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DriveWire Adapter Owners Manual

How to use the Drivewire USB interface on your Dragon computer

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weirdocolector
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259 views6 pages

DriveWire Adapter Owners Manual

How to use the Drivewire USB interface on your Dragon computer

Uploaded by

weirdocolector
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DRAGON DRIVEWIRE

ADAPTER

OWNER'S MANUAL

DriveWire
DriveWire is a protocol for transmitting data between a Dragon (or Tandy CoCo) and an external
computer. The external computer can act as a file server (virtual floppy or disk station). Also other
services are defined in the protocol, such as time/date requests and multiple virtual serial
connections.
The Dragon DriveWire adapter connects the Dragon 32 / 64 / Tano to any modern computer having
a USB port.

Hardware overview
The Dragon DriveWire adapter has a standard male USB plug that connects to the external
computer, and a 20-pin female IDC connector that connects to the Dragon parallel printer port
through the included flat ribbon cable.

Dragon DriveWire adapter, with male USB plug (left) and


20-pin female IDC connector (right).

Connecting the Dragon DriveWire adapter


1. Plug the included 20-pin IDC cable into the Dragon DriveWire adapter. Plug the other end
into the Dragon printer port. It is generally recommended that the Dragon is powered off
while plugging/unplugging external devices.
The IDC cable connectors have a notch so it is impossible to insert them the wrong way.
Note however that the cable is not symmetric so depending on which end goes into the
adapter, the cable will bend upwards or downwards out from the adapter or the Dragon
parallel port.

2. Connect the adapter USB port to the external computer. The adapter can be plugged directly
into the computer or a USB hub, however using a USB extension cable is typically more
convenient.

Dragon DriveWire adapter with USB extension cable (left) and IDC
cable (right)
3. Start the DriveWire server software on the computer. Note that the adapter must be
connected before the software is started.
4. Start up the Dragon and load any software if needed.
Software installation on the external computer
The adapters are based on the CP210x UART chip from Silicon Laboratories Inc. A driver for
Microsoft Windows can be downloaded from their web site at http://www.silabs.com. On Linux and
MacOSX no driver installation is necessary.
The DriveWire4 server, written by Aaron Wolfe, is the standard DriveWire server application for the
external computer. It is written in Java and runs on Linux, MacOSX and Microsoft Windows. Please
see its home page at https://sites.google.com/site/drivewire4/ for documentation and latest updates.
3

Other server alternatives are the older, text-based DriveWire3, the lightweight DriveWire Lite
written in C by Juan Castro, or the python-based DwLoadServer by Jens Diemer. Note that these
alternatives currently do not implement as many functions as DriveWire4.
Software on the Dragon
There is a growing list of Dragon software supporting the DriveWire protocol. Currently the most
common ones are:
- HDB-DOS a DOS originally written for the Tandy CoCo and ported to the Dragon. It is similar
to but not compatible with Dragon DOS by Dragon Data Ltd.
- NitrOS-9 an open-source, multitasking operating system compatible with OS-9 from Microware.
- DWLOAD a minimal, DOS-less client program for reading files from the DriveWire server.
The below instructions are provided as a quick examples on how to get started and not an
exhaustive documentation on using DriveWire. Please consult the respective software
documentation for more information.
1. Using DWLOAD
DWLOAD can reside in a patched BASIC ROM. In this case, simply power on the Dragon and load
and run files from the DriveWire server using:
DLOADFILENAME
To only load a file without running it, append N to the command:
DLOADNFILENAME
2. Using HDB-DOS
HDB-DOS can reside in a cartridge ROM adapter. In this case just power on the Dragon and use
HDB-DOS disk commands to access files. For instance:
LOADFILENAME
3. Using NitrOS-9
NitrOS-9 is usually loaded into RAM via normal BASIC, HDB-DOS or Dragon DOS. In both
cases, insert the NitrOS-9 boot disk into slot 0 on the DriveWire server.
To boot from BASIC, use the DWDOS program, for example loaded from tape:
CLOADMDWDOS:EXEC
To boot from HDB-DOS, use the HDB-DOS DOS command:
DOS
On Dragon DOS, the equivalent command is called BOOT. Note however that Dragon DOS
reads the boot file from sectors 3-18 of track 0 while HDB-DOS reads it from track 34 (LSN 612),
so the boot disks must be of the according format.
Tandy CoCo compatibility
The data transfer is serial and the serial interface is implemented through a software bit-banger both
on the Dragon and the Tandy CoCo. The Dragon DriveWire adapters use signalling pins on the
parallel printer port which correspond exactly to the internal PIA ports used by the built-in serial
port on the Tandy CoCo. The adapters include a signal level inverter to provide the signal inversion
introduced by the internal driving circuitry on the Tandy CoCo. Low-level drivers are therefore
fully compatible.

Hardware internals
All adapters use a NC7SZ00 (similar to 74AHC1G00) NAND gate in SOT23-5 package to invert
the signal from the Dragon.
Board revisions
(Board layouts shown without USB UART module)
1. MkI (not labelled)
The distance between the two mounting holes is 33 mm.

2. MkIIe
The holes on the right (P7) have distance 33 mm, the ones in the middle (P4) 28.5 mm. Pads are
available for soldering a LED (and a 220 Ohm SMD 0805 resistor) to indicate Dragon power status.

3. MkII
Mounting holes identical to version 2. The pin-out on P2 is different (for different USB UART
module).

4. deluxe
The Deluxe cased adapter version uses a 74LVC1G123 monostable multi-vibrator to make RX and
TX activity visible on the middle LED.
From serial number #6, a 1 k resistor is inserted on the TX line going to the Dragon to limit the
current in the unlikely case of misconfiguration and conflicting levels from the PIA.
Unpopulated header pads have been provided to allow the use as a break-out board of the parallel
port as well as the unused UART module pins. Note that this would only be of interest to the
advanced experimenter.

This document is for the exclusive use of Dragon DriveWire adapter owners. The author
reserves all rights on reproduction and distribution.
Version 1.0, November 2014. Copyright 2014 Tormod Volden
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