Ides of March Status of X16

BruceMcF · Post by **BruceMcF** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 11:29 pm

On 3/23/2022 at 6:47 PM, Scott Robison said:

Right, burst mode builds on fast serial with its SRQ line, but it works automatically with the kernal routines. Burst mode commands can go even faster but requires special commands to be sent over the command channel.

Sorry, probably being too pedantic.

The thing is, the uIEC modification I linked to supports burst mode, and the CX16 will support whatever it is programmed to support, given that the IEC is wired to the VIA in the correct way.

Scott Robison · Post by **Scott Robison** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 11:52 pm

On 3/23/2022 at 5:29 PM, BruceMcF said:

The thing is, the uIEC modification I linked to supports burst mode, and the CX16 will support whatever it is programmed to support, given that the IEC is wired to the VIA in the correct way.

Okay, I'll take your word for it. I was asking because a lot of people talk about "burst mode" when they mean "fast serial". If you type LOAD"*",8 you get fast serial. If you want burst you have to jump through a lot more hoops. It uses the same signaling lines but you have to send character encoded command channel commands that most casual users will not know how to do.

In short (too late, I know): people don't really care about burst mode for the most part, they care how long it takes to load a program. Most C128 software didn't use burst mode command set commands, they just used load/save/character in/character out from the kernal.

kelli217 · Post by **kelli217** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:15 am

On 3/23/2022 at 6:52 PM, Scott Robison said:

Okay, I'll take your word for it. I was asking because a lot of people talk about "burst mode" when they mean "fast serial". If you type LOAD"*",8 you get fast serial. If you want burst you have to jump through a lot more hoops. It uses the same signaling lines but you have to send character encoded command channel commands that most casual users will not know how to do.

In short (too late, I know): people don't really care about burst mode for the most part, they care how long it takes to load a program. Most C128 software didn't use burst mode command set commands, they just used load/save/character in/character out from the kernal.

Yes, but they also care how long a program that uses external data files takes to load or save those files.

Scott Robison · Post by **Scott Robison** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:16 am

On 3/23/2022 at 6:15 PM, kelli217 said:

Yes, but they also care how long a program that uses external data files takes to load or save those files.

Right. Hence why it is nice that fast serial works for any kernal call as I stated. It would be nice if the real burst routines were just as automatic.

svenvandevelde · Post by **svenvandevelde** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:35 am

I did not know that David uses Facebook and not this forum anymore. When did he post this?

Scott Robison · Post by **Scott Robison** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 1:08 pm

On 3/23/2022 at 10:35 PM, svenvandevelde said:

I did not know that David uses Facebook and not this forum anymore. When did he post this?

David has rarely used this forum and had never been a regular participant here. It's a matter of having enough time with all the demands on his time.

The post that started this thread was copied and pasted shortly after his FB post on the day he posted it.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 3:52 pm

On 3/24/2022 at 12:35 AM, svenvandevelde said:

I did not know that David uses Facebook and not this forum anymore. When did he post this?

He made a post about it here. As Scott says, it's not that he doesn't come here anymore, it's just that he never came here much to begin with. It seems this forum was mostly Perifractic's pet project, and now that he's left the team and turned it over to the community, it's mostly a fan forum now. Which is fine, but it's not too surprising if the team isn't active on a fan forum.

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 11:44 pm

On 3/24/2022 at 8:52 AM, Ender said:

It seems this forum was mostly Perifractic's pet project, and now that he's left the team and turned it over to the community, it's mostly a fan forum now. Which is fine, but it's not too surprising if the team isn't active on a fan forum.

That about sums it up.

We are still the official community site for the Commander X16, but the site's actual ownership is now independent. The owners (there are 5 of us) are maintaining this community going forward. (There could be personnel changes in the future, and so we've structured the group to allow for people to come and go without disrupting the site's operation.)

As a result, we don't have any special influence on the Commander's design or special access to its hardware. We are fans, like you, and we're just doing our part to help the community communicate, share ideas, and help keep the dream alive.

Janne Sirén · Post by **Janne Sirén** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:40 am

On 3/24/2022 at 5:52 PM, Ender said:

He made a post about it here. As Scott says, it's not that he doesn't come here anymore, it's just that he never came here much to begin with. It seems this forum was mostly Perifractic's pet project, and now that he's left the team and turned it over to the community, it's mostly a fan forum now. Which is fine, but it's not too surprising if the team isn't active on a fan forum.

OK, thank you. This explains things.

I would imagine for the average user it is just rather surprising to find a website called commanderx16.com that does not link to the official sources of information of Commander X16, but is a fan site instead. The website still calls the forum the main source of news, for example. If this is something that can be updated to reflect the current status of the project, I would imagine that would be useful.

Thank you for the clarification.

Janne Sirén · Post by **Janne Sirén** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:59 am

This seemed to me like a useful clarification as well, just posting here in case others like me are looking for information on the status update culture: