Serrameade6 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Since it is really hard to get Dragon 32/64 cartridge games from U.K or E.U, I am wondering if I can use Tandy TRS-80 II cartridges on my Dragon Tano. I have read that the Tandy TRS-80 II and the Dragon Tano computers are almost hardware compatible to each other as there are some TRS cartridge games that cannot be used on a Dragon Tano. Is there a list of any Tandy TRS-80 cartridge games that are not compatible with the NTSC Dragon Tano 64?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linville Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Since it is really hard to get Dragon 32/64 cartridge games from U.K or E.U, I am wondering if I can use Tandy TRS-80 II cartridges on my Dragon Tano. I have read that the Tandy TRS-80 II and the Dragon Tano computers are almost hardware compatible to each other as there are some TRS cartridge games that cannot be used on a Dragon Tano. Is there a list of any Tandy TRS-80 cartridge games that are not compatible with the NTSC Dragon Tano 64?. I'm going to presume that by "Tandy TRS-80 II" you are referring to the Tandy (or TRS-80) Color Computer (CoCo), which is quite similar to the Dragon. I don't know of any specific list of cartridges that are compatible between the CoCo and the Dragon. Mostly you can just try them -- perhaps you can start such a list? The main source of incompatibility between the two systems is the keyboard. Software that does it's own keyboard scanning will need to know if it is on a Dragon or CoCo, and most software will just presume to be loaded on one or the other with no consideration of the other. Software that uses the ROM routines for keyboard input will likely "just work". Software that uses NTSC "artifact" colors will only show black and white patterns on PAL TV, but will probably be fine on the Tano Dragon (which is NTSC). Anything that tries to use the "bitbanger" serial port of the CoCo will have problems on the Dragon, which lacks the "bitbanger" port. Clever hackers might be able to build something to provide "bitbanger" functionality to a Dragon, if so desired. That's all I can think of ATM -- good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serrameade6 Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) Thank you linville for your thorough and clear information provided. It would be great if I can get also a multicart for the Dragon from Rolo, but in the meantime I will test some good TRS-80 coco cartridge games on the Tano Dragon. Edited January 15, 2019 by Serrameade6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rietveld Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 The coco SDC from Zippster works with the. Tano Dragon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rietveld Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-aEWgoSpLEc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serrameade6 Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 That SDC CoCo from Zippster sounds great and it is compatible with the Tano Dragon!. And looks like it is available and ready for purchase. Thank you rietveld. I just sent an email to Zippster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.