SC130 and ESP8266 zimodem woes

[Steve Clarke]

Hello.

I'm having some issues connecting an ESP8266 to my SC130's second serial port. I have the ESP connected via 4 channel logic level converter. When I establish the terminal connection I see the output from the zimodem software but I can't type any commands back.

I have it wired up like so :-

SC130       LLC                      ESP8266
=====        =====               =============
P9 RX ------- HV1-LV1 ------- TX GPIO1 (TX)
P9 TX ------- HV2-LV2 ------- RX GPIO3 (RX)
J7 GND ---- GND-GND ----- GND GND
P9 RTS ----- HV3-LV3 ------- D1 GPIO5 (CTS)
P9 CTS ----- HV4-LV3 ------- D2 GPIO4 (RTS)

J7 +5V ----- HV - LV --------- 3V3 3.3V

A connected sessions looks like :-

CP/M v3.0 [BANKED] for HBIOS v3.1.1-pre.170

RAM Disk Initialized

A>mode com1 1200

COM1: 1200,N,8,1

A>kercpm3
Kermit-80 v4.11 configured for Generic CP/M-80 v3 with VT100

For help, type ? at any point in a command
Kermit-80 0A:>set escape
Type the new escape character:
Kermit-80 0A:>connect
[Connected to remote host. Type Control-YC to return;
type Control-Y? for command list]

C64Net WiFi Firmware v3.7.1
sdk=2.2.2-dev(38a443e) chipid=1458208 cpu@80
totsize=4096k ssize=379k fsize=1907k speed=40m
CONNECTED TO U Jelly (192.168.10.207)
READY.

At this point no key presses are registered but I can still interact with Kermit fine and quit the session.

I have also tried the 2nd SIO channel on my RC2014 with the baud set by a CTC but it behaves the same. However, if I replace the SC130 or RC2014 with a USB to FTDI connector to my desktop PC and set it to 5V everything works as expected. Just to be certain I have tried 2 different LLCs and ESPs but the outcome is identical. Does anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

 Cheers,

S

[flyingbird]

Hi,

look here for my experiences with it:

http://www.valachnet.cz/lvanek/diy/rc2014/index.html#BBS

Maybe this helps.

Bye,

Lumir

Dne pondělí 14. listopadu 2022 v 14:08:40 UTC+1 uživatel spoo...@googlemail.com napsal:

[Steve Clarke]

Thanks for the reply. It's good to see that what I'm trying isn't impossible. I'm just failing.

I've now tried 2 different ESP 2866s  with 3 completely different level converters and every combination of the parts. I've tried 3 different versions of zimodem (3.7.1, 3.6.3 and 3.3), with and without the inverted RS232 change. I've tried both kermit/qterm on both the rc2014 and the SC130. There's no change, I still can't enter commands to zimodem. Yet, with all combinations of hardware the 5v FTDI to USB (with the RX/TX swapped and set to 5v) adapter to my PC running minicom works perfectly.

Here's the parts I've used so far -

ESP2866s.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09GVTCXJJ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y1LZLLY

Logic Level Converters

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RDHR315/

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/pca9306-level-translator-hookup-guide#pca9306-overview

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/bi-directional-logic-level-converter-hookup-guide

I've ordered some resistors and veroboard to follow your example based on the official wifi board as my last resort.

...surely the definition of madness is trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome :-/

Cheers,

S

[flyingbird]

Hi,

here is some my experiences:

I can connect to BBS using qterm with WEMOS D1 Mini. Note that after upload Zimodem
I removed FTDI chip.

I have two official WiFi modules  and can't get second one to work. ESP-link webpage respons correctly
but module don't comunicate with qterm.

I tried to change ESP8266 on  2nd WiFi module but not success.
I used this programing board:
https://www.laskakit.cz/vyvojova-deska-programator-pro-esp8266/

I suspect the later ESP8266 series are crappy. Internet is full of stories like this (Powering):
http://www.valachnet.cz/lvanek/diy/iot/index.html

BTW CP/M 2 doesn't handle CTS. I you look to cbios128.asm, there is only handling RTS signal.
SIO/2 module has connected CTS-A/B to GND.

Bye,
Lumir

Dne pátek 18. listopadu 2022 v 19:30:55 UTC+1 uživatel spoo...@googlemail.com napsal:

[Fred 1]

just my 1c exp with ESP8266, the caps on board are nowhere near enough. absolutely need at least 100uF + 100n caps additional decoupling to

powering 3.3V to the ESP8266.

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[flyingbird]

Hi,

I going to build another WiFi module. I experienced issues with exceptions and my ESP not worked after

uploading zimodem. Here is reason, Zimodem readme says:

"ESP8266 libraries using the Generic ESP8266 Module. Versions newer than 2.7.4 may not work."

So its need to downgrade ESP8266 libs in boards manager.
Bye,
Lumir

Dne pondělí 21. listopadu 2022 v 23:31:21 UTC+1 uživatel zfr...@gmail.com napsal:

[Steve Clarke]

Hi,

Yes I found this too. Just for clarification I'm running Arduino Studio 1.8.19 and ESP community 2.7.3, however I found that 2.7.4 works identically... which in my case seems to be very poorly ;)

I've achieved no difference with the 10k/22k resistor voltage divider either so now I've ordered an original WEMOS D1 Mini as per your successful instructions. Just out of interest, why did you remove the FTDI chip?

Thanks,

S

[flyingbird]

> Just out of interest, why did you remove the FTDI chip?

It's connected to ESP Rx/Tx.

Lumir

Dne úterý 29. listopadu 2022 v 14:41:35 UTC+1 uživatel spoo...@googlemail.com napsal: