- #Coco disk archive how to#
- #Coco disk archive serial#
- #Coco disk archive archive#
- #Coco disk archive Patch#
- #Coco disk archive software#
The Tandy Colour Computers 1, 2 & 3, the Tandy MC-10 and some of theirġ-4 player "Gauntlet" style game for the Dragon 32/64 and Tandy ColourĬomputer.
#Coco disk archive software#
The Dragon computers are based around a Motorola reference design also used by Tandy for their Colour Computer 1 and 2, and so share many features and software with those machines.Ī free, cross-platform emulator of the Dragon 32, 64, etc. Eurohard later repackaged the Dragon 64 in Spain as the Dragon 200, and also produced a localised version called the Dragon 200-E.ĭavid Linsley has written a comprehensive history,
#Coco disk archive serial#
It provides an extra 32K of RAM, a serial port for better external communications, and the ability to run advanced operating systems such as NitrOS-9 (a modern redevelopment of OS-9) and FLEX.Īn NTSC version of the Dragon 64 was released in the USA as the Tano Dragon. In 1983, the upgraded Dragon 64 was introduced. With a Motorola MC6809E microprocessor at its core (widely regarded as the best of the 8-bits), it is an excellent machine for the assembly language programmer. 32K of RAM and Microsoft Extended Colour BASIC built in makes it a good machine for BASIC programming. I hope to find a way to do this entirely from the CoCo without having to put the SD card in a PC/Mac and work with it.The Dragon 32 is an 8-bit personal computer released in 1982 by Dragon Data Ltd., based in Wales.
#Coco disk archive archive#
Somewhere in my archive are old, old floppy disks formatted to 42-tracks. I tested this on the drive I had at the time, and found I could reliably write up to 42-tracks of data. DSK image and BACKUP to it, once it writes past the 35th track, it should start expanding the file to become a 40-track image file.īigger problem: Early on, users figured out that some floppy drives actually could actually write past 40 tracks and get a bit more storage. Thus, if I have loaded my patches that set Disk BASIC to 40-tracks, then I create a new blank 35-track. But, he also said that images will automatically expand if you write past the 35-tracks.
DSK file?Īccording to responses from the CoCo mailing list, the designer Darren says you can download a blank 40-track. DSK image with the DRIVE command makes a 35-track.
#Coco disk archive Patch#
(Basically, the patch would change the upper limit from 35 to 40, so formatting with the DSKINI command or using the BACKUP command would now access all 40 tracks instead of just 35.) Since the floppy drive hardware emulated by CoCoSDC emulates the original floppy drive interface, the same patches should work to set CoCoSDC Disk BASIC to 40-track mode and then these floppies can be backed up the same way. I was one of those users, so many of my old CoCo disks are 40 tracks. Because of this, through the entire history of the CoCo, virtually all Disk BASIC software released on floppy disk was in the 35-track format. With this patch, you could still read and write to an original 35-track disk, but if you formatted and wrote to a 40-track disk, only users running the same patch could read it. Simple patch programs were released that modified Disk BASIC so it could use all 40 tracks.
#Coco disk archive how to#
However, to maintain backwards compatibility, Disk BASIC was never updated to use those extra five tracks, meaning that whether you used the first CoCo disk drive introduced in 1981, or the last one sold in 1991, Disk BASIC still treated it as a 35-track, single-sided device.Īlmost as soon as 40-track drives were hooked up to a CoCo, users went to work figuring out how to make use of the extra storage potential. As technology improved (and prices got lower), Radio Shack would switch from using old full-height, belt-driven 35 track floppy drives to half-height 40-track drives. Due to limits of affordable floppy drive hardware at the time, the Color Computer’s Disk BASIC ROM was only written to support a 35-track floppy drive. My previous article concluded with me describing an easy way to backup standard Color Computer floppy disks. If you are just joining me, please read the two earlier parts for an introduction. I will be using Darren Atkinson’s amazing CoCoSDC interface to copy from physical 5 1/4″ floppy disks to disk image files on an SD memory card, all from a computer that first came out in 1980. Today, my project to archive all my old Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer floppies continues. See also: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6.
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