Best alternate file storage for Coco 3?

[cwilkson]

I've been wanting to get my Coco 3 system running again for 20 years or more.  It's finally set up and running!

And now that I have the floppy drives working again and I can read my old disks it's time to move away from that storage format.

 

I currently have an FD-501 controller plugged into a Multipak Interface and it controls 2 physical floppy drives.  In the future I want to abandon the FD-501 and drives altogether.

I need to do the following:

1. Copy files and complete disk images the physical floppies to an alternate storage medium that's accessible by the Coco for long term archival purposes.
2. Use that alternate medium as a 100% replacement for the physical drives.  For compatibility it needs to appear identical to 2 or more real drives from the Coco's point of view.
3. Move files and disk images between my Coco and my Windows PC.  The PC could act as a virtual storage for the Coco or as an internet gateway.  Or both.  I don't care as long as I can upload/download between the internet<->PC and transfer between PC<->Coco.
4. Run under both DECB and some flavor of OS-9 (probably Nitros-9 with a 6309).
5. Multipak Interface compatible.

 

Over the years I've seen many disk replacements come and go.  But I don't know what is considered the latest and greatest setup.  This is where I need help.  What are other people doing?  What do folks here recommend?

 

 

I've seen references to Coco SDC for drive replacement on the Coco side.  Can I transfer files between the Coco and the PC using "sneaker net"?  I.e. using the SD card to transfer files back and forth?

I've also seen references to Drivewire for transferring files PC<->Coco.  And for using setting up the PC as a live file server for the Coco.

 

Is one setup better than the other?  Should I use both together?  What is the optimal set up these days?

 

[MrDave]

Yes cocosdc uses a sd card that you can drop into your pc and move files back and forth.

It's a versatile device.. i believe it can even use a coco harddrive image.. 

Drivewire is good  too but i prefer the coco to not be dependant on another machine.

Edited September 30, 2022 by MrDave

[tlindner]

I think DriveWire has it's place. It's a very low cost solution for expanding the storage options. It' very possible the only extra hardware you'll need is a serial cable.