Re: FocusDrive and Interrupts

[dog_cow@macgui.com (D Finnigan)]

mdj wrote:
> 
> You'll find what you need in either the IIgs Firmware Reference or the
> later IIc Tech Ref, both of which Sheppy sells.

Both appear to be affordably priced at $30.00. I'll keep these on my
wishlist. I've also had my eye on the "Complete C Bundle" ORCA/C package,
the one that comes with disk, ref man, and all the rest.

> 
> Are you planning a 'dd' style command for your multitasking OS ?
> 

Let me refresh my memory on this command; I don't use it all that often...

DD(1)                     BSD General Commands Manual                   
DD(1)

NAME
dd -- convert and copy a file

SYNOPSIS
dd [operands ...]

DESCRIPTION
The dd utility copies the standard input to the standard output.  Input
data is read and written in 512-byte blocks.  If input reads are short,
input from multiple reads are aggregated to form the output block.  When
finished, dd displays the number of complete and partial input and output
blocks and truncated input records to the standard error output.


Looking at the description, I'd say, "Yes, eventually." I've got a roadmap
in mind of what features I want to get down first. Disk support isn't even
part of the first milestone, but it's something that I want to think about
now to make sure that I don't run into any fatal snags later.

I'm going to write a blog entry tomorrow or the next day which will
incorporate my design notes and plans so far. I'll give a link to that when
it has been published. So far, I've got this entry:
http://macgui.com/blogs/?e=357
which talks about the hardware that I have assembled thus far.

I plan on doing all development and testing on both a IIgs (which will
handle the assembling in Merlin at 2.8 MHz) and the IIe which will
ultimately run the OS. I know that emulators are supposed to be more
convenient, but that's not the case in my situation. I'd need to spend $50
on the full version of Virtual ][. $50 is more than what I've spent so far
building this Apple IIe machine that you read about in the blog entry.

>> Yeah, I saw that when I used the Slot Scan 1.62 program, the FocusDrive
>> was
>> identified as SmartPort Device (Error #39).
>>
>> By the way, does anyone know what Error #39 means? It's come up in this
>> group before, and also with a FocusDrive, but it was never explained.
> 
> As Antoine said, it's an IO Error if that's #39 decimal. Otherwise,
> it's a device specific return code.

It follows logically as an I/O error, from my other experiences. This is the
same error number that sometimes comes up when using the Focus Formatter
version 1.1.

When the disk drive mechanism is working correctly and spins up, the error
does not appear. However, the disk drive is on its last legs, and I am
replacing it with a CompactFlash IDE adapter solution.


Btw, here's a lesson learned from personal experience: when they suggest
"baking" a disk in the oven to relieve stiction, be sure to set the
temperature to something less than 150 degrees F. I had it in there for
about 3 minutes at that temperature, on two occasions about 20 minutes
apart, and that seems to have toasted (ha) the drive. The mechanics still
work, but something inside failed worse than it was before I baked it.

Oh well. It was failing anyway.

-- 
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
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