Questions tagged [color-computer]
For questions about hardware, peripherals and software specific to TRS-80 Color Computers.
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Fate of mystery Motorola RMS graphics chipset (68486 + 68487)
I recently learned that mid 1980s, Motorola was working on a discrete graphics chipset that would be a great leap forward from its 6847 Video Display Generator and 6845 display controller. It was ...
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Color BASIC RND function not so random
The RND() function for random numbers appears to give the same results each time the computer is reset. How do I seed the random number generator with a random number?
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Why did pressing the joystick button spit out keypresses?
If you pressed one of the joystick buttons on the TRS-80 Color Computer while running BASIC, it would act as if @ABCDEFG were typed. Pressing the other joystick button would similarly type out ...
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The Tandy/TRS-80 Multipack Interface (MPI)
A popular, but, much maligned bus expansion device for the CoCo was the venerable MPI. There were several companies who made bus expasion devices for the CoCo, however, this question is related ...
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What is the CoCo "Head Banger bug" and what is the "fix"?
I remember that horrible racket coming from the floppy disk when I first used it after started my CoCo, and that it was called the "Head Banger bug".
I remember that it was due to a quick-n-...
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What format is used for CoCo cassette tapes?
Color Computer machines initially used audio cassette tapes for storage. How was the data stored? What was the maximum bit rate?
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Expansion port on the Color Computer
The Color Computer has an expansion port. What is the pin out? What are the kinds of devices that can be used with it? How was the Multi-Pak involved?
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Calculating the time for a CPU cycle
As a learning exercise, I'm writing an emulator for the 6809 CPU. I'd like to simulate the speed of the CPU. I know the Motorola 6809E runs at 0.895 MHz and 1.79 MHz on the Color Computer 3. How do I ...
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Differences in disk storage between systems
Coming from the TRS-80/TandyColor Computer lines, I had always heard of how slow some other systems disk storage were, regarding data transfer rates, etc... The CoCo lines disk storage was pretty fast ...
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CoCo Max Mouse Cartridge
The program CoCo Max came with a cartridge. The cartridge had a mouse/joystick port.
How did the CoCo Max Analog to Digital cartridge work? Is it possible to use the device in my own software?
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How do I change the CoCo 3 color palette before running a Color Computer ROM Pak?
The Radio Shack game Wildcatting uses the wrong color set when being played on a Color Computer 3 with an RGB monitor.
How can I choose the correct color set before this game automatically executes?
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What are the advantages of NitrOS-9 over OS-9?
Microware released the versions of the OS-9 DOS for the CoCo. A few years later, former employees (I believe) released NitrOS-9. Both appear to be multiuser/multi-tasking OS's.
What are the ...
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What are the options for installing a 6309 in a TRS-80/Tandy Color Computer
The Hitachi 6309E CPU is a direct replacement for the 6809E in the CoCo. What are the options to upgrade to this processor?
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Is NitrOS-9/OS-9 a preemptive multitasking environment?
The NitrOS-9 docs say it is a process based multitasking environment, and that it is a real time OS (RTOS). But I'm not sure if that means it's preemptive (OS takes control away from a program/process ...
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Cleaning membrane keyboards
I have a 3003b CoCo 1 (the white one) with the melty keyboard. A few of the keys do not work. On a few of them, there appears to be a slimy substance that I've cleaned from the surface. The badge on ...
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Digisector DS-69 video digitizer
The DS-69 was a cartridge you could plug into the computer to digitize a composite video source. It fully supported writing images to floppy disks.
Can the DS-69 (A or B) be used with Y-Cable?
The ...
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Disto Super Controller II
A popular third party floppy disk controller for the Color Computer was the Super Controller II from Disto. It's main feature was a no-halt mode. Why was this desirable? How did the no-halt mode work?
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How do you implement double-buffering on a CoCo 3 320x192x16 screen in BASIC?
I was hoping someone could just share a small code snippet with all the requisite POKEs that would illustrate how this is done. I would think for someone who knows what they were doing that this is a ...
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Can someone help me get xROAR to read files? (M6809/TRS-80 ColorComputer)
I implemented a Forth interpreter or the TRS-80 Color Computer (M6809) way back in the 1980s, and I've been trying to figure out how to get it loaded into an emulator to test some parts of the ...
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Ideal resolution for color computer on PAL/SECAM
Suppose you were, in the early eighties, designing a color computer to run on an PAL TV with a free hand to choose the specifications within the limits of the technology of the time. What would be the ...
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Extended Color BASIC TIMER Function
How does the TIMER function work in Extended Color BASIC? How does the number keep incrementing even when the computer appears to be doing nothing?
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Color Computer Expansion port "listening" bus
For the ZX Spectrum there is a project called ZX Pie. As the name suggests, it's a board attached to the ZX Spectrum's expansion slot that 'listens' the Address Bus and the Data Bus and connect them ...
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Looking for a medieval store-management game on the TRS-80 Color Computer, might have been code from Rainbow magazine
Crossposted from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Stack Exchange, where it's been unanswered for almost two years.
I'm trying to track down a game I remember playing on our Color Computer 2 (it could ...
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Breaking the CoCo 3 32K Cartridge Barrier
What is the max size for a cartridge based app on the Coco 3?
I believe the Coco 1 & 2 cartridge maxes at 16K, while the Coco 3 is 32K. However, I know there have been cart based games for the ...
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For TRS-80 Color Computer joystick buttons, is it correct to check the first or second bit of the value at PEEK(65280)?
The Color BASIC/Extended Color BASIC “Getting Started” manuals say that to find out if a joystick button is pressed, to PEEK in location 65280. The value 255 means neither button is pressed; the ...
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