Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

A place to discuss everything Dragon related that doesn't fall into the other categories.
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robert_o
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:10 pm

Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

Post by robert_o »

Maybe i can find some answers here. I already posted in the vcfed forum, but maybe this is the right place to ask this question.
I have a Coco 3 with an FD-502 (Replica) Disk Controller and a Gotek,
i also have a Dragon 64 with an original Floppy Controller and also a Gotek.
I upgraded the ROMs to HDB-DOS for Coco and for Dragon (i programmed a 27128 EPROM and added a switch to select one of the ROMs).
On the Coco 3 everything works fine (Coco3, FD-502, Gotek). I can load Nitros-9 with "DOS" and i can "DIR" Coco and OS-9 Images from Floppy AND from drivewire (i use DW4 4.3.3o).
On the Dragon i get a strange behaviour.
As far as i have read, Drivewire only works with HDB-DOS. I use HDB-DOS for Dragon and i put the EPROM in the Floppy Controller.
With the Dragon Controller Drivewire works but no Floppy Access whatsoever (i use "DRIVE OFF" to switch off drivewire to access the Floppy),
with the FD-502 Tandy Controller i can use Tandy Floppy Formatted disks (35Tracks) but no Dragon Data formatted disks (40 Tracks). I therefore can not boot OS-9 from Floppy because there is no version i found with OS-9 for Dragon 64 on a 35 Track disk.
What's the story here?
Is it impossible to use a real floppy WITH Drivewire on a Dragon 64?

-robert
Alastair
Posts: 689
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:33 pm

Re: Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

Post by Alastair »

I would say that Tormad would be the most knowledgable on the subject but it seems that he hasn't visited this site in four years. You could try reading what he has to say about the matter on his own website, perhaps Extended DosPlus for the Dragon controller is your best bet.
robert_o
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:10 pm

Re: Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

Post by robert_o »

Thank you for the tip with Extended DOS Plus, i somehow didn't register that this is also a possibility. I will test it shortly.

Thanks,
robert
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robcfg
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Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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Re: Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

Post by robcfg »

Welcome to the Dragon Archive!

Our friends Tony Jewell or Pere Serrat may shed a light on the subject.
tjewell
Posts: 361
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:58 pm
Location: Cambridge, England

Re: Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

Post by tjewell »

Fear not! I use my Dragon with Drivewire and a floppy drive on a daily basis.

Pere's DosPlus is the way to go, and if you haven't discovered it already, take a look at this epic thread here - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5363

I also recommend looking up the Dragon group on Facebook (crosses himself). I'm no fan of Facebook but the group is pretty active there and quite responsive. You can get people's attention quickly on there - and then perhaps move the conversation back here for posterity!
robert_o
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:10 pm

Re: Dragon 64 with HDB-DOS, Drivewire and Floppy

Post by robert_o »

Thank you for your suggestion with DOS Plus. I've been on holiday for last week so i didn't do much testing. I've downloaded all the files and read the thread but a lot of it is referring to Coco-SDC.
I still can't get it to work.
My setup: Dragon 64 with Dragon Floppy Controller and Gotek available plus Drivewire Cable (No Coco-SDC).
EPROM Programming and spare EPROMs available too.
My wish: To use Drivewire and Floppy Images via Gotek at the same time with Dragon DOS and OS-9 (also Nitros-9).
I burned the ROM "DP50PSR-DW4.rom" from the last post of the mentioned thread onto an EPROM and put it into my FDC (Floppy Drive Controller). I get the Welcome message "DOSPLUS 5.0 (c) 3s 1989 OK" so the ROM is working.
A "DIR" locks the computer totally.
When loading "DP50XINS" via DLOAD and pyDrivewire i can use the Floppy (DIR works) but all the "other" commands (like "MOUNT", "LINK", ...) give an "? SN ERROR".
It also seems overly complicated to load the extension with DLOAD. That can't be right, can it?
I would like a detailed instruction how the setup process works because i really couldn't find anything. That means which ROM for the Computer (IC34 and IC37) which ROM for the FDC which Version of Drivewire and how to actually use any of it. I really did a lot of reading but i am still lost in different versions of ROMs, Emulator or Real Computer, Dragon 32, 64 or Coco, Coco-SDC or Floppy,...
I would be happy if one could clear up that confusion of mine.

--robert
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