System Update Interface


The CoCo5 system would probably need to go through several revisions initially and also the system has been specified to have a "User E.E.P.R.O.M." of 128K for "DRIVERS" and "GAMES". So a easy update method not involving EEPROM burners seemed like a good idea.

The solution is a special USB 1.1 transfer cable allowing the CoCo5 to be updated by a PC.

The USB 1.1 Port is underneath the CoCo5 where the RGB Out would be on a Color Computer 3 and is normally used for the "System Mouse".

The easiest way to update is to update is to turn off the CoCo5 run the transfer cable from the bottom of the PC, start the Update Service running on the PC and then turn on the CoCo5 the power on sequence detects the attached USB  transfer cable and starts the update.

The update menu comes up full screen and looks like this.  


===========================
CoCo5 UPDATE MENU
Last Update 01/29/2025
New  Updates Available
===========================

UPDATES
UPDATES<--REWIND

BACKUPS
Keyboard
PROXY ACCESS
RESTORE
TEST SYSTEM
uDOWNLOAD
U>
VTerm
EXit

===========================

How do we get to here.

RUNNING FROM STARTUP


Note if CoCo5 turns on with USB transfer cable attached and the PROXY software running on the PC then the system.

Ok power down your CoCo and start up your PC


Type cc5uprox from DOS or LINUX prompt.

If this is the first run of the software you will be asked to set
  1. A Name for a Root Directory for proxie operations.
    This may be a Directory created under
    C:\Users\{YourName}\Documents in Windows
    /home/
    {YourName}/Documents in Linux
    The Default name is COCO5CONNECT
    but you can replace it with any name you wish.
    PROXIE DIRECTORY NAME >COCO5CONNECT
  2. You will then be asked for the
    Default control screen CoCo or PC ?
  3. Finally you will then be asked for the timeout.
    Welcome screen timeout 5 seconds minimum ___
  4. You then get a summary of your settings for example.

        /home/coconut/Documents/mycoco
        Control from CoCo
        After 10 seconds.



         Accept Settings Y/N ?

Then you will go to the startup screen.

Startup screen tells you to




PRESS C KEY
to control update from the CoCo
PRESS P KEY
to control update from the P.C.
PRESS S KEY
to setup
cc5uprox




At this point you can press C or c to control the rest of the process from the CoCo or
press P or p to put the interface on screen on the PC.
If you are setting up a Bluetooth keyboard for the coco you will want to type "P" for PC.

In either case the next step is to go over to the CoCo and plug in the USB data transfer cable
and turn on the power.

The following screen will come up on your selected control device.



===========================
CoCo5 UPDATE MENU
Last Update 01/29/2025
New  Updates Available
===========================

UPDATES
UPDATES<--REWIND

BACKUPS
Keyboard
PROXY ACCESS
RESTORE
TEST SYSTEM
uDOWNLOAD
U>
VTerm

EXit

===========================



Lets look at each option in this menu --
We will assume that we are connected to a linux system and that
our "proxie directory is"
~/Documents/mycoco/

U


The first item selected by pressing the U or  u key for updates finds the most recent update file in
~/Documents/mycoco/updates

you get these messages

FOUND  cc5up-02142025.ar
MD5SUM  .... ok
EXTRACTING to ./TEMP
  1. IMAGING  cc5up-02142025.rom TO CoCo5 SYSTEM  ROM
CONFIRMING cc5up-02142025.rom
NEW default u0: INCLUDED
KEEP ON SERVER FOR INSPECTION or
OVERWRITE u0: on CoCo5
K/O ?
if you type K here for keep here you get the message
SAVING ud0-02142025.dsk to ~/Documents/mycoco/inbox

UPDATE DOCUMENT WILL OPEN NOW  USE THE HOT KEYS
N = Next Page P = Previous Page Q = quit saving copy in inbox or X = to exit and discard.

you read the notes and then Quit
the program returns to the update procedure and asks ...

DO YOU WISH TO PATCH OR OVERWRITE NVR SETTINGS (P/O)?

at this point if  you type P for patch you might get

CHECKING u0:
INSUFFICIENT space for NVRPATCH.BIN
CHECKING u8:
INSUFFICIENT space for NVRPATCH.BIN
CHECKING u1:
COPYING NVRPATCH.BIN to u1:
WARNING u1: IS AN OS9 PARTITION USE Uprompt TO INSTALL.
The origional NVRSettings will be stored at ~/Documents/mycoco/backups
under the name NVRsetPrePatch-02142025.bin

if you had typed O for overwriting you would get
Backing up settings to ~/Documents/mycoco/sys please provide filename
_____________________________
OVERWRITEING NVRSETTINGS MEMORY

In any case the next screen would be

SHUTDOWN OR REBOOT(S/R)?


<--


The second item selected by typing the sequence <--  or pressing the back arrow key searches ~/Documents/mycoco/updates
and shows the up to 9 most resent old updates you choose by typing 1 to 9  

example: suppose you have eight releases this program will list all the older ones

REWIND UPDATE TO
  1. cc5up-01292025.ar
  2. cc5up-10312024.ar
  3. cc5up-09082024.ar
  4. cc5up-general-beta-2-08182024
  5. cc5up-general-beta-1-07302024
  6. cc5up-developer-beta-2-07102024
  7. cc5up-developer-beta-1-06092024

INSTALL #?

After you pick a release to install the rest of the process follows the same interface as described for a update.

B

The third item is selected by by pressing B or b to run the backup tool.
~/Documents/mycoco/backups

BACKUP TOOL

The Backup Tool consists of two windows the top window presents a memory map and the lower window displays a U prompt.

Some examples Below.


So you see that in the U prompt there are five backup commands.

The command Status #3 will come back with OFF if virtual CPU #3 is halted or otherwise with ON.

The command CoCo{color} in the U prompt shows the status of that virtual CoCo and starts the backup
Example:
U backup>CoCoRED
  CoCoRED CPU #3 OFF NO HIGH DEF VIDEO LINKED U4:0 & U5:1 INCLUDED
  ESC to ABORT or ANY KEY PRESSED TWICE TO START BACKUP. 

The command SB{code} in the U prompt shows the status of that Super-Block and starts the backup
Example:

U backup>SB V
 
Super-Block 1280K Reserved 9 SCREENS CPU's 0,1,2
  ESC to ABORT or ANY KEY PRESSED TWICE TO START BACKUP. 

 

The command uDisk {number} in the U prompt shows the status of that uDisk and starts the backup
Examples:

U backup>uDisk 0
                            u0: 160K RS-DOS
   ESC to ABORT or ANY KEY PRESSED TWICE TO START BACKUP.
   Creating u0-04012025-0954.dsk on server.
                     
U backup>uDisk 1
                            u1: 360K OS9 "My NitrOS boot disk"
   ESC to ABORT or ANY KEY PRESSED TWICE TO START BACKUP to MyNitrosBootDisk.dsk.
   File with same name found renaming MyNitrosBootDisk-04012025-0954.dsk

Note: how the disk label is used to name the disk spaces extracted and all letters forced to lowercase except that all first letters of each
         word in the label are forced to upper case note also a date/time stamp is added to the name of the file if that name is also in use.

Note: If no disk label is found the disk will be named u1-os9-04012025-0954.dsk you will


The command vTAPE {number} in the U prompt shows the status of that vTAPE and starts the backup
Examples:

U backup>vTAPE 0
    vT0: 64K First File: UFO 6 Files Found
  
ESC to ABORT or ANY KEY PRESSED TWICE TO START BACKUP
   Default name: UFOplus5.cas
   Backup Complete Rename(Y/N)?Y
   _______________________________________
   MyFavoriteTapeGamesVol#1.cas will be saved on the server.

Note: If you say yes to renaming you can type in a name for the file up to 32 characters long you just start typing and when you type a . or press enter or try to type the 33 rd character whatever you typed before gets a .cas addrd to the end of it and is saved on the server in the directory {Proxy Home}/backups/tar/0

K

This menu is for setting up a Bluetooth Keyboard for use by the CoCo5 you must first have the Bluetooth paired to the P.C. or have a previously created mykeyboardsetup.bkb setup file saved on your P.C.. If you have a .kbk file you will be asked to save it to NVRSettings othewise you must have the  Bluetooth Keyboard you plan to use with your coco hooked up to your PC  then you get walked through choosing the Bluetooth channel #1 or #2 and a  passkey for pairing with the coco and then key identification section where you click a key on a image map of a coco keyboard on screen and then press the same key on your Bluetooth keyboard the info gets saved to the CoCo5's NVRSettings and to a file on the PC with a name you provide and the extension .bkb Also finally the process finishes by eliminating the link between the Bluetooth Keyboard and PC and exiting.

P

The Proxy access has seven sub-menu's these are described below.
The menu is chosen with a two character code.
One of CH FI SF SS DO TE or TX.

===========================

PROXY ACCESS MENU
ROOT =  ~/Documents/mycoco

  1. HOST CHAT
  2. HOST FILE COMMANDER
  3. HOST SFTP CLIENT
  4. HOST SSH CLIENT
  5. HOST DOCUMENTATION
  6. HOST TERMINAL
  7. HOST TEXT EDITOR
===========================



Lets look at each option

HOST CHAT is an internet chat client

HOST FILE COMMANDER is a Midnight Commander style file explorer but only for the sub directorys of your "PROXY DIRECTORY"

F1 HELP
F2 CREATE/UNPACK archives supports coco style AR  and LZH archives as well as ZIP's
Ideally just like Midnight Commander pressing  [ENTER] lets you explore an archive.
Even better would be for pressing [ENTER] on a .dsk file let you explore and update it.
F3 Lets you View a Text File
F4 Lets you Edit a Text file with a local editor such as Notepad or nano and automatically adjust's the line ends to preserve the original type.
F5 Lets you copy a file to the other pane note pane's may show
ALL FILES UNDER THE PROXIE DIRECTORY INCLUDING SUB-DIRECTORIES
CONTENTS OF ANY AR, LZH or ZIP
CONTENTS OF ANY uDISK PROVIDED THAT DISK IS IN EITHER RS-DOS MS-DOS or OS9 FORMAT
F6 Lets you rename a file.
F7 Lets you create a directory
F8 Lets you delete a file
F9 Lets you search for a file by it's name or contents.
F0 Exit

HOST SFTP CLIENT

A SFTP client for the internet with download directory set to {PROXY ROOT}/
in this case ~/Documents/mycoco

HOST SSH CLIENT

An SSH client for the internet.

HOST DOCUMENTATION

A reader for documention in {PROXY ROOT}/Documents
in this case ~/Documents/mycoco/Documents

HOST TERMINAL

A secure terminal connection between the proxy host and the internet controlled through the clear text connection across the USB cable to the CoCo5.

HOST TEXT EDITOR

A text editor for files in {PROXY ROOT}/Documents and it's sub-directory's and text files on uDisk's 0 --> 8


R

Restore data works more or less like backup execpt in reverse.

T

Test Mode

D

Download a uDisk as a disk image.
Syntax: GET u{number}: URL

V

Starts a VT terminal on your CoCo Screen.
You are asked if you want to use the VGA or Composite screen if you choose VGA you get a 60x132 grey scale screen on the VGA monitor if you chose Composite you get a 30x80 color screen this connection is to a links or lynx browser running on the PC and downloads are made to the {PROXY ROOT}/Downloads directory.

X

The Proxy program asks if you wish to do a CoCo startup before it exits or shutdown the CoCo. 



Exit Requested
Do you want:

Shutdown CoCo
Reboot CoCo
Proxy Shutdown