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#FujiNet - a WIP SIO Network Adapter for the Atari 8-bit


tschak909

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Now that CONFIG is very usable (Yes, I know there are still bugs :)) I am taking a few days to shore up the FNC tools. 

 

For those who haven't been following, the FNC (FujiNet Command) tools are individual utility programs that can be used outside of CONFIG in the DOS of your choice.

 

The average size of each tool is 10 sectors (so a bit more than 1 kilobyte in size on average), so they load quickly.

 

Depending on whether the DOS supports OS/A+ style command arguments (which includes DOS XL, SpartaDOS, SpartaDOS X, and XDOS), the tools will present an appropriate user interface

 

e.g. under a CLI DOS:

WIN_20200818_11_32_10_Pro.thumb.jpg.aa88204fa5a65cc919b1ac04cc549030.jpg

 

and under a non-CLI DOS:

WIN_20200818_11_41_43_Pro.thumb.jpg.07190e3fcd7d0708e67c695ed0dcb515.jpg

 

Notice that for non-CLI, the prompts and argument formats follow the DOS 2 convention, that is, comma separated, and in the case of commands like FLS, all commands optional. This was done after a lot of thought and deliberation. any white spaces after commas are trimmed, and this allows for filenames with spaces to work properly. 

 

Host Slots can be viewed using the FLH.COM command:

 

WIN_20200818_11_56_26_Pro.thumb.jpg.b0899420ec2368aee61d76ba76cbe128.jpg

 

and the current device slots can be viewed with the FLD.COM command:

WIN_20200818_12_01_51_Pro.thumb.jpg.70f05353c7c521154c04c11fbb4f143e.jpg

 

For FLS, I needed to also use a special character to specify the filter, so I chose the colon ':' 

 

e.g. to look at the C folder under host slot 6 (for me, homesoft.irata.online) for things matching Congo*:

WIN_20200818_12_11_45_Pro.thumb.jpg.c435318ba557394555620be66367f5ec.jpg

 

FHOST can edit and clear host slots:

WIN_20200818_13_09_54_Pro.thumb.jpg.c33cea14b4fce9ad783db36b0a029a23.jpg

 

WIN_20200818_13_10_32_Pro.thumb.jpg.398bbc25fff32bd7851b037429dcd326.jpg

 

 

The tools are loaded at address $4000, which means they are above the DUP of every known DOS. This makes usage turn-around under DOS 2.0/2.5 very fast, as fast as using in a CLI DOS. For MyDOS, which always reloads DUP, we present a PRESS RETURN TO CONTINUE message.

 

My next few messages will be written as I continue to polish and work through these tools, to show my thinking as of right now, how they should work. The next major tool I am fixing on is FMOUNT, which mounts disk images, and FNEW, which creates new disk images.

 

There will be more changes, one of the longer term goals is to actually support more protocols than TNFS for the "D:" devices, and to thus provide a consistent URL scheme that matches the N: device, but I want to provide something usable and consistent NOW. 

 

-Thom

Edited by tschak909
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5 minutes ago, Mr Robot said:

The internal webpage is now responsive and a little bit prettier. 

It's also about half the size of the old one.

Is there a build available yet with this reformat? Much nicer to have “panes” of data like that arranged to maximize use of screen space than running down the page.

 

Has @tschak909 made any progress tracking down that bug I noted above with long name display when filtering results in a folder?

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1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

Is there a build available yet with this reformat? Much nicer to have “panes” of data like that arranged to maximize use of screen space than running down the page.

 

Has @tschak909 made any progress tracking down that bug I noted above with long name display when filtering results in a folder?

@DrVenkman I have been trying to reproduce it, and can't nail down exactly what causes it to happen, yet. This one is _very_ slippery.

-Thom

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1 hour ago, tschak909 said:

@DrVenkman I have been trying to reproduce it, and can't nail down exactly what causes it to happen, yet. This one is _very_ slippery.

-Thom

I can reproduce it seemingly at will in any directory of my Games folder. This folder is from one of the old "Pool Disk" CD set that was passed around the 'net in the early/mid-Aughts. Thousands of titles organized by Games\, Demos\, and Utilities\, each with subfolders for letters of the alphabet.

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2 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

I can reproduce it seemingly at will in any directory of my Games folder. This folder is from one of the old "Pool Disk" CD set that was passed around the 'net in the early/mid-Aughts. Thousands of titles organized by Games\, Demos\, and Utilities\, each with subfolders for letters of the alphabet.

can I get a dump of this folder, so that I can try to find some semblence of a pattern? it has to be something _REALLY_ subtle.

-Thom

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5 hours ago, tschak909 said:

can I get a dump of this folder, so that I can try to find some semblence of a pattern? it has to be something _REALLY_ subtle.

-Thom

It's not just this folder, by the way. ANY folder I access, on either my Win10 TNFS server or my RPi TNFS server, will behave this way. And it's not just this top level Games folder. I've checked it on a single Misc folder that I use to put random stuff into - even in a folder of just a couple dozen items, so long as at least one of the ones I'm filtering for has a long name, the long name display at the bottom is incorrect. In every instance, with the filter active, selecting the first filter result will show the long name of the first file in the folder. If there's more than one filter result, down-arrowing through them will show the second file in the folder, then the third, etc.

 

But if you want a giant folder of stuff to experiment with here you go. I'll leave this link active for a couple hours.

 

[EDIT: Deleted link]

Edited by DrVenkman
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I know it's been quiet for the last few days, I've spent the last two days mostly laying down in bed because my back decided to act up.

 

Basically, it feels like my back is being pulled like taffy, and I can only stay up for a small duration at one time.

 

As I can, I am working on the tools, and the weird little issue that @DrVenkman was experiencing seems to have stopped. 

 

The tools have mostly been re-worked, and they all have the same parameter format regardless of whether you're in CLI or non-CLI, and they're all comma-delimited now (to both make them exactly the same no matter what DOS you are in, and to handle the fact we need to effectively handle spaces for filenames in arguments.) I hope to finish this soon, so I can concentrate on the N: handler again. There are a few people who want to write software, and I am trying to get them going.

 

-Thom

Edited by tschak909
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While @tschak909 back returns to normal, work is continuing on several fronts:

  • @mozzwald has been working on some small tweaks to the hardware, along with some game-related experiments in his underground laboratory
  • Print-Master @jeffpiep continues his amazing experiments in ancient printer emulation, focusing on the better-than-the-real-thing Okimate 10
  • @Mr Robot has made some more tweaks to the great-looking new web interface
  • And I've been working on ATX support...

Meanwhile, people around the globe have been toying and tinkering with FujiNet in its current form!

 

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2 hours ago, tschak909 said:

and the weird little issue that @DrVenkman was experiencing seems to have stopped. 

It has? In that case, I'm ready to test out a new build. :)

 

1 hour ago, jamm said:

And I've been working on ATX support...

Bravo! (And .CAS too, I hope, for those of us who still hold masochistic nostalgia for certain titles in their original formats ...  ? )

 

Also - I know another hardware designer on the forum who is working on a - shall we say - "unique" hardware implementation for FujiNet in conjunction with a larger overall A8 project. ;) 

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2 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

It has? In that case, I'm ready to test out a new build. :)

 

Bravo! (And .CAS too, I hope, for those of us who still hold masochistic nostalgia for certain titles in their original formats ...  ? )

 

Also - I know another hardware designer on the forum who is working on a - shall we say - "unique" hardware implementation for FujiNet in conjunction with a larger overall A8 project. ;) 

The goal for cassette support isn't just for CAS, but to be able to stream audio data (even over network) so that things like Dorsett tapes can work correctly.
 

-Thom

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7 minutes ago, tschak909 said:

The goal for cassette support isn't just for CAS, but to be able to stream audio data (even over network) so that things like Dorsett tapes can work correctly.
 

-Thom

Oh, I know. But I never had those as a kid. I did have SCRAM and EASTERN FRONT:1941 in its original APX version on cassette, along with the first version of B-1 Nuclear Bomber, also on cassette, Zaxxon and a few others ... Sometimes I enjoyed loading up the .CAS versions for old times sake, but none of them had or used an accompanying audio track. 

 

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Nice. :) I love SCRAM (and all of Chris Crawford's sims, for that matter, Energy Czar, Eastern Front, Legionnaire, Gossip, Excalibur, they were valiant attempts to expand the idea of what a computer game could be.) :)

 

CAS should be very doable (we have liba8cas at the ready and buildable on esp32), so we'll fold that in probably after ATX.

 

-Thom

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19 hours ago, jamm said:

@mozzwald has been working on some small tweaks to the hardware, along with some game-related experiments in his underground laboratory

My laboratory is actually on the second story in my attic, not underground :D 

 

I have ordered some PCBs for the next FujiNet revision which I will show in the hardware thread when they arrive. In the mean time, I've been able to pull the old MIDIMaze code into PlatformIO and successfully test game play. It supports 2 users connected to each other over UDP port 5004. This is not available as a firmware update yet and must be built/flashed manually from the github repo 'midimaze' branch.

 

  1. Load MIDIMaze from FujiNet or Cartridge
  2. On FN Web interface, enter IP address of other machine in MIDIMaze settings and hit save (this puts you in MIDIMaze mode and no longer will respond to SIO commands):
    fujinet_midimaze.thumb.png.6abc2bbc6fa4378c5c4d25413d4792c7.png
  3. Select MIDIMate interface in MIDIMaze on both machines. Last one to choose the interface becomes master and can set the game options, then start play.
  4. Disabling MIDIMaze mode from web interface does not work. You must reset or safe reset the FujiNet when finished.

If anyone has 2 FujiNets and can test this, it would be appreciated. Or maybe we can open some firewalls and try games over the internet ;)

 

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17 hours ago, tschak909 said:

Nice. :) I love SCRAM (and all of Chris Crawford's sims, for that matter, Energy Czar, Eastern Front, Legionnaire, Gossip, Excalibur, they were valiant attempts to expand the idea of what a computer game could be.) :)

 

CAS should be very doable (we have liba8cas at the ready and buildable on esp32), so we'll fold that in probably after ATX.

 

-Thom

Wow - I did not know Energy Czar was a Chris Crawford game.  That and States & Capitals were the 1st 2 games I had for my 400 + 410.  It was a bit too advanced for me at 7, and I am sure I never read the manual :)

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On 8/22/2020 at 12:50 PM, tschak909 said:

As I can, I am working on the tools, and the weird little issue that @DrVenkman was experiencing seems to have stopped. 

12 hours ago, mozzwald said:

I've updated the firmware at fujinet.online with the latest from today. Has updated okimate printer support and the new MIDIMaze code.

 

Is the fix Thom refers to included in the new firmware mozzwald built last night? Because I’m still seeing incorrect long names when using a filter to locate specific results in a folder.

 

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