCo~123 available. Did you make your hotel reservation? Mention Newsletter editor: "Glenside CoCoFEST!" to get the special rate. Did you John Mark Mobley, Editor reserve a place for dinner on Saturday night? The 4104 Wren Lane catered dinner will be at 6:00 pm Saturday evening, with Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 the menu including Pulled Pork, Shredded Chicken, Beef [email protected] Brisket, Pig Wings, Au Gratin Potatoes, Cole Slaw, Baked Beans, Garden Salad, Fresh Rolls, BBQ sauce, CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Gluten-Free Cheese and Veggie Lasagna, Lemonade, Rich Bair John Linville Tea, and Soft Drinks. The cost is only $20 per person Salvador Garcia John Mark Mobley (free for 12 years and younger). Reserve your dinner to Brian Goers Robert Swoger ensure there is plenty for you to eat! G. C. C. C. MEETINGS We already have as many pre-registrations for this year's The Glenside Color Computer Club meets the second CoCoFEST! as we had total attendees a few years ago. Thursday of each month at the Schaumburg Township What does that mean for this year's attendance? District Library at 7:30 pm. If you need a map, see the NOBODY KNOWS! But how bad could it be? One thing is following link: for sure -- if you aren't there, you'll miss it... In all http://ncmedals.com/glenside/splmap.html seriousness, if you are coming to CoCoFEST! and you haven't already pre-registered then please do so. Various A social get-together we lovingly call “The Meeting After” links are on the website to pre-register either as an always follows the meeting at a nearby restaurant. exhibitor or as a regular attendee, but the easiest way to Visit our website at: pre-register as an attendee is at the Tandy List link http://ncmedals.com/glenside/index.htm below: FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PLATEN https://www.tandylist.com/ CoCo New Year NOTE: As a friendly reminder to exhibitors making sales by John W. Linville at CoCoFEST!, please consider issuing receipts to Springtime is a favorite time of year for many folks -- it purchasers. Those CoCoFEST! attendees that need to certainly is for me. More daylight (with or without Daylight cross an international border may be subject to some Savings Time) and warmer temperatures come back into hassle regarding their CoCoFEST! treasures. The word is our lives, brightening our moods and warming our hearts. that these hassles can be mitigated or even avoided with But that's not really what makes this time of year so just a bit of paperwork. Be kind to your CoCo friends from special for me. abroad! For those of us living in North America, spring means the Well, that's about it for now. As I write this, there are months of March, April, and May. These same months, of about 49 more days until CoCoFEST! -- I can hardly wait! course, are exactly the time of year when CoCoFEST! I hope you are making arrangements to join me in has happened every year for more than half of my life. As Lombard, IL on May 4-5, 2019. In any case, I hope you I have written before, I used to dismiss the idea of are having fun with Tandy's little underdog -- CoCo attending CoCoFEST! It was then I wised-up and started Forever! John Linville, President Glenside Color Computer Club 2 Trea$ury Note$ New Paths for CoCoFEST! Check-in Treasure report for March 2019 by John Mark Mobley and Bob Swoger For some years now we have had a turnout of 50 to 70 The beginning balance on Feb 2019 was $9,727.96. attendees at our fests. Expecting a greater number last Interest of $1.12, PayPal Transfer of $166.04 was year we tried to modify our check-in procedure. We had a collected. total of 120 attendees at last year’s fest. In order to get The end of February month balance is $9,895.12. enough folks into the showroom to start the show we had Money received since March 1, 2019 from PayPal to hold back the starting of the show until about 9:40 am, (03/14/19). $570.08. Available Balance of $10,465.20. 40 minutes late. Brian Goers, Trea$urer On Saturday at 8 am in the morning you will want to get Glenside Color Computer Club in line for fest check-in. We will have you verify your Secretary's Scroll address, phone number and email address. We will add up your bill, take your money or credit card and give you Rich Bair here with a summary of the last three monthly a receipt. We will give you a nametag/badge and enter membership meetings: your name in a door prize drawing. If there is a problem In January we passed an amendment to the Glenside with your information you can correct it on the ticket stub Color Computer Club’s constitution clarifying who are the or enter it into a computer. We have improved things officers of the club. The four elected officers (president, form last year to make check-in faster. We have a faster vice-president, treasurer, and secretary) are receipt printer and we plan to pre-print receipts for people supplemented by directors appointed by the president to that preregister. accomplish specific tasks. An example is your hard- working newsletter editor. The elected officers plus the CoCoFEST! appointed directors constitute our Board of Directors. by John Mark Mobley The February meeting focused on the fantastic TandyList CoCoFEST! is a vintage computer festival for web site developed by Randy Weaver. He has added the Tandy/Radio Shack computers and compatibles. This ability to preregister and prepay (through PayPal) for year CoCoFEST! will be held on May 4 & 5, 2019 in attending the CoCoFEST!, which will help greatly to Lombard, IL. ameliorate the crush of registration on Saturday morning of the fest. We urge you to take advantage of this option If you would like to preregister for the CoCoFEST! then fill for the above reason, but also because it gives us a out one of the forms on the following link. better idea of how much food to order for the catered dinner Saturday night. Speaking of the dinner, did you Link: know that it includes vegetarian options in addition to the https://bit.ly/2CV7jSZ traditional fare? It’s an excellent time to get to know others in your CoCo community, and it’s right on-site so Link: you have more time for conversation. http://www.glensideccc.com/index.shtml Click Documents The March meeting was focused on making sure we Click CoCoFEST! Contract for Exhibitors and Vendors have all the necessary preparations made for the fest. We think we’re on target. See you on May 4th and 5th! Click Exhibitor/Vendor contract Happy CoCoing! If you would like a vendor table then fill out the Rich Bair, Secretary Exhibitor/Vendor contract. Glenside Color Computer Club If you would like a table but not be a vendor then fill out THE EDITOR’S CLIPBOARD the Exhibitor/Vendor contract and look for the words “a We rely on people just like you to help write articles for place to call home”. the newsletter. John Mark Mobley, Editor Send money via PayPal. Send money to a friend by Glenside Color Computer Club sending money to [email protected] . By sending money to a friend you pay a little more to cover the service fee. If you would like to not be a vendor and not have a table then visit https://www.tandylist.com/ and fill out the online form. Click “HERE” where it says Click HERE to register. Make the selection before you log in. 3 Also visit https://www.tandylist.com/ and verify your name, address, phone, and email. That is how preregistration is done. The Inn is on the left and the Heron Point Building is on the right This is the sign for the Inn This statue is in the lobby of the Heron Point Building. It is customary to touch the heron. This is the Inn 4 There is a brief scene inside the store. I was not able to clearly make out any specific products, but then, the scene went by fast. If anyone sees this movie, it might be possible to make something out. The movie overall was typical MARVEL fare, complete with a cameo from Stan Lee. Aside from the Radio Shack, there were other 90s references, including one where she destroys a True Lies poster. Not exactly Ready Player One, but still nice to see these references. What you came to see. Also come and see the people. CoCo Bits: A Radio Shack Cameo Computers with a Front Panel Interface By Salvador Garcia By John Mark Mobley I first became interested in front panel interfaces when I Hello out there! Are there any MARVEL movie/comics saw Roy Justice’s Mark-8 Computer at a CoCoFEST!. fans out there? I recently went to see Captain Marvel and was pleasantly surprised when a Radio Shack reared its The MITS Altair 8800 is an example of a computer with a beautiful head! front panel interface. It has toggle switches and blinky lights. We learned from movies and Television (TV) that In this scene, the titular character ends up in a 1995 strip computers should have blinky lights. mall. She is anxious to call home, but there is something wrong with her comm device. She walks over to a security guard that’s in a car. The guard looks at her with an almost gaping mouth as she is wearing her iconic suit. She asks him where she can get communications equipment. In a robotic, almost zombie fashion, the guard points his finger. The next scene presents the façade of none other than a Radio Shack! Modern MITS Altair 8800 Emulator 5 Something similar to the Cactus could be done for the Altair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800 6809. The front panel interface could be hardware driven or software driven. Emulator: https://s2js.com/altair/ If hardware driven then you can use a Complex The MITS Altair emulator runs in a web browser. You Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) or Field use your mouse to click the switches. No video terminal Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to drive the interface. interface is offered with the emulator. You can get a feel for what it is like to work this kind of computer. I find it is If software driven then the lights and switches could be fun for a few days, but then I want to move on to a video connected to a Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) and terminal interface. You program in machine code. Single driven by a machine code monitor. This is similar to the stepping is accomplished by just sending a few clock KIM-1. If the switches are laid out like a keyboard matrix pulses to the microprocessor. Note not all then each switch should have a diode so that more than microprocessors can work with a 1 milli-Hertz (perhaps one switch can be on at a time. 400K Hz is the slowest DC) clock. clock frequency you can run a MC6809 at, so single stepping the clock input is a bad idea. Single stepping on The RCA CDP1802 microprocessor has a Direct Memory a 6809 is made easier by using the SWI (Software Access (DMA) mode that makes it easy to support a front Interrupt) instruction. Insert a SWI at a RAM location panel interface. The COSMAC ELF 1802 “Membership where you want processing to stop. When running at full Card” is a good example of a simple front panel interface. speed (non single step mode) the address and data lights The address can only be cleared or incremented by the can be driven by a 60 Hz interrupt. The lights are just a front panel interface. On some models of COSMAC ELF blur anyway. the address is not displayed so you have to keep track of how many times you increment the address. Diode and switch matrix example: https://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=14175 1802 “Membership Card” http://www.sunrise-ev.com/membershipcard.htm 1802 “Membership Card” http://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/memship.html EMMA02 Emulator: https://www.emma02.hobby-site.com/ The KIM-1 (while not a front panel interface) has 7- segment displays and a keypad. It is software driven with what I call a machine code monitor. The KIM-1 allows you to single step code that is in RAM. ROM cannot be single stepped because that is where the machine code monitor is located. Also the KIM-1 will allow you examine registers. The user application can make use of the display and keypad while in run mode. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_code_monitor KIM-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIM-1 Emulator: https://www.asm80.com/kim.html The Cactus is a resent design for the 6502 microprocessor. It is believed to be the first front panel interface for the 6502. This is controlled by hardware. I am very impressed by the dedication it took to develop this product. Read about it using the link below. Cactus: http://commodorez.com/cactus.html Diode Switch Matrix 6 CoCo Happenings The diode switch matrix works by driving one row low at a By Salvador Garcia time and reading the columns. The rows can be driven by a 3-to-8 one-low (1-of-8) decoder. Without the diodes, 2018-12-26 Allen Huffman posted a message with a link a 3 switches on situation can look like 4 switches are on. to his article where he discusses how strings work in If S2, S4 and S5 are on then S1 will appear to on also. BASIC: The diodes cost about 7 cents each in 10 lot quantities. http://tinyurl.com/y2o6exle If using a Tandy Color Computer you can have a similar experience by using (Disk) EDTASM+ with ZBUG. 2019-01-05 Neil Blanchard announced the availability of ZBUG will give you debugging, single step, and the ability Evan Wright’s Hunt the Wumpus for the CoCo. The game to examine registers. is available on a cartridge and requires a Color Computer with at least 32K RAM. Contact Neil for ordering Also, many emulators such as Multiple Arcade Machine information. Evan posted a video with more information: Emulator (MAME) have a debugger built into them. This is a very nice way to debug a program. https://youtu.be/UsuywWSyL6E Also you can emulate a front panel interface on a Tandy 2019-01-05 Carlos Camacho announced that he had Color Computer. Pressing a key on the keyboard can finished scanning all of the content that he had of the toggle a switch on the screen. 0-9 and A-F can toggle 16 Dynamic Color News, kindly provided by Steve Ostrom. switches. The F1 key can select the address switches. While Carlos has posted a few issues on the Color And the F2 key can select the data switches. Now we Computer Archive, he still has lots of work to do to are toggling 16 address switches and 8 data switches for complete this task for the entire collection. a total of 24 switches. So, without building any new hardware, you can emulate a front panel interface on a 2019-01-09 Walter Zambotti announces the availability of Tandy Color Computer. You just have to write the OVCC, the Open Source Virtual Color Computer. emulator software. Download at: Alternatively, you can use a screen and mouse to toggle http://tinyurl.com/y2bkof27 the switches on the screen. 2019-01-09 Jason Reighard announced the availability of So if you are interested in a front panel interface for a his WallabY-Cable which is a dual RGB cable for the 6809 microcontroller then you have many options. Coco 3 and allows the connection of two RGB devices. More info here: Jim Gerrie Software By John Mark Mobley http://tinyurl.com/y2bkof27 Jim Gerrie continues to write new software for 2019-01-11 Neil announced the “Call for Papers” for Tandy/TRS-80 computers. 2019. Do you have an interesting idea or project that is Below are some links that will show you what is available. completed? This is your chance to share your research and innovation with the community. More information at Home: the following link: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/ https://tinyurl.com/y5s8er8n Software: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/jsoft.html 2019-01-13 George Ramsower shared the link to a video that he found about the rise and fall of Radio Shack: Software Icons: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/Home/jgames.html https://youtu.be/JFivtOmXPPM Blog spot: http://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/ 2019-03-02 Rietveld shared the link to a video from Joe’s Computer Museum discussing the CoCo SDC: Online MC-10 Emulator: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/MC10/ https://youtu.be/mL-IJUoSDQs Game Jolt: 2019-03-08 Rietveld shared another video link to a https://gamejolt.com/games/jgmc-10games/339292 documentary further discussing Radio Shack: 7 https://youtu.be/GJTKtkqSEVs 2019-03-09 M. David Johnson, responsible for the CF83 Forth, shared a link to his Website where people can download the full CF83 Forth package: http://www.bds-soft.com/ #2. Scroll down and click on the download button 2019-03-16 Joe Schutts posted a question regarding the corresponding to the operating system. Linux is also TL866A USB Minipro Programmer. It seems that those in available, but not shown in the above image. This the CoCo community who have purchased this item have document describes the process for a Windows based had success with it. This programmer connects to the computer. USB port of a PC. 2019-03-17 Rietveld published a short video demonstrating the transfer of files between DriveWire and the CoCoSDC. Contact Rietveld for more information. https://youtu.be/yt5tNnI1vFY 2019-03-19 Pere Serrat announced that he posted version 2 of BigPack, a ZIP file containing all of the game packs that he previously published. V2.0 corrects some #3. MAME is available for Windows x86 (32-bit) and x64 “details” that were found in some games in V1.0 of the (64-bit). Click on the download that corresponds to the BigPack. Windows edition on the target machine. https://tinyurl.com/y2syrcdu Download the file that corresponds to the Windows https://tinyurl.com/y4b3pk5d edition. If you don’t know which edition you have, follow the steps below. If you do know, then skip to step #6. MAME Installation By Salvador Garcia Introduction MAME is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator and is a virtual environment where different types of computing machinery can be emulated. This document describes the process to install and configure MAME so that it will emulate a Color Computer 1, 2 and 3. #4. To check which edition of Windows is installed, right Procedure click the Windows start button, then select System. This The following describes the process to get a Color procedure varies depending on which Windows version Computer emulation running on MAME. you have. The above image shows the process for Windows 7 and Windows 10. #1. Open the mamedev.org Website. #5. Once the System/Properties window opens, locate the item captioned “System type”. There, it will say whether it is a 32 or 64-bit operating system. 8 #6. Once the executable MAME file is downloaded, run it. This EXE file contains the compressed files. A small window will pop up asking where the extracted files should be saved. Either accept the default or select a folder. A new folder can be created here, if necessary. In the image above I created and selected the folder c:\MAME. Finish up by clicking the Extract button. Once #8. Open the ROMs/MESS page of the link above and the extraction process is done, click the Cancel button to download the ZIP files corresponding to the Color Computer that you’ll want to emulate. Make sure they are exit. saved to the MAME\ROMs folder on the local machine. The ROM files that were downloaded for this presentation were the following: Coco.zip Color Computer 1 ROM Coco2.zip Color Computer 2 ROM Coco2b.zip Color Computer 2 with enhanced video Coco3.zip Color Computer 3 ROM Coco3dw1.zip Color Computer 3 with Drivewire support #7. Navigate to the ROMs subfolder that’s in the folder Coco3h.zip Color Computer 3 with Hitachi 6309 where the files were extracted. Given the folder in the previous image, this would be c:\MAME\ROMs. The full list of available ROM files as of December 2018: This folder should be empty, save for the text file. The File name Date Size ROMs corresponding to the Color Computers must reside coco.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 7.4K in this folder. We need to go to the Internet resource coco2.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K where these ROMs are available and download them to coco2b.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K this folder. A place to download these ROM files is the coco2bh.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:07 21K coco2h.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:07 21K following: coco2_hdb1.zip 29-Sep-2017 15:05 6.8K coco3.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 28K http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/ROMs/MESS/ coco3dw1.zip 16-Aug-2014 04:50 28K coco3h.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 28K coco3p.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 30K coco3_hdb1.zip 29-Sep-2017 15:05 6.8K cocoe.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 22K cocoeh.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:06 21K cocoh.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:05 7.2K coco_dcmodem.zip 06-Jun-2017 04:13 3.9K coco_orch90.zip 01-Jun-2017 20:15 6.8K coco_rs232.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:11 3.6K coco_ssc.zip 01-Jun-2017 19:48 5.5K cp400.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K cp400e.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 21K cp400_fdc.zip 06-Jun-2017 04:17 7.0K dragon32.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 20K dragon64.zip 29-Nov-2012 08:19 34K dragon64h.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:08 34K tanodr64h.zip 27-Apr-2018 15:08 34K 9 The next step is to create and configure the setup file. #9. Open a console window (command prompt). Windows 7: Click the Start button, enter cmd in the search box and then select the cmd.exe option. Windows 10: Enter cmd in the search box #14. Open the Find dialog box and search for video options. Once the text is entered, the editor will search for it automatically and highlight it as shown in the image. If not, click the Find Next button. Once the text is located, close the Find dialog by clicking the Cancel button. Edit the entries window and maximize. #10. Navigate to the MAME folder. #11. Run MAME to create the configuration file: mame -cc #15. Partial contents of the mame.ini file. The window option needs to be 1 and the maximize option needs to be 0. After the edit save the MAME.ini file and close the editor. The next step is to set up MAME to emulate Color Computers. #12. Close the command prompt. Enter exit followed by pressing the Enter key. #16. Navigate to the folder where the MAME files are stored and run mame.exe by double clicking the filename. #13. Locate the file MAME.ini and open it by double clicking it. 10

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