Oric computers, Jasmin drives

Just curious - are Jasmins not able to run other DOSs ?



Steve M

Since no two Oric FDCs are exactly compatible at the hardware
level, not directly.

The Microdisc and Jasmin controllers use similar drives and FDC
(1791 and 1770 respectively) but some of the hardware is
different. The boot procedure and the methods to access the
overlay RAM and select drives are different. The FDC registers
are also mapped at different addresses.

It may be possible to modify FTDOS to run on the Microdisc or,
conversely, to port the Microdisc DOSes to the Jasmin but I
can't say for sure.

--
Andr?Majorel <URL: http://www.teaser.fr/ ~amajorel/>
There are far more C programmers than there are copies of the
standard. -- Keith Thompson

"Andre Majorel" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM > wrote


Well the Cumana and Microdisc are compatible but that's when the Cumana has
a Microdisc type ROM .



I wonder if the Microdsc ROM will fit in the Jasmin. Maybe the hardware may
stop it working ?

Steve M

Seeing as the FDC registers are mapped at different addresses,
I'd be surprised if that did anything useful.

--
Andr?Majorel <URL: http://www.teaser.fr/ ~amajorel/>
There are far more C programmers than there are copies of the
standard. -- Keith Thompson

> >> It may be possible to modify FTDOS to run on the Microdisc or,

Sure, but anyway it would be interesting to see what amount of work would be
necessary to get Sedoric working on the Jasmin drives. And perhaps modifying
the EPROMS would be required.

If it only needs some patches in the low level access routines, it could be
interesting no ?
It would makes the Jasmin drives a lot more interesting suddenly.

Dbug

"Mickael Pointier" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM > a rit dans le message de

be
modifying
be

Basically, the Jasmin electronics connect the DRQ signal of the FDC to the
IRQ line of the Oric, meaning that you get an interrupt every 32 cycles when
you read/write a disk... the interrupt handler has to be damn short, it
can't even save registers...
IMHO, it's not a very big task to port Sedoric to the Jasmin, it might have
been done already (don't know... Andr??)
I guess the biggest problem is at boot time... Jasmin's eprom won't boot
Sedoric, so an hybrid FTDOS/Sedoric disk has to be defined (in the same way
than Sedoric disks, which are actually OricDOS/Sedoric hybrid disks...)


A few years ago, I asked if that adaptation was of interest...
People replied me that very few Oric users still use Jasmin, and that even
those who used to have Jasmin had switched to Microdiscs...

Cheers,

Fabrice

Hah ! Good one, Fabrice. :-D


I haven't.

Sedoric appears to be more advanced than FTDOS but I'm not sure
the additional features are worth the trouble of switching,
especially if I have to do the port. My use of FTDOS has always
been limited to !SAVE and !LOAD anyway (if I recall correctly; I
haven't used the thing for more than decade).

--
Andr?Majorel <URL: http://www.teaser.fr/ ~amajorel/>
There are far more C programmers than there are copies of the
standard. -- Keith Thompson

"Andre Majorel" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM > a rit dans le message de


?? Seems my sentence brought a meaning that wasn't intended...
I was asking if you know whether this port has already been done by someone
?
Or... did you refer to some conversation we might have had about it ?-)

Cheers,

Fabrice

That read like ?Oh, it wouldn't be that hard to build a
life-size Eiffel tower replica with a hand tied in your back and
a piano balanced on your nose. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised
if Andr?had already done it in his spare time. ?
--
Andr?Majorel <URL: http://www.teaser.fr/ ~amajorel/>
There are far more C programmers than there are copies of the
standard. -- Keith Thompson

"Andre Majorel" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM > a rit dans le message de

> That read like Oh, it wouldn't be that hard to build a >> life-size Eiffel tower replica with a hand tied in your back and >> a piano balanced on your nose. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised >> if Andrhad already done it in his spare time.
LOFL,
Excellent, I can't stop imagining that picture !-)

Talking about piano, I'm currently trying to find a GM expander at a low
cost (to connect to your Midi interface)...
I thought that I could acquire a Yamaha MU5 on ebay, but the price is now
raising...
Anyone aware of a cheap one ?

Cheers,

Fabrice

>> if Andr?had already done it in his spare time. ? >

I aim to amuse. :-)


According to www.prepal.com, the Roland MT-32 goes for less
money than the MU5. But since it predates the GM norm, GM
compatibility might be dodgy.

--
Andr?Majorel <URL: http://www.teaser.fr/ ~amajorel/>
There are far more C programmers than there are copies of the
standard. -- Keith Thompson

"Andre Majorel" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM > wrote


If you want to use an Oric I think it is worth getting a Sedoric system
running. It make you compatible with others if nothing else.

If the porting etc is difficult then a new disk interface would seem a
better idea. Shouldn't be too hard for you to build ;o)

Steve M