• Software for the tape emulator

    Jacques Pelletier • 09/02/2025 at 10:46 • 0 comments

    Use a PC instead of a tape recorder to exchange files on a retro computer with a KCS interface.

    The software is a CLI program. Below are the command line examples.

    tape-ops -d /dev/ttyUSB0 -w test-wr.bin

    tape-ops -d /dev/ttyUSB0 -r

    tape-ops -h (for help)

  • Need help debugging printf

    Jacques Pelletier • 09/01/2025 at 21:45 • 1 comment

    I'm trying to do an application to read bytes from a serial port. All work except one thing. There's a problem with printf that I can't debug.

    It's supposed to print like below:
    24-Filename: test-i2c.bin Begin: 0000 Length: 0000 Autostart: 0000

    Instead, it prints like below:
     Begin: 0000 Len: 0000 Autostart: 0000

    Here's the link to the code:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tHx_rlAkCgr7jk63LzPzAOijSgH_YXZw/view?usp=drive_link

    I commented the code to explain the bug in more details. See function GetData in file tape.c

  • Tape emulator

    Jacques Pelletier • 08/30/2025 at 18:56 • 0 comments

    This project is a tape cassette emulator. It's plugged on a USB port and a USB to serial converter communicates with a XR2206/XR2211 modem. It also helps for debugging the KCS modem.

    For some reason, the KCS modem works, but attempting to use the same values of components for the tape emulator didn't work. After struggling with everything, it finally works!

  • PCB production

    Jacques Pelletier • 01/12/2024 at 08:37 • 0 comments

    I would eventually make a PCB module that can be installed inside computers. I would probably make 2 versions of it: 1 with surface mount components and 1 with through hole components.