schmidtd

Today, my shiny new (well, not really shiny or new) Tiger Learning
Computer arrived. It is just the computer and software cartridges; no
power supply or mouse. Of note - the cartridges live where the LCD
screen would be if it really were a laptop - which is what it looks
like, but really isn't.

I hooked up a random 9v/350mA wall wart power supply, and up it came.
What I really want to do is to get the serial port talking so I can
move some information back and forth. From my reading online, the
serial port should be the male DE9 on the back, and is wired to need a
null modem in order to talk to another DTE (like a typical computer on
the other end of a USB/RS-232 dongle). So far, no luck - PR/IN#2
isn't doing anything like I expect. The cursor changes a bit, but it
doesn't take Ctrl-A commands, and I don't see anything coming or going
via HyperTerminal (yes yes, a poor indicator of eventual success).

Anyone ever get one of these things talking? The online resources
talk about a "Com" app, but as far as I can tell... all it does is set
baud/stop bits/parity.

bill.martens@gmail.com

On Aug 31, 2:01*pm, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> Today, my shiny new (well, not really shiny or new) Tiger Learning
> Computer arrived. *It is just the computer and software cartridges; no
> power supply or mouse. *Of note - the cartridges live where the LCD
> screen would be if it really were a laptop - which is what it looks
> like, but really isn't.
>
> I hooked up a random 9v/350mA wall wart power supply, and up it came.
> What I really want to do is to get the serial port talking so I can
> move some information back and forth. *From my reading online, the
> serial port should be the male DE9 on the back, and is wired to need a
> null modem in order to talk to another DTE (like a typical computer on
> the other end of a USB/RS-232 dongle). *So far, no luck - PR/IN#2
> isn't doing anything like I expect. *The cursor changes a bit, but it
> doesn't take Ctrl-A commands, and I don't see anything coming or going
> via HyperTerminal (yes yes, a poor indicator of eventual success).
>
> Anyone ever get one of these things talking? *The online resources
> talk about a "Com" app, but as far as I can tell... all it does is set
> baud/stop bits/parity.

The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
2003. Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
can help you out.

sfahey

To: bill.martens@gmail.com
Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
By: bill.martens@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am

> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
> 2003. Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> can help you out.

Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.

http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html

Sean Fahey
www.a2central.com
bbs.a2central.com

bill.martens@gmail.com

On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
wrote:
> * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am
>
> *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
> *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> *> can help you out.
>
> Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> bbs.a2central.com

Thanks for correcting me Sean. My memory is getting a bit hazy these
days.

BLuRry

On Aug 31, 9:47*am, "bill.mart...@gmail.com" <bill.mart...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
> wrote:
>
> > * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> > * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> > * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am
>
> > *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
> > *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> > *> can help you out.
>
> > Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> >http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> > Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> > bbs.a2central.com
>
> Thanks for correcting me Sean. * My memory is getting a bit hazy these
> days.

Can you get to the monitor? If so, might want to have a look from
c200 to c2ff -- also see if accessing that memory range does any
bankswitching of c800-cfff -- could be some buried treasure in the
rom.
If not, I can send you a short routine to key-in just to blast out a
test message.

-B

schmidtd

On Aug 31, 5:37*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 31, 9:47*am, "bill.mart...@gmail.com" <bill.mart...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
> > wrote:
>
> > > * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> > > * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> > > * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am
>
> > > *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
> > > *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> > > *> can help you out.
>
> > > Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> > >http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> > > Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> > > bbs.a2central.com
>
> > Thanks for correcting me Sean. * My memory is getting a bit hazy these
> > days.
>
> Can you get to the monitor? *If so, might want to have a look from
> c200 to c2ff -- also see if accessing that memory range does any
> bankswitching of c800-cfff -- could be some buried treasure in the
> rom.
> If not, I can send you a short routine to key-in just to blast out a
> test message.

@Sean - I got in touch with Jay, thanks.

@B - Yep, you get full access to the machine. Firmware in c200-c2ff
is identical to AppleWin's in the same slot. No telling what the
hardware is doing behind the scenes, though. I forgot to check if
c8xx changes on c2xx access... will have to do that another time.

I keyed in a modified Apple /// grub bootstrapper, just to see if it
would recognize incoming serial characters - it did not, based on my
assumptions:
0) Port is set to 9600,n,8,1 by default and embedded COM program
1) Standard SSC ACIA hardware addresses in slot 2
2) The serial port is the male DE-9 connector
3) You need a null modem between the TLC and the Real World

BLuRry

On Aug 31, 9:32*pm, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> On Aug 31, 5:37*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 31, 9:47*am, "bill.mart...@gmail.com" <bill.mart...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > > On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
> > > wrote:
>
> > > > * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> > > > * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> > > > * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am
>
> > > > *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
> > > > *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> > > > *> can help you out.
>
> > > > Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> > > >http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> > > > Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> > > > bbs.a2central.com
>
> > > Thanks for correcting me Sean. * My memory is getting a bit hazy these
> > > days.
>
> > Can you get to the monitor? *If so, might want to have a look from
> > c200 to c2ff -- also see if accessing that memory range does any
> > bankswitching of c800-cfff -- could be some buried treasure in the
> > rom.
> > If not, I can send you a short routine to key-in just to blast out a
> > test message.
>
> @Sean - I got in touch with Jay, thanks.
>
> @B - Yep, you get full access to the machine. *Firmware in c200-c2ff
> is identical to AppleWin's in the same slot. *No telling what the
> hardware is doing behind the scenes, though. *I forgot to check if
> c8xx changes on c2xx access... will have to do that another time.
>
> I keyed in a modified Apple /// grub bootstrapper, just to see if it
> would recognize incoming serial characters - it did not, based on my
> assumptions:
> 0) Port is set to 9600,n,8,1 by default and embedded COM program
> 1) Standard SSC ACIA hardware addresses in slot 2
> 2) The serial port is the male DE-9 connector
> 3) You need a null modem between the TLC and the Real World

I recommend having it blast out the same series of characters over and
over -- then on the real world side keep adjusting the serial port
parameters until you get the correct data over the wire. You could
probably write a small assembler loop like the following:

loop1 ldy #'A'
loop2 lda ACIA_STATUS
bit #CLEAR TO SEND MASK (forgot that one off the top of my
head)
beq loop2
(note: you could replace the polling above with some other function
that takes 55 cycles to finish, in the case of 115200 baud. For
slower speeds, double/triple that, etc)
sty ACIA_DATA
cpy #'Z'
beq loop1
bne loop2

Something like that anyway

BLuRry

On Sep 2, 12:21*am, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 31, 9:32*pm, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 31, 5:37*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Aug 31, 9:47*am, "bill.mart...@gmail.com" <bill.mart...@gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
>
> > > > On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
> > > > wrote:
>
> > > > > * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> > > > > * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> > > > > * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am
>
> > > > > *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman broughtto KFest
> > > > > *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> > > > > *> can help you out.
>
> > > > > Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> > > > >http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> > > > > Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> > > > > bbs.a2central.com
>
> > > > Thanks for correcting me Sean. * My memory is getting a bit hazy these
> > > > days.
>
> > > Can you get to the monitor? *If so, might want to have a look from
> > > c200 to c2ff -- also see if accessing that memory range does any
> > > bankswitching of c800-cfff -- could be some buried treasure in the
> > > rom.
> > > If not, I can send you a short routine to key-in just to blast out a
> > > test message.
>
> > @Sean - I got in touch with Jay, thanks.
>
> > @B - Yep, you get full access to the machine. *Firmware in c200-c2ff
> > is identical to AppleWin's in the same slot. *No telling what the
> > hardware is doing behind the scenes, though. *I forgot to check if
> > c8xx changes on c2xx access... will have to do that another time.
>
> > I keyed in a modified Apple /// grub bootstrapper, just to see if it
> > would recognize incoming serial characters - it did not, based on my
> > assumptions:
> > 0) Port is set to 9600,n,8,1 by default and embedded COM program
> > 1) Standard SSC ACIA hardware addresses in slot 2
> > 2) The serial port is the male DE-9 connector
> > 3) You need a null modem between the TLC and the Real World
>
> I recommend having it blast out the same series of characters over and
> over -- then on the real world side keep adjusting the serial port
> parameters until you get the correct data over the wire. *You could
> probably write a small assembler loop like the following:
>
> loop1 ldy #'A'
> loop2 lda ACIA_STATUS
> * * * * *bit #CLEAR TO SEND MASK *(forgot that one off the top of my
> head)
> * * * * *beq loop2
> (note: you could replace the polling above with some other function
> that takes 55 cycles to finish, in the case of 115200 baud. *For
> slower speeds, double/triple that, etc)
> * * * * *sty ACIA_DATA
> * * * * *cpy #'Z'
> * * * * *beq loop1
> * * * * *bne loop2
>
> Something like that anyway

heh... forgot to put "iny" in there just before the last line that
branches back to loop2. Not that "A"s make a bad test pattern either
-- just not the intended purpose of that example. :-}

-B

schmidtd

On Sep 2, 1:21*am, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 31, 9:32*pm, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Aug 31, 5:37*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Aug 31, 9:47*am, "bill.mart...@gmail.com" <bill.mart...@gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
>
> > > > On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
> > > > wrote:
>
> > > > > * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> > > > > * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> > > > > * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 31 2010 03:47 am
>
> > > > > *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman broughtto KFest
> > > > > *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> > > > > *> can help you out.
>
> > > > > Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> > > > >http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> > > > > Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> > > > > bbs.a2central.com
>
> > > > Thanks for correcting me Sean. * My memory is getting a bit hazy these
> > > > days.
>
> > > Can you get to the monitor? *If so, might want to have a look from
> > > c200 to c2ff -- also see if accessing that memory range does any
> > > bankswitching of c800-cfff -- could be some buried treasure in the
> > > rom.
> > > If not, I can send you a short routine to key-in just to blast out a
> > > test message.
>
> > @Sean - I got in touch with Jay, thanks.
>
> > @B - Yep, you get full access to the machine. *Firmware in c200-c2ff
> > is identical to AppleWin's in the same slot. *No telling what the
> > hardware is doing behind the scenes, though. *I forgot to check if
> > c8xx changes on c2xx access... will have to do that another time.
>
> > I keyed in a modified Apple /// grub bootstrapper, just to see if it
> > would recognize incoming serial characters - it did not, based on my
> > assumptions:
> > 0) Port is set to 9600,n,8,1 by default and embedded COM program
> > 1) Standard SSC ACIA hardware addresses in slot 2
> > 2) The serial port is the male DE-9 connector
> > 3) You need a null modem between the TLC and the Real World
>
> I recommend having it blast out the same series of characters over and
> over -- then on the real world side keep adjusting the serial port
> parameters until you get the correct data over the wire. *You could
> probably write a small assembler loop like the following:
>
> loop1 ldy #'A'
> loop2 lda ACIA_STATUS
> * * * * *bit #CLEAR TO SEND MASK *(forgot that one off the top of my
> head)
> * * * * *beq loop2
> (note: you could replace the polling above with some other function
> that takes 55 cycles to finish, in the case of 115200 baud. *For
> slower speeds, double/triple that, etc)
> * * * * *sty ACIA_DATA
> * * * * *cpy #'Z'
> * * * * *beq loop1
> * * * * *bne loop2
>
> Something like that anyway

Yep, perfect - I can muck about with that to see if it's trying to
send anything. And I'll check with a voltmeter first to see if
anything ends up on the wire in the first place... ;-)

BLuRry

On Sep 2, 6:28*am, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> On Sep 2, 1:21*am, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 31, 9:32*pm, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Aug 31, 5:37*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > On Aug 31, 9:47*am, "bill.mart...@gmail.com" <bill.mart...@gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
>
> > > > > On Aug 31, 10:45*pm, "sfahey" <sfa...@a2central.com.remove-trg-this>
> > > > > wrote:
>
> > > > > > * To: bill.mart...@gmail.com
> > > > > > * Re: Re: Got myself a Tiger Learning Computer today
> > > > > > * By: bill.mart...@gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Aug 312010 03:47 am
>
> > > > > > *> The only other one I have seen is the one Ed Eastman brought to KFest
> > > > > > *> 2003. *Maybe he has a bit more of a clue on how the beast works and
> > > > > > *> can help you out.
>
> > > > > > Jay Edwards, not Ed Eastman.
>
> > > > > >http://www.gamebits.net/gallery/kfes...source/29.html
>
> > > > > > Sean Faheywww.a2central.com
> > > > > > bbs.a2central.com
>
> > > > > Thanks for correcting me Sean. * My memory is getting a bit hazy these
> > > > > days.
>
> > > > Can you get to the monitor? *If so, might want to have a look from
> > > > c200 to c2ff -- also see if accessing that memory range does any
> > > > bankswitching of c800-cfff -- could be some buried treasure in the
> > > > rom.
> > > > If not, I can send you a short routine to key-in just to blast out a
> > > > test message.
>
> > > @Sean - I got in touch with Jay, thanks.
>
> > > @B - Yep, you get full access to the machine. *Firmware in c200-c2ff
> > > is identical to AppleWin's in the same slot. *No telling what the
> > > hardware is doing behind the scenes, though. *I forgot to check if
> > > c8xx changes on c2xx access... will have to do that another time.
>
> > > I keyed in a modified Apple /// grub bootstrapper, just to see if it
> > > would recognize incoming serial characters - it did not, based on my
> > > assumptions:
> > > 0) Port is set to 9600,n,8,1 by default and embedded COM program
> > > 1) Standard SSC ACIA hardware addresses in slot 2
> > > 2) The serial port is the male DE-9 connector
> > > 3) You need a null modem between the TLC and the Real World
>
> > I recommend having it blast out the same series of characters over and
> > over -- then on the real world side keep adjusting the serial port
> > parameters until you get the correct data over the wire. *You could
> > probably write a small assembler loop like the following:
>
> > loop1 ldy #'A'
> > loop2 lda ACIA_STATUS
> > * * * * *bit #CLEAR TO SEND MASK *(forgot that one off the top of my
> > head)
> > * * * * *beq loop2
> > (note: you could replace the polling above with some other function
> > that takes 55 cycles to finish, in the case of 115200 baud. *For
> > slower speeds, double/triple that, etc)
> > * * * * *sty ACIA_DATA
> > * * * * *cpy #'Z'
> > * * * * *beq loop1
> > * * * * *bne loop2
>
> > Something like that anyway
>
> Yep, perfect - I can muck about with that to see if it's trying to
> send anything. *And I'll check with a voltmeter first to see if
> anything ends up on the wire in the first place... ;-)

Volt meter? :-) You can see the voltage reading bounce around on the
RX pin when there's data coming over. If anything, it's the best
thing to check that you're not going to blow a serial port elsewhere.

-B