• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

OS 9 and emulator and questions

I

irishmike

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2006
Messages
331
Location
Overland Park, KS USA
Hey All:

As I am just now getting into COCO machines and focusing on Tandy/Radio Shack model computers for my retro computing platform, I have decided to try to find an emulator to make disks and so on.

Can someone recommend a good emulator that works with Windows 7 and advise how you would hook a retro 5.25 drive to your modern machine... basically, What do I need to support my COCOs and Model 4?

Also I put out to everyone that I am now focusing on Tandy so I am looking for a 1000tx and a 1000hx and a couple of CM-8 monitors.

Appreciate all the help so far.

Mike
 
Sadly the best emulator I know of, works in msdos. :( Do you have any older machines you could use? I use an old thinkpad 760XD which is a p166, although a decent 486 should be fast enough for real time speed!

http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/trs80.html

Scroll down " TRS-80 Colour Computer 3 Emulator (released to freeware) "

Best thing about it, is its support for a utility that allows you to copy your virtual images to diskettes for use in real cocos!
 
@twolazy: right now I don't actually have an old DOS machine lying around. I have been looking for a 486DX2-66 for use for my BBS software (MajorBBS) and two would better so I have my BBS box dedicated again. I am game if someone has one for a "good home" or the like. I will definitely take your advice on the emulator -- Thanks (again).

@everyone: I am focused on Tandy/RS machines and so I am still seeking (with preference to local Kansas City area for shipping reasons) a Tandy 1000TX with hard card, and actually want to find a 1000HX as well... and the CM-8 monitor too :) The monitor is obviously the heavier part ;-)

PM me if you can help on either front.
 
Also look into Multi Emulator Super System (MESS). Among the billions :)D) of other systems supported are the CoCos, Model 4 and the 1000 series machines.

I don't have much advise regarding 5.25" floppies though. I would guess you'd probably have the most success with Win XP or lower. I've never tried connecting a 5.25" drive to any of my Vista or Win7 machines.

Tandy machines are an interest of mine as well. Good luck on your quest for the CM-8. They don't seem to be that common, but they are a great match for the CoCo 3.
__
Trevor
 
I also like MESS, it's easier to use and good enough to test most of the CoCo software.

You can always install a 5.25" drive regarding the MS OS you have. If you want to create standard PC floppies (1.2M, 360K) there's no problem (although the latest Windows need to open a CMD windows to achieve it). If you want to mess with alien formats, CoCo for example, you'll need a WinMe or lower. Windows 98SE is still an excellent choice. Of course you can try with Linux...

Also keep in mind that not all the combos disk controller+5.25" drive work fine. Most motherboards have mostly incompatible controllers that usually doesn't write correctly the disks.
 
I think most folks nowadays use VCC - get it at http://vcc.20x.cc/
Supports the SSC, FD-502, IDE, and even HDBDOS in the IDE, and also has an HDD image for download, that boots straight into Nitros9 v3.2.8.

Runs fine on my laptop - Dell Inspiron M501R (AMD Phenom II X4 x920 Black Edition/8GB RAM/500Gb HDD) with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.
Also tried it out on my new Dell XPS 15 (L502x, Intel i7-2720QM/8GB RAM/750GB/nVidia 525M) with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, again, no issues.

Hit up ftp.maltedmedia.com for software/manuals/etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top