schmidtd

To commemorate Rich Dreher's arrival at KFest - I recorded an
introductory video of the various features of the CFFA3000. You guys
already know all the info in here, but in case you need a CFFA3000 fix
- here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q113bbwR5A

Disclaimer: no, Rich isn't paying me to do this, assuming it even
deserved payment in the first place. I'm just doing what I can to
help nudge this thing out the door as soon as possible.

Jayson Smith

Hi,

Okay, is there a page where I can find out all the features of this card?
I'm blind, so unless there is good narration, a video wouldn't do me much
good.
Thanks.

"schmidtd" <schmidtd@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:eb9b7577-6b4b-432d-b9a8-53cc18046e84@gv8g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
> To commemorate Rich Dreher's arrival at KFest - I recorded an
> introductory video of the various features of the CFFA3000. You guys
> already know all the info in here, but in case you need a CFFA3000 fix
> - here it is:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q113bbwR5A
>
> Disclaimer: no, Rich isn't paying me to do this, assuming it even
> deserved payment in the first place. I'm just doing what I can to
> help nudge this thing out the door as soon as possible.

schmidtd

On Jul 20, 10:55*am, "Jayson Smith"
<ihatespamratguynospample...@insightbb.spamsucks.c om> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Okay, is there a page where I can find out all the features of this card?
> I'm blind, so unless there is good narration, a video wouldn't do me much
> good.

Rich doesn't have the user's manual ready; once that's ready, that
would probably be the authoritative source. Until then, I tried to
put the basic functions into words in a posting in Rich's bulletin
board:

http://dreher.net/forum/viewtopic.ph...a5ce14fd9486e3

But even there, I had to resort to some pictures to help explain the
situation. There's a lot of virtual things going on - I've been
having a hard time putting it into words successfully. So give that
post a read, and ask questions to fill in what I missed. Maybe I can
learn to describe it better!

D Finnigan

schmidtd wrote:
> To commemorate Rich Dreher's arrival at KFest - I recorded an
> introductory video of the various features of the CFFA3000. You guys
> already know all the info in here, but in case you need a CFFA3000 fix
> - here it is:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q113bbwR5A
>

Cool stuff. I liked your ending quote, "For a computer approaching its 35th
birthday, this is as future-proof as it gets in this industry."

:-)

--
]DF$
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/

Jayson Smith

Hi,

Thanks for this. Being blind, there are a few things I'd need to know before
I buy one. In particular, how do you manage virtual disk drives and change
disk images? Is it a desk accessory or what? Are the menus/commands
predictable, or does it remember where you were last time, etc? I know of at
least one program I have which requires switching disks while it's running,
turning over the program disk.
Thanks.
Jayson

"schmidtd" <schmidtd@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:7ea86923-5363-4a93-a11e-bd9edeee5ec3@w24g2000yqw.googlegroups.com...
On Jul 20, 10:55 am, "Jayson Smith"
<ihatespamratguynospample...@insightbb.spamsucks.c om> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Okay, is there a page where I can find out all the features of this card?
> I'm blind, so unless there is good narration, a video wouldn't do me much
> good.

Rich doesn't have the user's manual ready; once that's ready, that
would probably be the authoritative source. Until then, I tried to
put the basic functions into words in a posting in Rich's bulletin
board:

http://dreher.net/forum/viewtopic.ph...a5ce14fd9486e3

But even there, I had to resort to some pictures to help explain the
situation. There's a lot of virtual things going on - I've been
having a hard time putting it into words successfully. So give that
post a read, and ask questions to fill in what I missed. Maybe I can
learn to describe it better!

D Finnigan

Jayson Smith wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Thanks for this. Being blind, there are a few things I'd need to know
> before
> I buy one. In particular, how do you manage virtual disk drives and change

> disk images? Is it a desk accessory or what? Are the menus/commands
> predictable, or does it remember where you were last time, etc?

When you boot the Apple with the CFFA3000, it shows a menu on the screen. It
looks like when you use a USB stick, there is a bit of a wait. About 2
seconds on the video for the USB device to be ready. The menu has 8 options.
They are:

1.) Disk II Slot: 6 (Will reboot)
2.) Disk II Assignments
3.) SmartPort Devices: 6
4.) SmartPort Assignments
5.) Assign First From: CF
6.) Other Settings
7.) About
8.) Boot

Option 1 is used to toggle a slot for the virtual Disk II, presumably by
using the left and right arrow keys.

Option 3 is for choosing the number of "block devices" to be accessed via
ProDOS/SmartPort. (Note, DOS 3.3 cannot see these.)

Option 5 is for choosing which to boot from when USB and CompactFlash are
both inserted to the CFFA,.

When you choose the second option, Disk II assignments, you get taken to a
two-column screen that shows the .dsk images on your USB drive in a list on
the left, and then which of these images are selected for Disk II emulation,
shown on the right.

This is all information that I got from watching the video. I'm sure others
will fill in the rest of the details. :-)

--
]DF$
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/

D Finnigan

Jayson Smith wrote:
> Are the menus/commands
> predictable, or does it remember where you were last time, etc?

About the menus:

From watching the video, it appears that the selection cursor starts at the
top of the option list every time that you return to the main menu. Using
the up and down arrow keys moves the menu selection cursor. It's not clear
if you can also type the menu option number.

D Finnigan

Jayson Smith wrote:
> Are the menus/commands
> predictable, or does it remember where you were last time, etc?

About the menus:

From watching the video, it appears that the selection cursor starts at the
top of the option list every time that you return to the main menu. Using
the up and down arrow keys moves the menu selection cursor. It's not clear
if you can also type the menu option number.

schmidtd

On Jul 20, 3:19*pm, dog_...@macgui.com (D Finnigan) wrote:
> Jayson Smith wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> > Thanks for this. Being blind, there are a few things I'd need to know
> > before
> > I buy one. In particular, how do you manage virtual disk drives and change
> > disk images? Is it a desk accessory or what? Are the menus/commands
> > predictable, or does it remember where you were last time, etc?
>
> When you boot the Apple with the CFFA3000, it shows a menu on the screen.It
> looks like when you use a USB stick, there is a bit of a wait. About 2
> seconds on the video for the USB device to be ready.

There are also beeps when devices (CF, USB) become ready. And a buzz
when something is unsuccessful. If you listen carefully, you will
observe a bug in the then-current firmware... it was buzzing at my USB
stick, which works perfectly well.

> The menu has 8 options.
> They are:
>
> 1.) Disk II Slot: 6 (Will reboot)
> 2.) Disk II Assignments
> 3.) SmartPort Devices: 6
> 4.) SmartPort Assignments
> 5.) Assign First From: CF
> 6.) Other Settings
> 7.) About
> 8.) Boot

Note that each menu item can be accessed by number, or by the first
letter in the name.

> Option 1 is used to toggle a slot for the virtual Disk II, presumably by
> using the left and right arrow keys.

That's correct; and you only have to reboot when changing the slot
number. Normally, it doesn't say (Will reboot).

> Option 5 is for choosing which to boot from when USB and CompactFlash are
> both inserted to the CFFA,.

Actually, option 5 really means which memory device will fill in all
of its images into the available volumes first. So, if you have 2
images identified from CF, and 3 from USB, and you set "Assign first
from:" to be CF, then CF images 1 and 2 get assigned to the first
available volumes; then USB gets its 3 images assigned to the next
ones, all according to the ProDOS assignment rules (Antoine posted a
link to the relevant algorithm recently...)

> When you choose the second option, Disk II assignments, you get taken to a
> two-column screen that shows the .dsk images on your USB drive in a list on
> the left, and then which of these images are selected for Disk II emulation,
> shown on the right.

When you select an image from the left, you get a "gleep" sound as it
successfully mounts and shows up on the right.

Jayson Smith

Hi,

Wow, good description! Now, a few more questions. Is there any way to swap
out disk images while a program is running, in other words, without
rebooting? As in, when a program needs the disk to be flipped over to access
files on the other side. Also, is there by chance a way to access the device
settings E.G. disk assignments, etc. through a program after the system is
booted? Obviously before any disk has booted, *nothing* will talk. I gather
you can't select the virtual disk drive and actually type in the name of the
disk image to mount there? That would be very nice for us blind folks,
rather than or in addition to a menu where you might not know how many
arrows to hit to get to the particular image.

A totally off-the-wall suggestion here, but I don't assume the boot menu is
located on a 'fake' disk image with DOS 3.3 or ProDOS as its OS? If it were,
at least partial accessibility might be possible by having that image load
Textalker. Problem, of course, is how to detect if someone has an Echo
speech synthesizer card, and I don't know any answers to that one.
Jayson

"schmidtd" <schmidtd@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:4049a068-7d76-431c-b864-7ee62ca02b19@x10g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
On Jul 20, 3:19 pm, dog_...@macgui.com (D Finnigan) wrote:
> Jayson Smith wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> > Thanks for this. Being blind, there are a few things I'd need to know
> > before
> > I buy one. In particular, how do you manage virtual disk drives and
> > change
> > disk images? Is it a desk accessory or what? Are the menus/commands
> > predictable, or does it remember where you were last time, etc?
>
> When you boot the Apple with the CFFA3000, it shows a menu on the screen.
> It
> looks like when you use a USB stick, there is a bit of a wait. About 2
> seconds on the video for the USB device to be ready.

There are also beeps when devices (CF, USB) become ready. And a buzz
when something is unsuccessful. If you listen carefully, you will
observe a bug in the then-current firmware... it was buzzing at my USB
stick, which works perfectly well.

> The menu has 8 options.
> They are:
>
> 1.) Disk II Slot: 6 (Will reboot)
> 2.) Disk II Assignments
> 3.) SmartPort Devices: 6
> 4.) SmartPort Assignments
> 5.) Assign First From: CF
> 6.) Other Settings
> 7.) About
> 8.) Boot

Note that each menu item can be accessed by number, or by the first
letter in the name.

> Option 1 is used to toggle a slot for the virtual Disk II, presumably by
> using the left and right arrow keys.

That's correct; and you only have to reboot when changing the slot
number. Normally, it doesn't say (Will reboot).

> Option 5 is for choosing which to boot from when USB and CompactFlash are
> both inserted to the CFFA,.

Actually, option 5 really means which memory device will fill in all
of its images into the available volumes first. So, if you have 2
images identified from CF, and 3 from USB, and you set "Assign first
from:" to be CF, then CF images 1 and 2 get assigned to the first
available volumes; then USB gets its 3 images assigned to the next
ones, all according to the ProDOS assignment rules (Antoine posted a
link to the relevant algorithm recently...)

> When you choose the second option, Disk II assignments, you get taken to a
> two-column screen that shows the .dsk images on your USB drive in a list
> on
> the left, and then which of these images are selected for Disk II
> emulation,
> shown on the right.

When you select an image from the left, you get a "gleep" sound as it
successfully mounts and shows up on the right.