Re: "Co-Processor" Apple ?

["Bill Garber" <willy46pa@comcast DOT net>]

"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
20040820033332.26080.00002250@mb-m28.aol.com">news:20040820033332.26080.00002250@mb-m28.aol.com...
: Robert C. replied:
:
: >"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
: >20040817220555.19157.00003638@mb-m06.aol.com">news:20040817220555.19157.00003638@mb-m06.aol.com...
: >> Robert C. replied:
: >>
: >> >"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
: >> >
: >> >> All these issues caused me to prefer using an annunciator
output
: >> >> and a pushbutton input for NadaNet--it is both simpler
and more
: >> >> capable.
: >> >
: >> >The more I read about NadaNet, the more I think it is "the
next best
: >thing"
: >> >to true Ethernet.
: >>
: >> I'm glad you like what you've read.  ;-)
: >>
: >> The practical bandwidth is about 8 kilobytes/sec, which is a
lot
: >> lower than the peak bandwidth of Ethernet, but the latency
is
: >> very low and Apple II's don't need screaming bandwidth.
: >>
: >> NadaNet delivers data at about the same rate as a 5.25"
disk,
: >> which is quite practical for many purposes.
: >>
: >> And you can't beat the price...  ;-)
: >>
: >> I've just written a Applesoft program "prun" which will do a
: >> "parallel run" of any Applesoft program on all networked
: >> machines running the service loop.  The slaves complete
: >> their computation and return to the service loop by doing
: >> any input operation.
: >>
: >> I've been pretty busy reorganizing my lab area for the last
: >> few weeks, and expect that to go on for another few weeks,
: >> but my next NadaNet project is assembling the code to
: >> run at the top of RAM (at $B800 for AppleCrate slaves),
: >> so that HIMEM: can easily protect it, and all of low memory
: >> will be contiguous for program(s).
: >>
: >> I'll give some thought to self-relocation in the process...
: >
: >I have downloaded and read the documentation and code and am
in the process
: >of entering the code one byte at at time. I know the files are
available for
: >download too, but I figured: what better way to learn the code
than to enter
: >it manually.
:
: Entering the code in the monitor is certainly an excercise in
: patience!  At least you can "List" the code to verify that it
is
: correct.  (Errors in hand entry are a major issue.)
:
: > I will be using my 2 Apples as a "Master" / "Slave" setup, so
I
: >was wondering, is there any parts of the code that should be
changed? The
: >Applesoft program you wrote can be easily changed so that it
does not use
: >"machine 2" as a message center, and the Slave polls the
Master upon
: >completion of its job.
:
: Yes, it can be changed, but as written it requires at least
three
: machines:  the master, the message server, and at least one
: "worker" slave.  The master initializes the system and puts
: "jobs" in a message queue, "workers" receive jobs from the
: message queue and place results in another message queue,
: and the master receives the results and prints them.
:
: As I note in the documentation, the primary function of the
message
: server is to permit queued asynchronous communication between
: machines.  If you don't use a message server, then any two
: communicating machines must "rendezvous", usually by one
: of them polling in its service loop.
:
: If you are only connecting two machines, then you may want to
try
: some different things.  The "parallel run" program would allow
you
: to initiate an arbitrary Applesoft program on the slave machine
from
: the master.  I'll look at putting it up on the web in the next
few days.
: (Although you can probably write your own using "PARALLEL.SIM"
: as a template.)
:
: You will not need the NadaBoot code, since you will not be
: running a "diskless" slave.  That also helps with debugging,
: since you will be able to debug your slave machine(s) locally.
: (Some network debug capability is getting higher on my want
: list.  ;-)
:
: (As I've been cleaning and reorganizing my lab, I discovered
: that it has a _floor_!!  Amazing!  ;-)

Is that to say that my living room may still have a floor???
:o()

Bill @ GarberStreet Enterprizez };-)
Web Site - http://garberstreet.netfirms.com
Email - willy46pa @ comcast DOT net
Change DOT to a dot to contact me



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