Hey Mike, I suppose you could use serial port + Bluetooth to drive an 80x25 character display. But I wonder how slow it would be to do scrolling, etc. I was already worried about how slow a parallel port implementation would be relative to a true system bus connection. And I think the tricky part about what you said is the word "internal" as it relates to Bluetooth. Most people don't want to take their machines apart and take a soldering iron to them, myself included and I even have the skills to do it (or at least I tell myself I do ;)
As far as the how, the SysROM has multiple RST 7 hooks for sending characters to the LCD. And it uses RAM variables to record the current screen dimensions (which are initialized to 40x8). Redirecting to anything other than the internal LCD (i.e. DVI system bus, parallel port, serial port, etc.) requires installing a relatively small .CO program and RST7 hooks to intercept the data going to the LCD. And BASIC has a WIDTH command for setting the width to either 40 or 80. But the WIDTH command will fail unless you have actually installed a RST7 hook to handle it. Ken On Wed, May 20, 2015 at 9:09 AM, MikeS <[email protected]> wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Gmail > To: Model 100 Discussion > Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 11:22 AM > Subject: Re: [M100] TDock > > Ken, > > Tell me more! > > Pretty well everything that's being discussed is already available today; > connect to an old laptop via Bluetooth and you've got your display > interface, USB/SD/HD storage, WiFi etc. If that $9.00 SBC becomes a > reality it should be able to do the same thing, sort of a wireless > super-NADSbox.. > > That's the way I'd go, a separately powered portable standalone device > linked to the ModelT via (internal) Bluetooth. > > When I put the M100's display up on the big screen TV it was usually for > playing M100 format text games and puzzles while reclining on the couch so > 80 column mode wasn't really an issue for me, but I did investigate the 80 > column screen mode a bit way back when with no success. > > I then assumed it was part of the DVI DOS but I gather it's actually > included in the basic BASIC; any hints about how to get at it, preferably > redirecting out the serial port? > > And of course then there's the issue of drawing graphics on an 80x25 > equivalent display... ;-) > > m > > ---------------- > > > > > Hi Bob, > > > Actually no ROM changes are needed. The existing ROM already supports > 80x25 text mode displays (though not for the MENU program). > > > Ken > > Sent from my iPhone > > On May 20, 2015, at 7:18 AM, Bob Pigford <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I agree with Van and others: TDOCK needs to be a Dock (not portable) and > may be powered with a wall wart. For me, an 80 X 25 display would be the > ultimate goal, not just duplicating the ModelT screen on a larger display. > For instance, I think one might already be able to run VirtualT on a > Raspberry Pi and have a virtual ModelT on a larger screen, but what is the > point in that. > > I want to have the great ModelT keyboard, serial & parallel ports, etc, on > my desk while looking at a full screen of characters. The hardest part of > that might be the changes to the ROM. I will point out that Steve鈥檚 REX > can be operated in ROM replacement mode such that a custom modified 鈥渟oft鈥� > ROM (adjusted for 80 X 25 display) can be used without actually creating or > requiring a new physical ROM. > > SD card storage in TDOCK would also be terrific freeing the serial port > for BlueM. > > I think that HDMI may be the best video solution for TDOCK, and there are > many small HDMI screen choices available. For example, see > http://www.adafruit.com/category/63 > If you only have a VGA screen, then an HDMI to VGA adapter could be used. > I am doing this now with a RPi and a VGA screen. > > I think that Wifi and internet connectivity delivered directly from TDOCK > might be way down the road, but Ken鈥檚 initial design could allow design > 鈥渟pace鈥� for that later enhancement. > > As to Ken鈥檚 question about I/O capability (like A/D and digital pins), > that would be nice but not necessary. If you want to touch the real world > of sensors, motors, and the like, a serial connection to an Arduino will > suffice (cheap hardware and easier programming on the ModelT end). Of > course, if a Raspberry Pi were to be used as the engine under the TDOCK > hood, I/O pins and HDMI are already there, as well as USB ports for add-ons > like Wifi. > > > \ >
