DriveWire 3/4

DriveWire Icon

Documentation

FAQ

Efficient Storage for the CoCo!

If you always wanted to find a useful way to share space on your PC hard drive with your CoCo, then you will love DriveWire 3/4. DriveWire 3 turns your PC into a full file server for your CoCo under Disk BASIC or NitrOS-9. With 38,400 bits per second achievable on a CoCo 1, a fast 57,600 bits per second on a CoCo 2 and a blazing 115,200 bits per second on a CoCo 3, you will never use a floppy disk again.

The best part is that no additional hardware is needed. Simply plug one end of the DriveWire cable into the CoCo's built-in RS-232 port, and the other end into your PC serial port. Install the accompanying software and your personal computer's hard drive is your CoCo's to use!

Standard Features

  • Uses your PC hard drive as your CoCo's storage.
  • Fully transparent under NitrOS-9 and Disk BASIC! Looks just like a hard drive.
  • Super fast 115,200 bps on a CoCo 3, 57,600 bps on a CoCo 2, 38,400 bps on a CoCo 1.
  • Built-in error detection assists in error-free transfers.
  • Includes special version of HDB-DOS for DriveWire!
  • NitrOS-9 booter module included; combine with the NitrOS-9 ROM Kit for disk free booting!
  • Bit-banger routines compliments of Darren Atkinson.
  • DriveWire 3 is a free product, compliments of Cloud-9!

How To Use DriveWire

There are several different ways to start your CoCo using DriveWire. But before you do, make sure you have the following items on your checklist:

1.     A CoCo 1, CoCo 2 or CoCo 3

2.     A DriveWire cable connected from your CoCo to your Mac or PC.

3.     The appropriate DriveWire server loaded and running on your Mac or PC.

4.     The DriveWire 3 HDB-DOS and DW3DOS archive file below should be downloaded to your Mac or PC, along with the NitrOS-9 archive.

5.     A ROM Pak or disk controller containing either the HDB-DOS or DW3DOS ROM, OR a cassette cable. If you have a cassette cable, hook one end to your CoCo's Cassette port and the audio IN jack on the other end to the audio OUT jack of your Mac or PC.

When it comes to using DriveWire you have two different approaches: use HDB-DOS or use DW3DOS. The former is a full-fledged extension to Disk BASIC and can access RS-DOS disk images as well as boot into NitrOS-9 (by typing the DOS command). The latter simply pulls the sectors off of track 34 of the mounted disk image on the server and jumps to address $2602 (perfect for booting right into NitrOS-9 or any other operating system that supports this bootstrap method).

Option 1: Using CLOADM:EXEC

If you do not have HDB-DOS or DW3DOS burned into ROM, then the quickest way to get your CoCo running DriveWire is to use one of the supplied .WAV files. The pros to using this method are: minimal hardware requirements (just two cables connected from your Mac or PC to your CoCo), and the cartridge slot remains free to plug in a peripheral. The cons to using this method are: the cassette load must take place each time you power up your CoCo, which can take time.

To get started, you must choose which .WAV file to load:

  • If you want to run HDB-DOS, your CoCo 1 or 2 must have Extended BASIC and 64K of RAM; you will need to queue the hdbcc1.wav or hdbcc2.wav file in your favorite music player on your Mac or PC. CoCo 3 users should queue up the hdbcc3.wav file.
  • If you want to use DW3DOS to boot right into a NitrOS-9 disk image, then your CoCo 1 or 2 must have 64K and you will need to queue the dw3doscc1.wav or dw3doscc2.wav file in your favorite music player on your Mac or PC. CoCo 3 users should queue up the dw3doscc3.wav file.

Once the appropiate WAV file is queued up, hook up the cassette type CLOADM:EXEC on your CoCo and press ENTER, then play the queued .WAV file on your Mac or PC. You may have to adjust the volume levels on your Mac or PC to insure that the file loads properly. Once the file is loaded, you will see either the HDB-DOS welcome screen or the DW3DOS boot screen.

Option 2: Using a ROM Pak or Other Cartridge

Having HDB-DOS or DW3DOS in a ROM Pak or other cartridge (such as a disk controller or RS-232 Pak) is the fastest way to bring your CoCo up to speed with DriveWire. Your CoCo 1 or CoCo 2 can have as little as 16K of RAM. The only down side is that it does require additional hardware and takes up the cartridge slot. Also, if you don't have a ROM already burned you will need to pick from one of the HDB-DOS or DW3DOS images in the archive and burn that image into ROM.

To run, simply insert the ROM Pak or cartridge containing the HDB-DOS or DW3DOS ROM into the CoCo and power it up.

Server compatibility

CoCoNet

DriveWie 3

DriveWire 4

Compatible with Windows

Yes

Yes

Yes

Compatible with Mac OS X

No

Yes

Yes

Compatible with Linux

No

Yes

Yes

Capabilities provided to CoCo

CoCoNet

DriveWie 3

DriveWire 4

Basic disk drive support

Yes

Yes

Yes

TCP/IP networking

No

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Run web server on CoCo

No

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Telnet into CoCo

Yes

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Virtual modems/telnet out of CoCo

Yes

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Basic text printing

No

Yes

Yes

Virtual dot matrix printing

No

No

Yes

Real time clock

No

Yes

Yes

MIDI playback on local PC

No

No

NitrOS-9 only

MIDI passthrough to external synths

No

No

NitrOS-9 only

Sever features

CoCoNet

DriveWie 3

DriveWire 4

Bitbanger connections

Yes

Yes

Yes

6551 connections

Yes

Very limited

Very limited

Bluetooth connections

Yes, with adapter or via wireless pak

Yes, with adapter

Yes, with adapter

TCP/IP connections

No

No

Yes

Multiple CoCo support

No

Yes

Yes

GUI interface

No

Yes

Yes

Remote GUI support

No

No

Yes

Supports .DSK files

Yes

Yes

Yes

Supports .DMK files

No

No

Yes

Supports multi DSK images, load offsets, range limits and other advanced file options

No

No

Yes

Supports loading all drives together in one operation as a set

No

No

Yes

Load disks over HTTP

Yes

No

Yes

Load disks over FTP

Yes

No

Yes

Load disks over SSh, CIFS, WebDAV, etc

No?

No

Yes

Write changes back to network disks

No?

No

Yes

Controllable from CoCo side

BASIC only

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Supports copying individual fiels directly from server to CoCo drive

BASIC only

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Supports copying individual files directly from Internet to CoCo drive

BASIC only

No

NitrOS-9 now, BASIC soon

Performance

CoCoNet

DriveWie 3

DriveWire 4

Time to copy one disk to another (115k)*

82 seconds

36 seconds

35.2 seconds

Time to copy one disk to another (230k)

NA

NA

20.6 seconds

Time to load Donkey Kong (115k)

30.4 seconds

29.9 seconds

28.7 seconds

Time to load Donkey Kong (230k)

NA

NA

22.3 seconds

* For reference: floppy disk time for BACKUP 0 TO 1 is 88 seconds; for loading Donkey Kong is 47 seconds

Free Downloads

DriveWire4 Project (Download here)

DriveWire HDB-DOS and DW3DOS ROM Images, cassette files and track files (Download here)

NitrOS-9 DriveWire Images for CoCo 1, CoCo 2 and CoCo 3 (Download here)

DriveWire3 MacServer for Mac OS X (requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher) (Download here)

DriveWire3 WinServer for Windows (requires Windows 98 or higher) (Download here)

 

Related Products

Product

Cost

DriveWire3/4 Serial Cable (4 pin DIN to DB-9)

$22 + s/h

 


 

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