Re: ADTPro question or idea

[Warren Ernst <wernst@gmail.com>]

On Oct 1, 4:38 am, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> On Sep 28, 7:50 pm, Warren Ernst <wer...@gmail.com> wrote:> So I've been using ADTPro 1.02 with mg Uthernet-equipped GS lately,
> > and it is truly amazing. Hat's off to you for making it.
>
> Thanks much.  It's been fun, and maddening all at the same time.
>
> > Still, I was thinking of a different way to use it. Suppose I wanted
> > to use ADTPro to simply use the uthernet (or serial connection) to
> > simply *transfer* the disk image file (or indeed, any file) to or from
> > the Apple to the PC host, without actually creating the disk or disk
> > file?
>
> Well, then, you'd want a generic file transfer program.  Or CiderPress
> coupled with a CFFA card.  Depending on what you're really after,
> Apple II Game Server will send a file directly into the Apple's
> memory:http://a2gameserver.berlios.de/
>
> > Is there already some hidden way to just do file transfers over the
> > Uthernet? Or is this some sort of useless pipe-dream feature?
>
> I assure you, nothing is hidden about the Uthernet.  All is there for
> you to see.  You need a TCP (I actually just used UDP) stack and some
> software to talk on it.
>
> > Or is there already a decent FTP program that will do this? (I hate to
> > have to install Marionetti and boot to GSOS when an 8-bit program
> > would do the job, but I digress.)
>
> I think you should check out Contiki:http://www.sics.se/contiki/
> I've been chastised before for not living on top of a "real" OS for
> Apples, but in this case I'm in favor of a special-purpose, dedicated
> communications "platform."
>
> > Anyway, thanks again for a great program!
>
> You're quite welcome.  Some of it I wrote myself, but lots of it came
> from lots of different places.

Well, I know about all of the other options you've suggests, and have
used them all, and I think most of them suck in one way or another (or
have a fatal flaw).

CiderPress is very very cool, and I use it weekly. I am very fortunate
to have a SuperDrive controller and two SuperDrives, but finding good
floppy disks is getting harder and harder, and relying on floppies
stinks. Opening up the GS to pull the CF card from my CFFA is also an
option, but that sucks too - lift the monitor, the System Saver, power
down the machine, and so forth. Don't get me wrong - it all works
great, but it can be a hassle or counts on old floppies.

The Apple II Game Server, which I beta tested early on, is also
totally cool, but it only works on serial cables, and it doesn't just
transfer files and writes files as you know - it dumps files into
memory and executes them.

Contiki is also cool, but the last version I used had significant
problems. I believe that FTP was only one-way (and I forget which
way), and it can't scroll up and down through lists of files, so if
there are more than 20 files or so, you can't see all of them. Contiki
version 2 doesn't have an Apple II port.

I suppose an FTP program for GS/OS under Marionetti is another way to
go, but for the sheer simplicity of it, ADTPro is hard to beat: small
ProDOS 8 file, 40 columns, and high speed and no-nonsense.

I never meant to suggest that any feature was intentionally hidden in
ADTPro. My thinking was that perhaps when you rewrote it, you had a
debugging feature that just sent over the DSK (or whatever) file and
then just wrote it to the disk rather than making an actual disk out
of it. That's what I would love to use. It's just that I find running
ADTPro over an Uthernet card is actually much faster and convenient
than using a HD Floppy to copy the file over many times.

I personally would welcome it is ADTPro became a "communications
platform." It's not like there are a lot of other options for the
Uthernet card. And at least yours works reliably.

Anyway, I was just thinking out loud, so to speak. thanks for the
reply.

-Warr