home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: sparky!uunet!news.claremont.edu!nntp-server.caltech.edu!toddpw
- From: toddpw@cco.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
- Subject: Re: Coop. vs preemptive multitasking (was Re: SwitchItpress release)
- Date: 10 Jan 1993 08:24:32 GMT
- Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
- Lines: 19
- Message-ID: <1iomg0INN2a8@gap.caltech.edu>
- References: <1ijbkuINNq8@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> <bazyar.726508915@teal>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: punisher.caltech.edu
-
- bazyar@teal.csn.org (Jawaid Bazyar) writes:
-
- > Try copying files over an AppleTalk connection; try formatting a
- >floppy disk. Any time a Mac or IIgs does a disk access or otherwise
- >takes its attention away from the serial ports, it will lose data
- >big-time.
-
- Actually on the Mac this still works because of a lot of low-level hacking
- to keep polling the serial ports no matter what. When you have a lot of
- built-in hardware, this not such a bad idea because you can make it work.
- However, it is virtually impossible when you use a truly modular device
- system (like GS/OS does) -- which is vastly superior for everything else.
-
- The real solution is to do what the IIfx did and have real coprocessors
- on the I/O so you don't even _have_ these interrupt blackouts, since the
- main CPU is not the one working with the floppy or the serial ports.
-
- Todd Whitesel
- toddpw @ cco.caltech.edu
-