Hello, I'm new here. First of all, it is nice to see MSX is still alive. I have not been programming a MSX for about 15 years and I'd like to pick it up now. When looking for 'MSX' on the Internet its like going back in time: very nostalgic graphics and sounds, very cool, boys and girls.
I really have a truckload of questions (hence a new thread in General Discussions). Here are some:

A) Is it possible to connect a MSX to a Windows network (LAN), e.g. does standard Hardware exist for this purpose, let's say a network card of some sort? (Why: to make extensive use of the rest of the network, disk space, Internet, etc)

B) Has anybody ever attempted to write a Windows-like OS for MSX (windows, multitasking, desktop, etc)? (Why? So this might open ways to adapt other platform-standards, how cool would it be to write a browser or a Java VM...)

I am unaware of all developments in the last 1.5 decade so I hope these are not stupid questions.

Thanks!

Well for Network there are coming solutions
One of them is ours. Please visit -if interested- to www.msx.ch
Called ethernetcard, you can download overthere the pdf

Do I understand correctly that the card is being developed right now. What's the ETA?
Will it be produced for people who are interested?
Does it come with software, I mean, do I have to create my own I/O solutions?

Some quick answers....

A) In Japan an ethernetcard already has been developed. There are pictures of it available, but here in Europe, there hasn't shown up a prototype or something like that. Sunrise is developing an Ethernetcard for MSX, though! It uses the eZ80-CPU. Maybe there is some more info on their site

B) Several attempts. I name Ease from Philips , but more recent WIOS, you can find more info on that on the Sunrise HQ as well. GFX9000 only, though. You don't know what GFX9000 is? ....It's a hardware extension with the V9990 videochip. This VDP was originally intended to be implemented in the MSX turboR but it turned out to be too expensive. Sunrise developed a hardware extension with the V9990 on it. I also recall some kind of dosshell which was able to handle multiple dosboxes...Don't know names anymore....

However the most impressive windows-alike system is used in Meridian, which works in text mode but you hardly notice it. Multiple windows, resizable windows, hotkeys, pulldown menu's, you name it.

Furthermore HD-MENU 3.x from Meusesoft (go screen 6!! ) was not bad at all.

It's not really multitasking, but you might be interested in MultiMente as well.

Sounds cool. And I thought I had a smart idea.

If there's one thing I have always regret it's the poor communication between the VDP and the rest of the system; I think that has always been the one and only flaw in the hardware architecture. It really limited the VDP possibilities!
I remember that the Vxxxx chip in my MSX2 had numerous possibilities, but they had to be accessed via an I/O interface using IN and OUT. It's like this 'bottleneck' between the VDP and the Z80 processor that all data had to go through each time. At that time, I liked the Commodore 64 solution better: the screen data was directly represented by normal RAM, somewhere at 4000h I believe.
This is exactly why the C64 had cool games that E.G. could scroll smoothly both horizontally and vertically: there was not much effort in updating the screen.

I can imagine that this problem was never solved? I mean, using a hardware extension still leaves you with IN and OUT interfacing. Not to get ahead of things, but the perfect solution would be a hardware extension that solely copies between the VRAM and the normal RAM (let's say in another SLOT), much like the C64 architecture. Image that you could 'access' a VRAM address directly that way by using POKE or LD. 8)

Quote:

Do I understand correctly that the card is being developed right now. What's the ETA? Will it be produced for people who are interested? Does it come with software, I mean, do I have to create my own I/O solutions?

It comes with software ofcourse, it will be produced if people give us the time we need- I invested personally more than two years to look for components , dinnered to get my evaluation board with people of zilog( seminair of Zilog),so it would be absolute waist to forget it.
Erm, but it only takes time for to develop.
Japan, well Latok show the pictures then
And forget WIOS, CAUSE THERE COMES NO FURTHER SUPPORT !

The solution you mean has already been developed, yet isn't used so far. It's called ADVRAM and will also be used in the upcoming CIEL3++ computer

you know an ethernet card would be darn cool, finally possible to flip data over and from pc without using flop/flash

By the way, MSD showed me yesterday his new scsi setup. A scsi card in pc directly connected to the msx scsi line.
(okay, 2 hosts.. becarefull)
way cool too! (direct acces to HDD on msx via pc)

UZIX is a UNIX clone for MSX, it support multitasking and a GUI is currently in the works.
Using a RS-232 link to a PC you can use UZIX to surf the internet (graphic webbrowser included), chat on IRC (you will like #msxdev on Rizon) or use ftp and telnet.

Another internet suite is InterNestor, which runs on MSX-DOS2.

Indeed, the direct Z80 VRAM access is called AdVRAM and any MSX could be modified with it.

Hehe... snout browsing the MRC forum archives again.. funny to read this discussion, now Obsonet is there, Dumas is coming and SymbOS is a fact of life!

More snout MRC forum nostalgia to come, I'm afraid ^_^