Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] fire and forget was Re: Black box again

Alan Marconett KM6VV wrote:

> Hi Jon,

> > It looks like the SMS FDC37C665GT and ...666GT are very similar is
> > the register definitions, I'm pretty sure my software will run on either
> > of them. it should also run on most of the other EPP chips as well, as
> > long as they adhere to the register definition standard from Microsoft.
>
> I think I recall that one gets something setup from pins, the other is
> configurable from software.
>

The 665 and 666 only differ in one pin, the select for the game port.
And, they say that these chips are register compatible with the 82077AA.

> > Well, I really can't get too excited over DOS, anymore. Good for
> > writing really quick diagnostic programs in Turbo Pascal, but not
> > a whole lot else.
> >
> > Jon
>
> True, but until we start having hardware (black boxes) and DLL's
> (drivers) that will free us from Windoz' interference, a lot our
> programs will be stuck with it. Perhaps it's easier under Real Time
> Linux?

Oh, yes! Once you get over the hurdle of working in Linux, and learn
how to use the tools, it is pretty good. Just adding new devices to an
already existing structure is not too bad. RT give you a LOT of
flexibility, the machine is entirely at your disposal, and as long as you
don't muck up something that Linux needs (disk controller or VGA)
it all coexists well. Debugging in the RT environment is somewhat
tough, but most of this stuff can be debugged in NON-RT mode, and
then when it is doing what you want, it is switched over to RT
automatically by the make files and the EMC structure.

So, here I am doing RT software development on my web server, and
it stays up for weeks at a time!

Jon