Networking and the X16

rje · Post by **rje** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:12 pm

I've seen posts about networking, including the defunct UART emulation in X16emu r36.

So from the FAQ I see these expansion areas:

Four expansion slots with access to CPU databus, each with 32 bytes of mapped RAM.

8 GPIO lines (user port)

Is this the likely way to connect to the Interwebs, via a network card that connects to a slot or the user port?

Yuki · Post by **Yuki** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:20 pm

I'd love to see a network card using the expansion slot, actually. Although I'd guess you could always do some simili-UART with the GPIO lines.

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:51 am

Most likely, people will use the RS-232 port to connect to a "WiFi modem," which can be had for around $60-80 for professionally made ones, or less than $20 for a home made unit. The last I'd heard, there will be a UART on the system, and we won't need to bit-bang GPIO pins.

rje · Post by **rje** » Sun Jun 07, 2020 11:12 pm

I was just thinking about the GPIO bit-banging, and yet again I started thinking about using a Raspberry Pi (e.g. Zero W) as an infowebs gateway to talk to... Theoretically, a $5 solution (well, plus SD card), and it gives me an excuse to write Perl (because I love it) and Python (because I need the practice).

Lorin Millsap · Post by **Lorin Millsap** » Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:34 am

The expansion slot is going to be the recommended method. Reality is there will be KERNAL routines and by default those routines will use some of the user port pins to allow RS232 compatible serial. But by loading in a “driver” during the boot sequence you can reroute those routines to support a real UART for much better speed. So long as software is using KERNAL routines and not direct hardware access the changeover should be mostly seamless.

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Lorin Millsap · Post by **Lorin Millsap** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:48 am

Most likely, people will use the RS-232 port to connect to a "WiFi modem," which can be had for around $60-80 for professionally made ones, or less than $20 for a home made unit. The last I'd heard, there will be a UART on the system, and we won't need to bit-bang GPIO pins.

There will not be a UART on board.

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TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 6:23 pm

15 hours ago, Lorin Millsap said:

There will not be a UART on board.

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Well, that's disappointing. We had talked so much about different RS-232 options on the FB group that it seems like a shame to just abandon RS-232 entirely.

Lorin Millsap · Post by **Lorin Millsap** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 6:30 pm

Well, that's disappointing. We had talked so much about different RS-232 options on the FB group that it seems like a shame to just abandon RS-232 entirely.

It’s not abandoned, there just isn’t a UART. The user port can be used. You can however (not developed yet) get a card with a UART.

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Perifractic · Post by **Perifractic** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:30 pm

Yes, @TomXP411 I think we're all going to be amazed what expansions this great community comes up with.

Sandmage · Post by **Sandmage** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:13 pm

I've just noticed that the Ulitmate1541 has a builtin modem now. I've been surfing BBSs the last hours, it's working great. It should be possible to hook the address- and databus to the cartridge. The Expansion ports expose the whole Address and Databus. Of course the cartridges software will not work, but it can be controlled via telnet, so that shouldn't be necessary.