On 1/25/2017 10:23 AM, william degnan via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I agree Bill, yes, with a debian Kermit host and PiDP8 simh on the pi, the PiDP8 lights will run simultaneous, but not in *response *to the data transfer. They will just run the idle, or demo light show. The lights and the Kermit activity are independent. I don't think I want to spend any time forcing the PiDP panel to show activity of the transfer. An example of dependant light acivity: Have you run Adventure on the PiDP8? I love the idle time light show, but when you use Adventure, enter commands, the LEDs change and go all aflutter in the coolest way.
Yes when I run adventure the lights are just like the real thing with the waiting for input chase the lights.
(Naturally, because the PiDP8 is doing different things to process the commands (pardon the elementary I'm trying to be complete)) That sort of LED dynamics won't happen with the activity of a debian Kermit host.
To have them look read you'd have to run Kermit-8 within simH. In that case the lights would match.
1. Access the PiDP via SSH so you don't need a monitor. Tell the PiDP at the Debian level and simH running OS/8 to use the serial port (either UART or USB to Serial) listening for Kermit requests and activate Kermit. Could do. I currently don't have the serial port coming out of my PDP8 but will likely get access to that for other purposes anyway. Getting PiDP8 to use the serial port for anything other than console will be a bit of a learning curve for me, but want to get there. 2. Connect the superbrain to the serial cable.
3. Use Kermit to request what you want . It has been a while, I'd have to play around with this to make it work ,but I be Dave G does this with is real PDP8's.
OR, just send the file to the Superbrain, using SSH to activate Kermit and send from the PiDP rather than pull from the Superbrain. Whichever is easier. Seems like you are saying turn this around, PDP8 client, Superbrain host. I don't thing there is a host mode version for CP/M machines. Could be wrong. But this isn't what I want to do, I want to run an early client on the Superbrain which certainly is not a host mode program. What makes it easier overall (other than getting an actual PDP8 to work) is that you don't have to worry about using a console over the serial port of the PiDP too, because you can access the PiDP via SSH. Yes, that's how I use mine. When I get the chance I will see if I can do something like this, with something I have here that can run Kermit, I don't have a Superbrain. Bill Thanks for kicking this around! I think my prospects of a real or emulated host that is convincingly a period Kermit host is diminishing. The choice will be what is the best substitute- I don't want to spend much time on this part of the project- I need a Host mode Kermit on something... that I just hook up to and go. If someone has a PDP-11 emulator already running a Kermit Host process configured for a serial port, I'd be interested. Or I'll take a preconfigured DECSYSTEM 20 thanks! That's what Columbia used. Otherwise, it'll be that 386 running Procomm.