Hello Dr_Acula,
I was hoping to hear from you. It's not too late. Several people similar interests, but work in different years. I'm documenting what I find in web pages for the person next year.
My test bed is very different. I'm not starting with a bare system. I'm upgrading what I have and will work my way backwards to early Altairs, non-MITs drives, and no hardware drives. I've quit using the
PMMI modem for now and also waiting to implement "AT" command set modems. I'm doing parallel development using the
Altair 88-2SIO and Vector Graphic
Bitstreamer II. For now, I am ignoring the
Altair 88-SIOA and
non-MITS boards often used by early Altairs.
I've made a lot of progress. I have the BSTAM communications software on both VG and MITS hard-sectored format. I have a Bitstreamer and MITS 88-2SIO boards in a
VG configuration system and a
MITS 300/25 configuration. I used BSTAM to transfer BYE, MEX, Modem7, Kermit, Sweep, and Wash to Altair format. PIP is out of the picture for now. I can also Squeeze/Unsqueeze files and use LBR libraries.
I have a PMMI BYE working for 54K VG and 60K MITS CP/M 2.2. I want to upgrade my RCP/M to a newer version, eliminate modems, and use an RS-232 connection to an Ethernet serial server. I'm updating utilities too.
The goal is a common set of tools with source code for 8251A/9551 IO, M6850 IP, standard MITS and VG addresses, VG CP/M, MITS Burcon CP/M, and Tarbell SSSD CP/M. I want a RCP/M a file transfer without Telnet. I'm using a
GW312 serial to Ethernet server. Is anyone else using a serial to Ethernet device compatible with Tactical Software virtual COM drivers?
I have a sub-domain that address my router and the firewall routes serial server traffic to two RS-232 ports. I can do console operation and file transfer without Telnet. Now I want to configure BYE and Xmodem.
I don't remember the difference between BYE or MBYE. I'm looking for a recommendation and pointer to the best/latest source code for a RCP/M. I have BYE 7.2 for a starting point. I'll want MDM 7.?? and XMODEM source too.
I'm not finding much code for the M6850 in MITS boards. The 8251A code uses software Baud rate selection, the Bitstreamer uses switches. I'm using CP/M MBASIC4 an Altair BASIC to initialize and test the M6850.
I'd appreciate any advice on source code versions and source, BYE RCP/M without a modem, and Ethernet to serial connections. I'm currently researching 88-2SIO configuration and ready to learn what signals BYE needs to work without a modem.
The back of my Altair has six 25-pin connectors:
Three connectors are VG standard Bitstreamer ports A, B, and C. - Ignore for now
One connector is a MITS Turnkey Module M6850 at 14H/15H for MITS BSTAM. Later, the port will be useful for an
APE modem program.
The last two connectors are for the MITS 88-2SIO console a modem ports. The MITS console only uses transmit, receive, and ground. The second port configuration is mostly undefined for MITS software. I think the default MITS handshaking and internal cable connections need some refinement.
My next tests are an Altair 8800 to 8800b RS-232 link from Albuquerque to Denver. Does anyone have an RCP/M system on the internet?
Tom Sanderson
http://tom12.tech.officelive.com/default.aspx