If you want to get REAL fancy, there is an "OS" called XOS-C by Paul
Globman whos whole purpose was to try to turn a 200 into something more
useful by using all banks.
The files and docs can be found here
http://www.club100.org/library/libpg.html
start with:
https://ftp.whtech.com/club100/pg/pgxos/x-tutr.do
There is a lot of 200-related stuff in the M100SIG,
and aside from the actual 200 directory,
https://github.com/LivingM100SIG/Living_M100SIG/blob/main/M100SIG/Lib-10-TANDY200/
You can use github's search to find everything that mentions "xos"
anywhere in the archive
https://github.com/search?q=repo%3ALivingM100SIG%2FLiving_M100SIG+xos&type=code
I have not tried this out myself yet. I've been curious about it for a
while.
--
bkw
On 8/15/23 08:32, CopyP wrote:
This is incredibly helpful, so thanks! I was trying to work out how to
load TEENY rather than TS-DOS and was wondering if I was just missing it
from the BackPack manual. I probably was! But that explanation gives me
a good base to work from, not least because I really only need very
basic functions for saving onto the BackPack, and TEENY can do that.
The extra RAM means that in fact I should be able to break most of what
I am using the 200 for down into two pieces of work instead of three or
more - which makes it all rather easier to work with!
And that is a fascinating way of working with data between RAM banks.
That’s not a method I would have thought of at all. I had been
considering a rather more basic form of RAM usage for document storage,
I know, for example, that I could simply use the RAM banks to store
parts of my work and copy each over to (say) bank 1 just to save. I
could live with that as long as bank 1 has enough space!
Thanks again!
Andy
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A few things:
--
I believe backpack allows you to put any loader you want on the sd card.
I don't know the exact mechanism, but for example a similar project I
have https://github.com/bkw777/PDDuino
lets you bootstrap anything you want by just saving it to a special file
name on the sd card.
You get any of the loader files from here
https://github.com/bkw777/dlplus/tree/master/clients
in your case, anything named *.200, specifically:
https://github.com/bkw777/dlplus/raw/master/clients/teeny/TEENY.200
And just save it to the sd card as LOADER.DO
and then PDDuino will use that file for bootstrap.
I think backpack has a fancier bootstrap process with an initial stage
that autodetects if the attached client is a 100 or 200 the same way a
real TPDD2 utility disk does, but otherwise a similar idea where the
device comes pre-loaded with a ts-dos loader, but it's just the default
not permanent and you can replace it.
--
Simply using TEENY in place of TS-DOS will get you from 6k down to 1.5k,
but you can go further by getting tricky with how you install and invoke
TEENY. The TEENY docs go into some detail about it but the gist is you
get the TEENY code installed into high memory, and then delete the .CO
file and replace it with a smaller trigger file. If you get this right,
then TEENY only consumes about 750 bytes. It's more delicate. If you run
any other .CO program that overwites the high memory area, that wipes
out TEENY, and then you no longer have the .CO file to reinstall from,
so you have to load from serial again. Which, with a backpack is not
much of a chore, especially if you customize the loader.do a little to
make it do a high-ram-trigger-file install instead of saving a .CO file.
I find the original teeny doc hard to follow but one thing it does is
cover all points, except, maybe not, I think there is model 100-specific
basic code in there in the trigger file section.
https://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=TEENY.CO_MANUAL#Trigger_File_Creation
--
This claims to copy files from bank to bank on 200:
https://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tandy_200_RAM
--
bkw
On 8/10/23 17:21, CopyP wrote:
Hi all,
I have just received a Tandy 200 to go with my 100 and 102. It seems
functional, but leaves me with an odd question:
I have one of Birt?s Backpack drives, which works perfectly with my
100 and 102, using the TS-DOS loader included on the SD card, and
referenced in the Backpack manual. Unfortunately, I don?t have an
option ROM with TS-DOS, so I loose 6K or RAM. On the 100/102 that
isn?t too bad, but on the 200, it leaves insufficient RAM for the
documents I am producing.
So, I thought, why not load TS-DOS into one RAM bank, and the
documents in another? Except that I don?t see where TS-DOS can load a
file, while it?s running from (say) Bank #2 on the 200, and save the
file in Bank #1. Or, save a file from Bank #1 to the Backpack, while
it?s running from Bank #2.
Is this even possible, or do I need a TS-DOS option ROM? I do have a
REX#, but it doesn?t seem to be functional in the 200. I was hoping
to get one of Birt?s Dial-A-ROMS, but they don?t seem to be available
at present.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Andy
--
bkw
