TashTalk: Single-Chip LocalTalk Interface

[tashtari]

Finally got a PIC programmer and updated to 1.0.1. This solved all lingering compatibility issues I was having with LocalTalk devices. Besides the PowerMac 6100, the v1.0 firmware was not working with the LocalTalk port on my HP LaserJet 4MP. This has now been resolved.

Cool! Fingers crossed that that's it for TashTalk bugs. =)

Also, some TashTalk Hat kits are back in stock in case anyone needs one.

 

[twelvetone12]

I hope to finally make it to test it in LT2USB this coming weekend, free time has been elusive lately.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Someone here (I think it was @LaPorta ?) had mentioned that their LocalTalk equipped ImageWriter II was throwing all kinds of errors with the TashTalk. Maybe the 1.0.1 firmware improved things? Anyone have an ImageWriter II to test?

 

[LaPorta]

My comment previously was issues we had testing the AirTalks and using the AT IWII. Unsure what the story is with TashTalk.

 

[DiskJockey]

Does anyone here have a TashTalk and one of the below machines?

-Centris/Quadra 660AV/840AV
-Power Macintosh 61/71/8100
-Power Macintosh 72/73/75/76/85/86/95/9600

If so, can you test and see if you TashTalk without the above upgrade works with your machine? The thing all the above machines share is the Curio I/O chip. Based on some research, this chip contains a Zilog "Enhanced SCC" core with some "custom" LocalTalk extensions added onto it. One of the features mentioned in AMD's datasheet and Apple's internal communications is the chip's ability to automatically send a sync pulse with any data transmission. This is very likely the source of the various compatibility problems.

I have a centris 650 which fails almost all the time - got it to work one time only. Does this machine also use the chip above?

 

[NJRoadfan]

The Centris 650 uses a standard Zilog 8530 SCC to drive the serial ports.

 

[tashtari]

Forgive the cross-post advertisement:

Do any of you TashTalk owners have an AppleTalk ImageWriter, too? I'm looking for someone who has both and is willing to perform a small experiment for me for another project I'm working on...

Anyone have an AppleTalk ImageWriter and a TashTalk or AirTalk?

If so, I wonder if you might be willing to do me a small favor... I'm seeking a trace of the AppleTalk network activity between Mac and ImageWriter when a print job is being sent. There are a few different ways to collect such a trace: If you have an AirTalk and Mini vMac v37 with LToUDP, you...

68kmla.org

 

[Phipli]

My comment previously was issues we had testing the AirTalks and using the AT IWII. Unsure what the story is with TashTalk.

The little 8pin socketted chip on the AirTalk is a TashTalk - it is that chip people are talking about. There was a recent firmware update that improves compatibility with first gen PPCs

 

[NJRoadfan]

Found the post by @RolandJuno about the ImageWriter II TashTalk issues with logs, wonder if 1.0.1 would improve things:

Introducing (and interest check) AirTalk: Wireless plug-and-play LocalTalk dongles

That's a lot of framing errors. In order for TashTalk to flag a framing error, it has to have detected a zero on the line that it detects as the attempted beginning of a flag byte (0b01111110), followed by more than six ones, which seems a little too precise of an error to have been triggered...

68kmla.org

 

[tashtari]

I'd like to see if the behavior changes with 1.0.1, but I'm not sure I expect it to. I'm still not sure what could be causing TashTalk to flag a raft of framing errors that way...

 

[tashtari]

TashTalk 2 Hat kits are back in stock, and I'm also offering for sale a small number of fully-assembled and tested TashTalk 2 Hats for folks who'd rather not assemble their own and don't mind the extra cost. I don't know if I'll do another batch of the latter again, so get 'em while they're hot!