From rivie at ridgenet.net  Mon Mar  6 06:34:11 2006
From: rivie at ridgenet.net (Roger Ivie)
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 22:34:11 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [P112] Update to exchange
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.63.0603052232350.24888@stench.no.domain>

I have updated exchange, my hack of the CP/M-68K sources that allow
manipulation of CP/M disk images under Unix, to support the new P112
disk format. The new version, dubbed 0.2, can be found at:

http://anachronda.webhop.org/~rivie/exchange/

-- 
roger ivie
rivie at ridgenet.net



From dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu  Mon Mar  6 07:14:53 2006
From: dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu (David Griffith)
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 23:14:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [P112] Update to exchange
In-Reply-To: <Pine.NEB.4.63.0603052232350.24888@stench.no.domain>
References: <Pine.NEB.4.63.0603052232350.24888@stench.no.domain>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0603052314450.13206@helios.cs.csubak.edu>

On Sun, 5 Mar 2006, Roger Ivie wrote:

> I have updated exchange, my hack of the CP/M-68K sources that allow
> manipulation of CP/M disk images under Unix, to support the new P112
> disk format. The new version, dubbed 0.2, can be found at:
>
> http://anachronda.webhop.org/~rivie/exchange/

Have you looked at cpmtools?

-- 
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?



From rivie at ridgenet.net  Mon Mar  6 15:27:41 2006
From: rivie at ridgenet.net (Roger Ivie)
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 07:27:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [P112] Update to exchange
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0603052314450.13206@helios.cs.csubak.edu>
References: <Pine.NEB.4.63.0603052232350.24888@stench.no.domain>
	<Pine.GSO.4.55.0603052314450.13206@helios.cs.csubak.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.63.0603060726520.4222@stench.no.domain>

On Sun, 5 Mar 2006, David Griffith wrote:
> On Sun, 5 Mar 2006, Roger Ivie wrote:
>
>> I have updated exchange, my hack of the CP/M-68K sources that allow
>> manipulation of CP/M disk images under Unix, to support the new P112
>> disk format. The new version, dubbed 0.2, can be found at:
>>
>> http://anachronda.webhop.org/~rivie/exchange/
>
> Have you looked at cpmtools?

No, I haven't. I have ulterior motives for using exchange, which is
built from the CP/M-68K sources.
-- 
roger ivie
rivie at ridgenet.net



From dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu  Wed Mar  8 23:31:41 2006
From: dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu (David Griffith)
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:31:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [P112] 2nd run sitrep
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0603081526430.17035@helios.cs.csubak.edu>


Sorry about the procrastination.  School things are going on and blah
blah...

I've ordered and received the memory chips.  The problem with RTC chips
was solved at the same time.  ic-distributors.com was able to get me
enough for much less than Digikey et al wanted.  My latest magical trick
was forgetting the RS232 transceivers and some crystals.  I finally sent
these out half an hour ago.


-- 
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu



From jack.rubin at ameritech.net  Thu Mar 16 03:54:05 2006
From: jack.rubin at ameritech.net (Jack Rubin)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:54:05 -0600
Subject: [P112] good news, bad news
Message-ID: <000001c648ad$45c30a70$176fa8c0@obie>

Finally a space cleared on my workbench and got my P112 assembled. 

The good news is that it's up and running in the monitor; frequency and
RAM checks are as expected.

The bad news is that it won't boot from the floppy drive. On system
reset, the drive light comes on, the heads load and then I get " --
Unrecognizable Disk Format!" for several iterations (I've never let it
get to 10 so I?m not sure how many times it repeats). If I enter =Z 1
<cr>, then I get the same activity and error but only one disk read
attempt.

I then tried to follow the debug instructions outlined in the manual but
I'm not too sure I got it right, so let me review what I did -

= D 8000 B2 CF
8001 B2 FF
Q

I then loaded the registers as follows:

A 02
B 01
C 00
D 00
E 01
H 82
L 00
IX 0480
PC 8000
SP 0000

=R echoed the above values and indicated <instr.> CF FF B2

then  
=G  (drive selects and heads load)
break at 8002

=R

A 05
B 01
C 00
D FE
E 42
H 82
L 00
IX 0480
PC 8002
SP 0000

finally, looking where DE pointS -

=D FE42 00

so?

Meanwhile, I'm starting on the GIDE adapter and hopefully will be able
to boot from the flash card.

Jack


-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.3/281 - Release Date: 3/14/2006
 




From jack.rubin at ameritech.net  Thu Mar 16 04:11:25 2006
From: jack.rubin at ameritech.net (Jack Rubin)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 22:11:25 -0600
Subject: [P112] terminal cables for P112
Message-ID: <000001c648af$b16c2890$176fa8c0@obie>

I have several dozen F-F DB-9 null modem cables that allow you to
connect directly from the serial port pigtail supplied with the P112 to
a PC serial port. These are black molded cables supplied by HP for
connecting to their various network boxes; length is about 8'. I'll be
happy to send one via Priority Mail to anyone in the CONUS for $4.50;
international for the cost of shipping.

Dave G, if you want to include these with future kits, let me know. 

best,
Jack

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.3/281 - Release Date: 3/14/2006
 




From dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu  Thu Mar 16 06:19:15 2006
From: dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu (David Griffith)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 22:19:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [P112] good news, bad news
In-Reply-To: <000001c648ad$45c30a70$176fa8c0@obie>
References: <000001c648ad$45c30a70$176fa8c0@obie>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0603152216240.2047@helios.cs.csubak.edu>

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006, Jack Rubin wrote:

> Finally a space cleared on my workbench and got my P112 assembled.
>
> The good news is that it's up and running in the monitor; frequency and
> RAM checks are as expected.
>
> The bad news is that it won't boot from the floppy drive. On system
> reset, the drive light comes on, the heads load and then I get " --
> Unrecognizable Disk Format!" for several iterations (I've never let it
> get to 10 so I?m not sure how many times it repeats). If I enter =Z 1
> <cr>, then I get the same activity and error but only one disk read
> attempt.

Two possibilities.

1) Remember that drive 1 and drive 2 are reversed from how you'd expect
them to be.  You might be trying to boot from drive 2.

2) You didn't set the jumpers correctly.  In particular, I forgot to set
P2 at all and experienced similar troubles.


-- 
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?



From jack.rubin at ameritech.net  Thu Mar 16 23:10:16 2006
From: jack.rubin at ameritech.net (Jack Rubin)
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:10:16 -0600
Subject: [P112] good news, bad news
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0603152216240.2047@helios.cs.csubak.edu>
Message-ID: <000001c6494e$ca743d10$176fa8c0@obie>

> > The bad news is that it won't boot from the floppy drive. On system 
> > reset, the drive light comes on, the heads load and then I get " -- 
> > Unrecognizable Disk Format!" for several iterations (I've 
> never let it 
> > get to 10 so I?m not sure how many times it repeats). If I 
> enter =Z 1 
> > <cr>, then I get the same activity and error but only one disk read 
> > attempt.
> 
> Two possibilities.
> 
> 1) Remember that drive 1 and drive 2 are reversed from how 
> you'd expect them to be.  You might be trying to boot from drive 2.
> 
> 2) You didn't set the jumpers correctly.  In particular, I 
> forgot to set P2 at all and experienced similar troubles.
> 

There are some other possibilities too - and the problem turned out to
be in the "I don't want to talk about it" category.

When it came time to hookup the floppy drive, the only cables handy were
polarized with a blanking plug in the connector at pin 5. I figured that
was a good thing - it would make for a truly professional looking system
if I used keyed connectors. OK, I understand "measure twice, cut once".
The manual clearly states (p 43, describing P9 - Disk Drives 0 and 1)
"Pin 1 is at the top-left when holding the board with the battery to the
bottom-right". I counted twice, made sure I had "pin 5" in my sights and
clipped it off, even though there was a voice in my head quietly asking
"Wasn't there a box indicating pin 1 in the bottom-right position of the
pc board silk screen?". Of course when I hooked up my keyed cable and
then inserted the other end into the drive, the drive light came on
immediately and stayed lit. I know what that means - the cable is
flipped. And the pin that I had so carefully clipped off was actually
/RDATA. It was easy to verify - after the fact - that the _inner_ row of
pins are all grounded and that pin 1 is indeed at the bottom-right, as
per the board silk screen. 

Once I stopped kicking myself, I was able to extract the stub and
replace it with a new pin and now all is well. The original boot disk
that came with the P112 kit still won't load but at least I get a "can't
read boot track" error. I can boot from the second boot disk that came
with Terry's GIDE kit so hopefully I'll get things up and running before
the second floppy dies.

You'd think that with some 30 year's experience dinking around with this
stuff I'd have learned to listen to those little whispers, but still,
late and night and eager to "get'er done" I charged ahead and flubbed
it.

Oh well - please consider this a notice that there is at least one bit
of mis-information in the manual!

yours in ZSDOS,
Jack 

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.3/281 - Release Date: 3/14/2006
 




From dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu  Fri Mar 17 10:13:17 2006
From: dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu (David Griffith)
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 02:13:17 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [P112] good news, bad news
In-Reply-To: <000001c6494e$ca743d10$176fa8c0@obie>
References: <000001c6494e$ca743d10$176fa8c0@obie>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0603170203570.12890@helios.cs.csubak.edu>

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006, Jack Rubin wrote:

> > > The bad news is that it won't boot from the floppy drive. On system
> > > reset, the drive light comes on, the heads load and then I get " --
> > > Unrecognizable Disk Format!" for several iterations (I've
> > never let it
> > > get to 10 so I?m not sure how many times it repeats). If I
> > enter =Z 1
> > > <cr>, then I get the same activity and error but only one disk read
> > > attempt.
> >
> > Two possibilities.
> >
> > 1) Remember that drive 1 and drive 2 are reversed from how
> > you'd expect them to be.  You might be trying to boot from drive 2.
> >
> > 2) You didn't set the jumpers correctly.  In particular, I
> > forgot to set P2 at all and experienced similar troubles.
> >
>
> There are some other possibilities too - and the problem turned out to
> be in the "I don't want to talk about it" category.

That's how I felt when I discovered option number 2 among other things
that I should know better not to do..

> When it came time to hookup the floppy drive, the only cables handy were
> polarized with a blanking plug in the connector at pin 5. I figured that
> was a good thing - it would make for a truly professional looking system
> if I used keyed connectors. OK, I understand "measure twice, cut once".
> The manual clearly states (p 43, describing P9 - Disk Drives 0 and 1)
> "Pin 1 is at the top-left when holding the board with the battery to the
> bottom-right". I counted twice, made sure I had "pin 5" in my sights and
> clipped it off, even though there was a voice in my head quietly asking
> "Wasn't there a box indicating pin 1 in the bottom-right position of the
> pc board silk screen?". Of course when I hooked up my keyed cable and
> then inserted the other end into the drive, the drive light came on
> immediately and stayed lit. I know what that means - the cable is
> flipped. And the pin that I had so carefully clipped off was actually
> /RDATA. It was easy to verify - after the fact - that the _inner_ row of
> pins are all grounded and that pin 1 is indeed at the bottom-right, as
> per the board silk screen.

Um...  Oops?  I don't know what else to say.  I was a bit disappointed
that the silkscreening indicating pin 1 isn't very visible once parts are
mounted.  I put a dot of silver sharpie ink on my board near all pin1s.

> Once I stopped kicking myself, I was able to extract the stub and
> replace it with a new pin and now all is well. The original boot disk
> that came with the P112 kit still won't load but at least I get a "can't
> read boot track" error. I can boot from the second boot disk that came
> with Terry's GIDE kit so hopefully I'll get things up and running before
> the second floppy dies.

I'm not sure what went wrong there.  Have you tried reimaging the disk
with something from the documentation CD?

> You'd think that with some 30 year's experience dinking around with this
> stuff I'd have learned to listen to those little whispers, but still,
> late and night and eager to "get'er done" I charged ahead and flubbed
> it.
>
> Oh well - please consider this a notice that there is at least one bit
> of mis-information in the manual!

Fixed.  I don't know how that got past me.

-- 
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu