Date   : Mon, 05 Jan 2015 17:29:53 +0000
From   : etljwk@... (John Kenyon)
Subject: Serial console active at power-on

I reckon that a sideways ROM which "pokes" keystrokes into the keyboard
buffer using OSBYTE 138 would be a lot easier than trying to persuade a
FPGA to do the same thing, but if a sideways ROM is used, then it would
be better to do the whole job properly.

If all you want is something to enable serial and drop you at a BASIC
prompt, then I'd create a language ROM which configured the serial port,
and then did an OSCLI with "BASIC" to switch languages.

A good starting point would be
http://mdfs.net/Docs/Comp/BBC/SROM/Mastering/Module17
Replace the code between lines 930 and 1040 with the code to do the job.
This creates a language ROM which can either be entered automatically at
boot time, or by using the *NOBASIC command. This would allow you to
test your ROM using sideways RAM - use the command instead of rebooting.
It would also work with a Master - that might make your testing a little
easier, even if your target is a Model B.

/John


On 05/01/2015 14:38, nicola giacobbe wrote:
> Well, the truth is that I would like to control the beeb from remote
> (including the printer port) so that the printer port missing is not
> really an option.
>
> About the keyboard suggestion (i.e. to remove it) and the technical
> insight that followed, my original idea was to have an FPGA to
> simulate the keyboard, so that the beeb could see a 'keyboard' that at
> power-up could send the FX commands needed to activate the serial console.
> This, joined to a custom keyboardless case could make a very useful
> testing tool...
>
> I started studying the black art of ROM making but the recent messaged
> led me to the conclusion that a keyboard simulator could be a better
> choice, what do our experts suggests?
>
>
> > From: jumbos.bazzar@...
> > To: bbc-micro@...
> > Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2015 21:54:42 +0000
> > Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Serial console active at power-on
> >
> > If your application doesn't need the sound, speech, keyboard or printer
> > port, then you can boot the board without the system VIA in place.
> You'd
> > then "need" something bootable, IE a ROM to tell it what to do.
> >
> > Mark.
> >
> ...
>
>
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