toc@dadla.UUCP (Timothy F. O'Connor) (07/17/85)
------- [Spa Fon, Line Eater] I am desirous of using the (now inexpensive) Atari 800XL as a (now inexpensive) grafix display for my CP/M machine. It's a sin, tho', to ignore the game playing potential of the Atari, so... I would like to write a program under CP/M which watches the Atari serial bus and acts as a file server, storing a virtual Atari disk under CP/M as a 90K file. A grafix program on the Atari could read commands from a file with a grafix program on my CP/M machine acting as a file. To do this I need to know much about what the 800XL is saying on it's serial bus. Anyone got any suggestions as to where I look? may all your snarks be boojums, to'c
bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran) (07/18/85)
Organization : Perkin-Elmer DSG, Tinton Falls NJ In article <325@dadla.UUCP> tektronix!dadla!toc writes: >------- > I would like to write a program under CP/M which watches the > Atari serial bus and acts as a file server, storing a virtual > Atari disk under CP/M as a 90K file. A grafix program on the > Atari could read commands from a file with a grafix program on > my CP/M machine acting as a file. To do this I need to know > much about what the 800XL is saying on it's serial bus. > > Anyone got any suggestions as to where I look? I'm not sure if they're still in operation, but there was a firm called USS Enterprises :-) that marketed a package for doing just what you describe. The package was called 'The Critical Connection' and required you have a serial port on your CP/M box that could manage 19.2Kb. They included a serial cable with a DB-25 on one end and an Atari serial bus plug on the other, which would lead me to assume there is some mapping between RS-232 and Ataribus. They allowed you to simulate an Atari disk volume within CP/M, etc. Pournelle wrote it up in one of his BYTE columns. Someone on the net have any further information on this (continued existance, performance, etc.)? I also seem to recall some Atari - CP/M program being posted to CPMUG or SIG/M. If you have access to one of their catalogs, they may also be of help. Good luck. Bob Halloran Sr MTS, Perkin-Elmer DSG ============================================================================= UUCP: {ihnp4, decvax, ucbvax}!vax135!petsd!pedsgd!bobh USPS: 106 Apple St M/S 305, Tinton Falls NJ 07724 DDD: (201) 758-7000 Disclaimer: My opinions are mine alone. (*) is a trademark/copyright of (*). Quote: "There are times when verbal ingenuity is not enough." - B. Banzai
ross@dsd.UUCP (Evan Ross) (07/23/85)
I've connected the atari serial bus to my heathkit-100, mostly successfully.
I still get a moderate amount of checksum errors during data transfers, but
that's the fault of my not-yet-complete disk server program.
The atari serial bus is actually 19.2k baud, 8 bits, no parity. The only
problem is that it is running at TTL levels, and not RS-232. You can solve
this problem by attaching the cable between your computer's uart and it's
ttl-to-rs232 converter. You need to connect ground, send, receive, and one
more status line (it indicates the beginning of a command packet transfer).
If you want more specific information, just drop a line.
--
Evan Ross {nsc, ihnp4, decwrl!amd} !fortune!dsd!ross
A nightmare within a nightmare, a terror beyond terror, you have entered...
The Unix System!!!