[sebhc] Software Exchanging (was HUG disk 885-1095 - SY: driver)

[Dwight K. Elvey]

>From: "Eric J. Rothfus" <eric at rothfus.com>
---snip---
>
>Note to Dwight, if you have read this far, it would be nice
>to combine the SVD software and your download mechanism.
>The SVD has a pretty GUI (the SVD Control Program or SVD-CP)
>that runs on the PC side that helps you download images.  I
>would love to find a way to teach the SVD-CP to download to
>a listener running on a target H8/H89.

Hi
 I like the idea of the SVD format. I was asking Patrick about
the format of the header. I can tell you what I have in
the file that is run on the H89 side that I bootstrap by
the typed in code. It has some simple handshake. There
is a simple query that the DOS code does to see if the
code is running on the H89 side. As I recall, I transfer
one sector at a time with handshake but no error checking.
Error checking might be an issue if one is bootstrapping
from a modem but there is no reason for it if using a direct serial
port. I chose to use the LP port on the Heath side because that
can use a simple 1:1 cable with no special pin changes. It
is also the one most used on the H89.
I also wrote the code so that it self aligns itself once
loaded into the H89. This is so that if there is a byte or
two in the serial chip, it can ignore this. This keeps the
bootstrap code as small as possible. It is still a little
large because the serial chip needs a number of registers
initialized. I always liked the serial chips used on the
early S-100 boards. These were hard wired for things like
baud rate. Bootstrap code is much simpler.
 I can give you a list of what the listener expects and how
it responsed. You should be able to run it from your GUI
with out any problems. There is one special extra feature
that I have for some of my floppies. Normally, HDOS disk
keep the volume number on sector 9. Many of my Forth disk,
always leave the volume number as 0. This means that one
needs a way to ignore the sector 9 value.
 I'd also like to expand the listener code to work with
the 96tpi disk and the 8 inch disk. I don't have a soft
sectored setup so I've no way to fiddle with that.
 My code for the H89 side is all done in assembly so one
can make enhancements if one wants to. I do all my DOS
stuff on the PC side in Forth so it most likely won't
mean much to you if you don't know the language.
 The bootstrap method is the way most are done. The
code is loaded backwards into the RAM until it overwrites
the bootstrap code and starts executing the loaded code.
One has to position the main listener code to overlap
at the right place.
Dwight

>
>The idea is that the listener would identify itself in
>response to a simple SVD-CP query, and the SVD-CP would then
>know how to transfer files to it.  The listener would need
>to provide ongoing feedback to the SVD-CP and hopefully
>allow upload and download.
>
>Just a thought, let me know if you'd be interested in
>working on this with me.
>
>Eric
>
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