On 14-May-99, Tony Duell wrote:
>> So... GPIB is the same as IEEE-488? Anyone got an adapter cable for
>> GRiD-to-CBM? :)
>GPIB, HPIB and IEEE-488 are basically the same interface. Same signals,
>same timing, same pinouts. There are minor differences in the spec (for
>example : IEEE-488 doesn't specify the character code to use, but I
>believe HPIB implies ASCII), but I've never had any problems
>interconnecting these interfaces.
Does the interface also specify how to communicate with devices? I
mean, if I hooked up my CBM 2040, would the GRiD know that it is a
storage device and be able to use it? I image this could be possible,
because the IEEE-488 devices are intelligent, and the 2040 has its DOS
built-in, but I don't *know* that it will work.
I don't have the cabling to do this, unfortunately, else I would have
already tried. I only have the PET-to-IEEE-488 cable (the PET uses an
edge connector). The connector on the 2040, of course, is the same sex
as the GPIB connector on the GRiD.
There is a menu item in GridManager (I think) for adding or removing
devices. When I select that, the GRiD goes away for a while then comes
back. It's probably polling the GPIB bus to see who's out there.
>One problem you may have. The PET expects to be the System Controller,
>and AFAIK, can't pass control to another controller (things like REN
>and IFC are always outputs, for example). The Grid might behave
>similarly. In which case you can't simply cable them together :-(
That's a shame. I don't think there would be much use in doing it
anyway, though, except for transferring small files (<8K) to and from
the PET's RAM, for storage on cassette. I only have a PET 2001-8K.
>There have been 'mailboxes' to go between 2 separate GPIB systems, but
>they're not that easy to find.
Heh. Probably an understatement. :)
>But the Grid should be able to talk to CBM disk drives and printers...
Without additional software?
Gosh it would be nice to have an assembler or BASIC on that bubble
device...
>-tony
--
Doug Spence
ds_spenc_at_alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
Received on Mon May 17 1999 - 01:18:03 BST