RC2014 On The Network (then Internet?)

[cubec...@gmail.com]

Hi all, I wanted to share with you a project that I had been working on.  I started it before I knew there would be a WiFi Module released for the RC2014.

I wanted to put my RC2014 on my Local Network and communicate with it using something like Telnet.

I found one of the two key pieces in this adapter.  It is a TCP to RS232 adapter box and is suited for communicating with RS232 devices via TCP or UDP.  Once I had the adapter box up and running, the next piece was a Level Shifter to convert RS232 into 5V TTL Serial.

I had one sitting around and was able to hook the two together.  With some minor tweaks to the communication software (PuTTY), I could Telnet to the adapter and have the RC2014 respond to commands.

It wasn't quite perfect, as when I tried to perform an XMODEM transfer, it would fail.  With some more investigation, I found that XMODEM relies heavily on the RTS/CTS serial signals which were not being used due to the Level Shifter I was using.

I did a quick search for a Level Shifter that would also convert the RTS/CTS signals and found this one.  It would convert all the needed signals between RS232 levels and 5V TTL levels and be powered from the 5V connection on Port A of the Dual Serial SIO/2 Module.

With all the pieces now in place, I performed a series of tests this afternoon and found it to be working perfectly.  It is robust and large XMODEM file transfers work completely.

The next step would be for me to open a port on my firewall and forward traffic to the RC2014.  That way anyone may Telnet into it and use it.  Of course this is a huge security problem as currently there isn't any way for me to restrict access or prevent files from being deleted.  Before opening it to the public, I will create an image of my existing CF card just in case! :)  I do have it set up so that I can see what commands (and results) are being input from the network by routing a second RX pin from the Level Shifter to a FTDI USB adapter and viewing it via another PuTTY session.  ;)

If you would like to help experiment, feel free to e-mail me directly and we can set up a time for you to try and connect to my RC2014 from over the Internet!  

What follows are some details and photos, should someone else wish to recreate this setup.

Here is the TCP/RS232 Adapter Box:

Here is a detail of the Level Shifter and wire hookup:

A table of the hookup

NetUART <--> DB9 Level Shifter <--> RC2014

RC2014 Serial Port A

must have 5V Jumper in Place to power Level Shifter

RC2014 RC2014 Pin Color Level Shifter Level Shifter Pin (From Top)

GND 1 Black GND 5

RTS 2 Brown CTS 1

VCC 3 Red VCC 6

TXD 4 Yellow TX 3

RXD 5 Green RX 4

CTS 6 Blue RTS 2

Note: RC2014 CTS may be not connected to anything.

Both Jumpers on Level Shifter are in place

(without them, the RTS/CTS signal is not passed on)

Here is a page from the setup on the NetUART RS232/TCP Adapter network settings:

Here is page from the setup on the NetUART RS232/TCP Adapter UART Settings:

Here are some relevant PuTTY configuration details in order to use a RAW mode to the configured port (26 in my case)

PuTTY Session Settings:

PuTTY Terminal Settings:

PuTTY Keyboard Settings:

(Optional) PuTTY Telnet Settings:

Thanks for reading, and again, if you would like to help experiment, feel free to e-mail me directly and we can set up a time for you to try and connect to my RC2014 from over the Internet!

If you have any further questions or would like more information, please don't hesitate to ask!   

      -Randal [at CubeCentral - home of (the first?) RC2014 on the Internet!]

 

 

[cubec...@gmail.com]

Wanted to try and fix the table as it didn't format well in my post:

NetUART <--> DB9 Level Shifter <--> RC2014

RC2014 Serial Port A

must have 5V Jumper in Place to power Level Shifter

RC2014 RC2014 Pin Color Level Shifter Level Shifter Pin (From Top)

GND 1 Black GND 5

RTS 2 Brown CTS 1

VCC 3 Red VCC 6

TXD 4 Yellow TX 3

RXD 5 Green RX 4

CTS 6 Blue RTS 2

Note: RC2014 CTS may be not connected to anything.

Both Jumpers on Level Shifter are in place

(without them, the RTS/CTS signal is not passed on)

  I wish there was a way to preview the message before posting.  I hope this helps.

[Richard Deane]

One could use a Raspberry Pi, using Pi to run a terminal package to access RC2014, and access the PI via ethernet (cable or wifi) to home router, and access over internet using VNC (with possible need to open a port  or route to make the Pi accessible outside the home network.

A Pi Zero W would be a cheap option (though you could not use the current RC2014 Pi Z PiGFX software when not needing internet access)

Richard

[phillip.stevens]

If I could direct your attention over here... Spencer has just the thing you need.

He's thinking ahead.

I've tested the JeeLabs ESP-Link code on my own machine. It works a treat.

Cheers, Phillip

[Darrell Pelan]

Excellent information! Solved my connection issue using Putty!

Thanks,

   Darrell

[Kevin Boone]

FWIW, this (Pi Zero) is what I do. I don't think there's a period-appropriate way of connecting a CP/M system to the Internet so I reckon that, if you're going to do this, you might as well make it easy.

I use a USB-serial adapter to connect to the RS232 on my RC2014 -- hardware flow control on the Pi UART is not at all straightforward.

I use a custom Linux build on the Pi that boots in about five seconds. That's still a lot slower than CP/M :/

Best wishes

Kein

[Alan Cox]

On Sun, 17 Sept 2023 at 11:01, 'Kevin Boone' via RC2014-Z80 <rc201...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

FWIW, this (Pi Zero) is what I do. I don't think there's a period-appropriate way of connecting a CP/M system to the Internet so I reckon that, if you're going to do this, you might as well make it easy.

The period correct way would be a terminal server of some kind, turning IP or X.25 or similar into multiple serial ports. Some of them could also ask for passwords, route one incoming link onto the first free port of several. That was the case even for a lot of minicomputers. Some had networking options like the Sun machines but many did not and you hooked them up to a suitable terminal server.

It was actually possible to do TCP/IP on CP/M - and early versions of KA9Q/Net supported CP/M, usually connecting via a serial link and mostly aimed at amateur radio.

For general purpose TCP/IP most people now swap the terminal server for a WizNet chip as that can act as a smart tcp/ip offload rather than just a serial link.

Alan