Anonymous
User login
Please support the defense of Ukraine.
Direct or via Unclutter App
Active forum topics
Recent content
Navigation
No Ads.
No Trackers.
No Social Media.
All Content Locally Hosted.
Built on Free Software.
We have complied with zero government requests for information.
Yes, the ESP32 SoftCard only supports composite. I have not used any composite to RGB converters, so I am not going to recommend one. I only mentioned SCART, because it supports both composite and RGB and it has a way to select which one to use.
I use my ESP32 SoftCard with an NTSC->HDMI converter and that works fine. It won't help you much to use a IIgs monitor, but there are solutions for the IIgs to do HDMI, like the AppleSqueezer and others. My ESP32 SoftCard is in a //e and I have A2VGA with VGA->HDMI on it and that and the NTSC->HDMI go into a 2->1 HDMI switcher which is hooked to an HDMI capable monitor. This setup works quite well. The picture even in //e mode is OK through composite->HDMI but the A2VGA->HDMI is more clear and sharp.
I did find a way to reset the card without power cycling the //e. I usually stream music with the ESP32 card while keeping connected to my email via telnet using the Dan ][ while I am doing remote work on my iMac (I find the Dan ][ card's implementation of telnet to be more compatible with my Internet provider's Unix shell than the ESP32's telnet feature). I'm using an LCD display that can toggle bewteen a VGA card I have in the //e and the ESP32's composite output going through an HDMI adapter. I set up the streaming first, then would boot into the Dan ][ card to set up the telnet. That would basically freeze the ESP32 into its streaming. However, I discovered that if I set up the streaming and boot into the Dan ][ card by using PR#7 instead of Ctrl-Apple-Reset the ESP32 usually stays alive and functional.
The important thing is not to press Ctrl-Apple-Reset while you are in the ESP32 SoftCard's command prompt, because you are interrupting the Interface program by restarting the Apple II and the relay will not switch back to the Apple II composite video.
Instead, once you have started the audio streaming, simply type EXIT from the ESP32 SoftCard's command prompt. This will exit the Interface program, switch the video and get back to Basic, while the audio streaming will continue to play in the background. Then you can either do Ctrl-Apple-Reset to restart the Apple II or PR#7 to boot the Dan ][ Controller without restarting the Apple II. In both cases the audio streaming will continue in the background uninterrupted. You can then run other programs, use Dan ][ Controller's telnet, play games or whatever. Streaming will continue in the background throughout all this. If at some point you want to get back to the ESP32 SoftCard's command prompt, all you have to do is start the Interface program once again.
Soumds good. Thanks.
Does the ESP32's telnet function like a particular Unix shell better than others -- zsh, tcsh, bash, etc.?
Most of the testing was done with Telnet BBSes as it was the main use case, with Retrocampus BBS being the killer BBS with its access to various news sites, Wikipedia and even ChatGPT. But if you found some issue with a particular site running Unix I can take a look. I just need the instructions on how to reproduce it.
Yes thanks. I often telnet into my Internet provider's Unix shell to keep my email up and running through Pine while I do remote work on my Mac. The problem is that it does not work well -- the acreen is a bit screwed up with Pine, such as duplicate lines, random characters, and I often can't tell where the cursor is. Pine works perfectly with the Dan ]['s telnet through its Ethernet port, but the Dan ][ telnet is MUCH slower. And I may replace the Dan ][ wit the Reactivemicro MDT. The provider is Panix (panix.com) - an independent regional and mostly buisness provider that's been around since before the Internet. The same problem exists whether I use their default shell, zsh, or bash.
I'm not sure though what info I can provide you to figure it out. What do you need?
Well I finally got around to replacing Disk2 with the one you supplied -- same problem. The only icons showing up are System and the Floppy. I moved them around to make sure they weren't covering up the Disk2. Any ideas? Thanks.
I am not sure what is happening, but you can delete the floppy image and make another copy of Disk2.img calling it Disk3.img. You should be able to see it then, if you are seeing the floppy now.
Will investigate. Knowing you are using Pine is enough. I can run it by telnetting to freeshell.org. I can see that there is as problem with the Pico text editor as well.
So the above worked. Whatever I put in as Disk2 is invisible, but at least the Disk3 Macintosh HD shows. But overall the emulation has problems. Despite my Apple mouse checking out perfectly in your Mouse config program (and other programs), it is very difficult to open any folders and almost impossible to open aps. When I double click on anything, the first thing that happens is that it goes into Rename mode, with the cursor at the end of the folder or app name waiting for text input. After many double clicks everywhere on the icon I may be able to open it, but it's a lot of work. Then when I finally was able to open Appleworks and its word processor, it would often not echo anything I typed on the screen until I hit Return. And then because of the mouse issues it took me a long time to exit the program. Overall the Mac emulation is not really worth the hassle in this form.
But the question is, is it me or is a common problem? Do you think my SD card needs to reimaged or swapped?
There are no issues with the mouse on the Macintosh emulator. Do you have a joystick? Because this sounds like you have a mis-calibrated joystick that is constantly interfering. It would be like constantly pushing the arrow keys at random. If that is the case, please try unplugging it.
If you don't have a joystick, could you please make a video of this behavior, because I cannot reproduce any of the isues you are describing.
You're a genius! I do have a joystick connected. I recalibrated the joystick, and all of the mouse issues disappeared, including the missing disk image and the character echo problem. Who would have thunk!
mreg376 wrote:
I agree! CVT is a genius and the ESP32 Softcard is an excellent product! Glad you got it working.
This is not what the guy who sold me the 4 Bulgarian-made joysticks that need to be calibrated after every single use called me! :)
Firmware Update:
This firmware update contains the fix for the Telnet client Unix shell bug found by mreg376 above:
ESP32 SoftCard FW v.5.05.zip
To update, place the BIN file found inside the ZIP archive in the /Firmware directory of the SD card and then run the UPDATE command. Also place TelnetHosts.txt in the root of the SD card, if you have not done that in one of the previous updates.
Version History: (Continued)
v5.05
- Telnet client: fixed a bug that was causing some UNIX shell programs like Pico and Pine not to display correctly.
-------------
The fix was tested with freeshell.org, where for a single PayPal donation of $6 USD you get an old school Unix account with an e-mail address:
Pine.jpg
I also agree. I love the ESP32 Softcard. It just keeps getting better and better.
Works perfectly now. And it's FAST. Thank you CVT! I was just happy that someone knew what I was talking about when I mentioned Pine!
That's because support makes the product!
Thanks for the kind words!
Btw, I am really surprised how good Unix's text-based browser "Links" is for navigating and reading this site! I would have never tried it, if it wasn't for this bug.
Links.jpg
AppleFritter is far more text friendly than most sites these days. I doubt that is by accident since it caters to a retro crowd. But it is pretty cool to see browsing work for anything these days on a //e.
Before I set CVT relax too much, would it be possible for programs not running on the ESP32 card to access the card's Wifi module?
What would be the use case though?
Examples: Using ADTpro to access files on my Mac over the nework, using another telnet program, eventually figuring out how to print over the network, maybe newsgroup reading. In effect doing what (I've read) the Uthernet card can do. I am slot-starved.
Even though the ESP32's telnet is working perfectly now, I would like to use a telnet program that can output through my VGA card, as did the Dan ][ card (that I just sent back) using its included telnet65 stack. The reason is that I use an LCD dsplay, and my VGA card from Maxwell's Graphics has a neat feature: with a couple of POKE commands it can change to a green or amber monitor, and I like the amber much better than the standard white for text.
Some of these end-result capabilities are in the plans, but they will be achieved in a different way. I don't want to go into details, because I don't like to discuss new features unless I am 95% sure they will be in the next release.
Ok great! None of this is an emrgency for me, and I'm happy to wait. The Wifi module has been so reliable, solid and fast, it'll be nice to expand its usage. Thanks yet again...
I am curious to understand, technically, why the joystick is interferring so much here and there....even in the second disk image !
A joystick can easly go out of calibration, or bent by chance while using the Apple.
Excluded this curiosity, I think this project is really great!!!!!!!!!
Apple ii forever!
Julian
It is because on the Mac emulator it is mapped to the arrow keys when there is a mouse and can be used as a mouse when there isn't one. When there is no real mouse, its second button is used to toggle between mouse mode and arrow keys mode. Also on an Apple II+ keyboard, it is not possible to detect key down and key up, but only key press, so using the joystick is the only way to play most games.
There is enough slack around its center point, so when it is calibrated to be properly centered it should not interfere with anything.
Yes, Apple ii keyboard limits are a matter of fact, and we have to live with them :-)
Is this problem related to mac emulation only ?
Is joystick hot-plugging and removal supported by the softcard ?
Thank you
Julian
No, the joystick is also used in the Sega, Nintendo, TurboGrafx-16 and Atari emulators, as well as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. If not centered, it can interfere with those as well.
Hot-plugging is supported, but hot-unplugging is not. If hot-unplugged, the SoftCard sees it as being held at the bottom right position.
Ok, Thanks CVT :-)
It's not just that. It turns out Links is an up-to-date text browser that supports most of HTML 4.0.
The latest version was updated less than a year ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(web_browser)
The Telnet site freeshell.org has version 2.28 installed, which is from September of 2022.
I've been telneting into my Raspberry Pi on my home network for months now and it works great. The only issue was Control-X with some apps that gets translated to screen shift but this was fixed with one of the recently firmware updates. Thanks! Any chance for a SSH client?
SSH is a lot more useful since Telnet is completely insecure and shouldn't be used except possibly for local area networks that you control entirely. However SSH is MUCH more complicated and would require a lot more code and memory, so may be a hard squeeze into a microcontroller like an ESP32.
SSH is completely within the capabilities of the ESP32 and it wouldn’t even break a sweat. The only issue is that it's a lot of work, because the libraries are in C and I have to convert them to C++, so they don't take up RAM when not in use. I'll definitely add it in the future, just not sure when.
That's good news. It will be a very welcome addition since SSH is the basis of so much stuff these days.
I'll be looking forward to this. Thanks for all the continued upgrades on the board!
Hi CVT,
I agree with all the others, genius and talented!
BTW, any plan to implement a direct startup?i.e. PR#n
My guess is it is possible, but will require a hardware update.
It could probably be added in the prototyping area on the card by adding an EPROM or EEPROM and a logic chip or two to do the address decoding. Or maybe one GAL like a 22V10. Basically put the utility program you run to activate the card on the ROM space.
Yes, it’s not possible with the current hardware. It will be possible in the v2 of the hardware, which I am already thinking about, but it would have to be done in a way that the ESP32 can update the Interface program. Otherwise it creates an updating barrier for people who do not have an EPROM/EEPROM programmer. I agree that a barrier exist today requiring a floppy drive, or a SmartPort device, or an emulator in order to run the Interface program, but that barrier is very low, since the ESP32 SoftCard is almost never the first and only card an Apple II enthusiast would own.
Now I have acquired a few T.J. Boldt ProDOS cards from a local maker at a very low price and I have written the Interface program on them, so I can sell them at cost to anyone who falls bellow this barrier. So far I have shipped only one.
For anyone with a ROMX product, there's also a direct startup image here:
https://jdmicro.com/rom_images/romxce
If you want it to be field programmable with just software using something like a 28C64 or 28C256 would allow that, you'd probably just need a jumper to write protect it just in case.
At more than $10, the 28C256 is too expensive and not needed. The 28C64 is an option at only $5 when buying 100, but it would still be the most expensive component on the card.
However I also like how this card can create demand for other devices (like ROMX, SmartPort, mouse, joystick) and thus can encourage the entire Apple II collector/maker community.
28c64-15, 5 pieces at 8€ here. Ok, I know it is Aliexpress, but this means about 1,7€ each :-)
Https://a.aliexpress.com/_EwmVFRy
Yes, I agree that this card is stimulating other card interest: nice.
But...boot (ep)rom could be an option for future releases.
If a customer likes it, he could add it if the circuitry is ready :-)
No need to forcibly buy the chip imediately.
What do you all think ?
Aliexpress can be hit or miss. I've bought 28C64 and 28C256 through there and other than 1 or 2 bad ones I've mostly been successful.
Better than I thought ;-)
Another: 5 pcs at 5,29€ ----- 1,06 each
AT28C64-15PC AT28C64-15PI AT28C64 DIP-28
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EuGSwjo
E-scrap or cloned chips from AliExpress are great for DIY retro projects, but not for production. I have these cards made in batches of 50 or 100 and all the chips need to be brand new, identical, reliable and easily obtainable in these quantities.
Ok, not for mass production. Correct.
Can't you consider the bare chip installation as a DIY option for customers?
Or do you prefer to sell only immutable versions of the card in the future ?
Pages