RangerG Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 I had a TRS-80 CoCo throughout my youth. Nope, no Atari or Coleco or Intellivision for me. My younger brother later got a NES and 2600 Jr, but I was stuck drilling for oil with Wildcatting . I tried to collect for the CoCo, but there are just too many duds in the cartridge gaming line-up and many of the better games are tape or disk. However, there are some games I really miss: Polaris, Mega-Bug, Dino-Wars, and a few more. I'd also love to try the disc games I have only read about (like the King). Is there a multicart for games for the CoCo? I have searched and I don't see anything. There are several items you can buy to play roms and utilities, but they all seem so complicated. I wish there was a simple multicart or flashcart like the AtariMax ones. Does anyone have a suggestion? Are any of the available items from Cloud9 or other sources user-friendly enough that you set them up for game playing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 (edited) You can make a serial cable, use a serial to USB adapter, and Drivewire server software. It is not as good as Atari A8 sio2usb-pc but you can play all those games like The King and Sailor Man. I'd be more than happy to help you get that going. Just PM me. Edited October 7, 2013 by Official Ninja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 here is the cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 There used to be CoCoNet's SD DrivePak cartridge, which they appear to not be making anymore (although there's a MicroSD version "coming soon"). Cloud9 has a FlashPak (presumably a flash-programmable multicart?) listed on their site as "Coming Soon," but they also have their SuperIDE compact flash unit, which is basically the same sort of thing but not nearly as straightforward. So, short answer: not really. At least not at the moment.(Of course, if you talk to Cloud9 or CoCoNet, each one will tell you the other is Satan incarnate, unless something has changed that I missed.)But like others have said (and I have one coming, myself...should be here today, in fact!), an adapted CoCo-PC serial cable can be used to transfer disk images from PC to the TRS-80.using the DriveWire software (free to download). The only caveats with that are that having to tether your TRS-80 to another system is obviously not as convenient as a simple cartridge, and that you still need to load HDB-DOS from tape (actually .WAV off your soundcard; this is also free) every time you power it up. But, it's still a way to play pretty much the entire CoCo library for no more than the cost of the special serial cable and, if you need one, serial-to-USB adapter. I paid $11.50 for a 5-foot DriveWire cable on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 The only caveats with that are that having to tether your TRS-80 to another system is obviously not as convenient as a simple cartridge, and that you still need to load HDB-DOS from tape (actually .WAV off your soundcard; this is also free) every time you power it up. But, it's still a way to play pretty much the entire CoCo library for no more than the cost of the special serial cable and, if you need one, serial-to-USB adapter. I paid $11.50 for a 5-foot DriveWire cable on eBay. The easiest thing to do is take a spare rom pak, mostly the coco 3 ones... like shanghai or pitfall, replace the chip with a socket. You can then put in an HDB-DOS rom. My 1st try at this was hdb-dos for coco1 hard soldered into a rompak board. I'll give Ranger that one if he wants it, to help him get going. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Now that I am remembering all this, I think when I made my own HDB-DOS carts, I ordered a bunch of sockets and ROMs. So, if anyone wants to send me a spare cart, I'll be happy to socket it and burn the desired rom. Has to be rom paks with the chip in them though. Again, like shanghai or pifall adventure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 Pm coming Ninja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 (Of course, if you talk to Cloud9 or CoCoNet, each one will tell you the other is Satan incarnate, unless something has changed that I missed.) The amount of drama in the coco community is strangely high for such a small group of decidedly older gentlemen who should know how to play together better. One of the reasons I try to avoid the group as much as possible. I do like and use drivewire still. Is it the best solution? No but its a decent way to play the whole coco library, with some exceptions of course. I have been tempted to try cloud9's alternative offerings but have a hard time justifying the price right now. Maybe down the road. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 BTW, there are some very worthwhile cart based games on the coco - doubleback, color baseball, megabug, downland, polaris, clowns and balloons, skiing, stellar lifeline, popcorn, and quite a few others. If you have a coco 3 there are some great arcade ports like Tetris, Rampage, and Arkanoid too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 I miss playing a lot of those games you mentioned AtariLeaf + the tape text adventures like Bedlam, they were fun. Ninja is going to help me get back into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 here is the cable This is really cool. Is anyone selling the cables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 The amount of drama in the coco community is strangely high for such a small group of decidedly older gentlemen who should know how to play together better. One of the reasons I try to avoid the group as much as possible. I do like and use drivewire still. Is it the best solution? No but its a decent way to play the whole coco library, with some exceptions of course. I have been tempted to try cloud9's alternative offerings but have a hard time justifying the price right now. Maybe down the road.Drama is an understatement for that group. I've never seen a forum group gang up on people the way they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 This is really cool. Is anyone selling the cables? Hi Rick. Looks like they are on ebay for not too much... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313&_nkw=color+computer+drivewire+cable&_sacat=0&_from=R40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Drama is an understatement for that group. I've never seen a forum group gang up on people the way they do. The Ego's of some people in that group are so arrogant it makes it unpleasant to even lurk as a reader. It is a shame. There are some genuinely great people in the group. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 BTW- for any coco users or people interested in using drivewire who might read this thread... If you have a Tandy Radio Shack disk controller model FD502 it has a 28 pin rom socket in it. You can replace the rom with a Drivewire rom and you're all set. The older disk controller FD501 has a 24 pin socket and needs a converter to use the 28 pin rom. I think Cloud-9 sells the adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) The Ego's of some people in that group are so arrogant it makes it unpleasant to even lurk as a reader. It is a shame. There are some genuinely great people in the group. Um, derp, see below Edited October 8, 2013 by AtariLeaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 The most arrogant, surprisingly to me, was a famous coco programmer who's name started with an "S" and last name is the same as a certain eccentric Icelandic pop star. The one fellow I do like and always seemed pleasant in my dealings with, was cloud9's own Boisy Pitre, who I believe co-wrote the coco book with Bill Loguidice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Hi Rick. Looks like they are on ebay for not too much... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313&_nkw=color+computer+drivewire+cable&_sacat=0&_from=R40 Oooh, that looks good to me. Just so you know, I'm a complete CoCo newbie. I purchased a CoCo2 w 64K about a year ago because it was cheap and I'm a sucker for old computers. I have a few carts and two joysticks, and have basically done nothing with it. In other words, I have no idea what I'm doing. So please correct me if I'm wrong -- I can buy this cable, hook up my CoCo to a laptop with serial port, and then fake load images into the CoCo? I have an SIO2PC for Atari, and that's exactly what I'm thinking.... Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Oooh, that looks good to me. Just so you know, I'm a complete CoCo newbie. I purchased a CoCo2 w 64K about a year ago because it was cheap and I'm a sucker for old computers. I have a few carts and two joysticks, and have basically done nothing with it. In other words, I have no idea what I'm doing. So please correct me if I'm wrong -- I can buy this cable, hook up my CoCo to a laptop with serial port, and then fake load images into the CoCo? I have an SIO2PC for Atari, and that's exactly what I'm thinking.... Thanks. Well you need something called HDB-DOS loaded. It is a DOS similar to RSDOS and there is a version made to work with drivewire. The best way is to have a disk system and have the hdbdos rom in the disk controller. Another way is to put the rom in a rompak cart. You can also load it from disk or tape. I would imagine using tape would be a giant pain in the ass every time you had to power cycle or reset the computer it would need to be reloaded. Important to note that the coco used industry standard floppy drives and controller. Many coco games are copy protected or written to have direct access to the floppy controller. None of these will work with drivewire. The coco community is not like the Atari one, were just about everything has been ripped patched and hacked to work as file versions or dsk. There have been games converted to run with drivewire, like all the sierra adventure games, but mostly drive wire is only good for games that can be loaded with LOADM and then EXEC to run and they never look to the disk hardware after that. Those will work. Generally speaking that is how much of the coco 1/2 games work and there are hundreds of games like this making drive wire worth it for us who just want to play games. There just doesn't seem to be anyone in the coco community who cares about the games enough to patch the great coco 3 games for DW... Anyway, if you can get a hold of a shanghai, pitfall, football II, (coco3 game carts) I can burn and install the rom in the cart for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Well you need something called HDB-DOS loaded. It is a DOS similar to RSDOS and there is a version made to work with drivewire. The best way is to have a disk system and have the hdbdos rom in the disk controller. Another way is to put the rom in a rompak cart. You can also load it from disk or tape. I would imagine using tape would be a giant pain in the ass every time you had to power cycle or reset the computer it would need to be reloaded. Important to note that the coco used industry standard floppy drives and controller. Many coco games are copy protected or written to have direct access to the floppy controller. None of these will work with drivewire. The coco community is not like the Atari one, were just about everything has been ripped patched and hacked to work as file versions or dsk. There have been games converted to run with drivewire, like all the sierra adventure games, but mostly drive wire is only good for games that can be loaded with LOADM and then EXEC to run and they never look to the disk hardware after that. Those will work. Generally speaking that is how much of the coco 1/2 games work and there are hundreds of games like this making drive wire worth it for us who just want to play games. There just doesn't seem to be anyone in the coco community who cares about the games enough to patch the great coco 3 games for DW... Anyway, if you can get a hold of a shanghai, pitfall, football II, (coco3 game carts) I can burn and install the rom in the cart for you. Thanks for all this info. So I need a cable and some way to load "HDB-DOS". And you can convert a shangai, pitfall, or football II cart into HDB-DOS. I think I got it. Now, where to find one of those? It sure seems like CoCo carts are hard to find. I've never seen one at Goodwill/Thrift Stores, and finding them on Ebay isn't very easy or inexpensive. I'll look around more. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumbee74 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 There used to be CoCoNet's SD DrivePak cartridge, which they appear to not be making anymore (although there's a MicroSD version "coming soon"). Cloud9 has a FlashPak (presumably a flash-programmable multicart?) listed on their site as "Coming Soon," but they also have their SuperIDE compact flash unit, which is basically the same sort of thing but not nearly as straightforward. So, short answer: not really. At least not at the moment. (Of course, if you talk to Cloud9 or CoCoNet, each one will tell you the other is Satan incarnate, unless something has changed that I missed.) But like others have said (and I have one coming, myself...should be here today, in fact!), an adapted CoCo-PC serial cable can be used to transfer disk images from PC to the TRS-80.using the DriveWire software (free to download). The only caveats with that are that having to tether your TRS-80 to another system is obviously not as convenient as a simple cartridge, and that you still need to load HDB-DOS from tape (actually .WAV off your soundcard; this is also free) every time you power it up. But, it's still a way to play pretty much the entire CoCo library for no more than the cost of the special serial cable and, if you need one, serial-to-USB adapter. I paid $11.50 for a 5-foot DriveWire cable on eBay. I was lucky enough to get an SD DrivePak a couple years ago for my coco3 and have loved it. People are right about the drama in the community. The DrivePak is simple to use and can hold the entire coco library on it and it uses extended basic disk commands to us it. I also love the small and compact size. I can not speak about Cloud9 products, but I do want one of their 512k ram upgrades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 The SD DrivePal seems like it was really nice, but it is no longer for sale and I don't think it is serviced anymore. I just thought about it and I realize that probably the reason I've always liked the 5200 and didn't mind the joysticks is because I grew up playing the CoCo with the non-centering analog joysticks. I also like the Kraft sticks for the 2600 and these are similar to the Tandy ones as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Over the last couple days I've discovered a bit more about making HDB-DOS rompaks from coco3 game carts. Basically they work great for coco 1 and coco 2 or coco 3 if you're going to use it as a coco 1/2. The pak has CART and Q lines tied together. If understand it right this puts the coco 3 in RAM mode (like a coco1 or 2). So no coco 3 gaming. I've posted on the coco mailing list tying to get help on the matter but still can't seem to get it working right for coco 3. I tried cutting the CART line at the card edge but that didn't help. I'm going to ask for help another day and then just use the rompaks for coco 1 /2 stuff. I can't get the pak to stop forcing CART.... If you have a cassette cable for the coco you can load HDB-DOS for Drivewire from a MP3 player. This can be done on the coco 3 and then you have the ability to boot Nitros9, play the excellent Sierra adventure games and other coco 3 stuff. Still the CLOADM takes just over 40 seconds to load. Not bad if you're going to spend a couple hours playing a King's Quest game but a pain to do every time you need to power cycle the machine. .ROM's for burning and .WAV's for your MP3 player are here http://toolshed.sourceforge.net/snapshots/ currently in hdbdos-20130922.zip So unless I can get help stopping the rompak from forcing RAM mode, its rompak for coco 1/2 and cassette load for coco 3. Honestly I keep a coco 1 rom in my rompak because the coco 3 version of DW runs at high speed mode. You have to type POKE 65496,0 to set normal speed before EXEC any game. You can press reset too... that works for most things. Still I find it a pain so I use a coco 1 rom at normal speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Ok.... all fixed. Long story short I was looking at the wrong spot on the card edge. I cut the proper trace and the rompaks works great for coco 3 stuff too. So a PC running Drivewire 4, a simple cable and serial2usb adapter, a rompak with HDBDOS, and a coco 3 owner can play all the Sierra adventures. No disk swapping and fast too. Here is the socketed rompak... again if anyone wants to send me a coco 3 rompak and a 27c64 eprom I'll make it. Honestly, its not too hard to do. http://flic.kr/s/aHsjKzmSMc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) Here is a coco 3 with hdb-dos rompak running King's Quest II. This will give you an idea of how well it works. The video is unedited and sloppy, but you'll get the idea http://youtu.be/UXzyxSX1jLU How do you add a Youtube video to a post instead of just a link? Edited October 11, 2013 by Official Ninja 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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