- I guess it's coming back full circle. Owning a computer (a desktop PC, not a laptop-for-work-and-Facebook or just a mobile phone) is getting weird again!
- I really enjoyed it! Always fun to hear someone else analyze your work. There could be a lot more to say about it obviously, but given the time limit I thought the most important bits were very well-covered... great use of visuals to illustrate the technical points, too.
> the 8 bit PC
...oh no you didn't :)
- I did! (Sorry, not sorry! Lol)
To me, it belongs with the 8 bit machines. Well, the very early ones do anyway.
Low Mhz operation, 8 bit bus, 8 ohm speaker, cassette port...
It is an awful lot like the Apple 2 and when equipped with a CGA, has that same feel.
I follow your CGA work with great interest. Thanks for sharing it.
- Oh wow! You’re the dude!
Thanks for sharing this work. Like a fine cognac. Smooth.
- A literal instance of "halt & catch fire"
- > "Interestingly, MS-DOS also has a separate paper punch API."
Where did he pull that one from? No such thing that I'm aware of, and I've had my share of poring over MS-DOS API docs. If you wanted to talk to a paper punch using nothing but DOS, you'd likely have to do it over the serial port at COM1/2, which used the same generic I/O device API as the console (CON)... hence the ability to "CTTY" to those devices.
MS-DOS did implement CP/M function calls (along with the CALL 5 interface itself) to simplify porting code, even when those calls were meaningless in DOS and only returned dummy values. But this paper tape stuff doesn't seem to exist anywhere in DOS, which in turn makes me skeptical about it being in CP/M. When you think about it, it would've been an inexcusable waste to implement such a thing in either of them - seeing as they were disk operating systems, which (as the article points out) had every reason to be as minimal as possible.
Besides, if it was there in MS-DOS, you'd think Ralf Brown would know about it.
- Starting with MS-DOS 2.0, a program has five open files available to it [1], stdin, stdout, stderr, stdaux and stdprn. By default, the first three point to the CON: device, stdaux to the AUX: device (usually the serial port) and stdprn to PRN:. I suppose a paper tape punch could be either AUX: or PRN:, but the reference I'm using (_The MS-DOS Encyclopedia_) doesn't have a reference for a paper tape at all.
[1] Much like Unix programs have three open files.
- I just looked and MSDOS has a printer API. Maybe that is what the author meant.
In MSDOS, I was able to use:
A mode line may be needed, and was with a tape punch:
MODE COM3:1200,N,8,1,P
And then, given the cable is setup to exchange the flow control signals: RTS, CTS
Then in MSDOS, this would work:
COPY GCODE.TXT COM3
The punch would start cutting paper tape.
I never did the reverse. Not sure how in MSDOS. I used PROCOM then clean up the capture and save to file.
And if one wants a binary, the /B option is needed so MSDOS will send 8 bits, not 7
- Most of the sysops I knew who ran DOS-based BBSs used to swear by Desqview, even long after win3.1x came along. According to them it was simply much more stable, and had less overhead too.
- That sure sucks, but there are cases where one side of the story ain't enough... and this specific source is known to be one of them. It'd be interesting to hear what the VCF team has to say about this.
- I need to know what you're talking about. Like, I'm actually curious to hear how I've gained a reputation of not being a dependable source.
- Fair question. Think how your own impression of a person would be colored, if that person shows an established pattern of dealing with talk which they disagree with/object to - banning, deleting, blocking, and otherwise suppressing it (and when that’s not an option, simply reacting with over-the-top hostility).
Would you be more likely to always take that person’s words at face value, or to question their motivation for this kind of narrative control? Wouldn’t you be more likely to seek out the other side of the story? Even when Justice, Truth and the Constitution are on your side (and maybe they are), it’s not a great look and doesn’t inspire unquestioning confidence.
(Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with VCF in any way, other than being a forum poster; I’m not even on the same continent.)
- For interested parties, there's Diskman's site with lots of detailed info about the different Trackstar models (including documentation and software): https://www.diskman.com/presents/trackstar/index.html
- More updates are still being planned for this - if anyone can help source bitmap font data from more relevant machines/video hardware (scope: IBM PC compatibles), it could fit right in. I already have some more in the pipeline.