Date   : Sat, 06 Mar 1999 14:40:27 +0100
From   : "Mark Usher" <marku@...>
Subject: Re: Econet, etc.

Hi

> Just wondering how difficult it would be to emulate Econet.
Pass.

> I'd be most grateful for any info anyone has AT ALL on Econet - what
> hardware, ROMs, etc. you need for a file server, controller
> specs, hardware
> specs, etc. Info on the actual protocols on the wire might be
> interesting as
> well (then maybe I can make up an Econet-PC adapter on the serial port :)

Well for a Level II file server you need (min) a BBC, 6502 copro and a disc
drive.
Level III (min) a BBC, 6502 copro, and a hard drive

The BBC's (or Masters) should also have the network interface fitted,
obviously :-)

Apart from that you will need a "clock", this is really a simple pulse
generator, that generates the timing for the network. The circuit diagram
for it can be found in the Adv Econet User guide which you can download from
the BBC Documentation Project web site.

There were also some dedicated systems, but I don't really know much about
them.

Acorn also produced a ISA card for PC's called an Ecolink. I have one in
this machine at the moment. It will work fine under DOS and Win95/98, except
for mapping drives. This is a limitation of the driver and will only work
under DOS 3.3 due to the directory formats being changed in DOS after this
time. I have tried to hack this but with little success.


Mark