PLATOTerm for Sharp X68000

PLATOTerm is a terminal emulator to access CYBIS services now available on the Internet utilizing a WIFI Modem.

For the purposes of this documentation. PLATO and CYBIS are interchangeable names for the same platform.

Requirements

Sharp X68000 computer
1MB of RAM
31kHz display
WIFI modem attached to RS-232-C port
TMSIO serial port driver Download

What services are currently available to access via PLATOTerm?

As of writing this preliminary documentation (January 2019), there are two major CYBIS systems running. CYBER1.ORG and IRATA.ONLINE.

WHAT IS PLATO? (aka CYBIS?)

(from the PLATO wikipedia page:)

PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations), was the first generalized computer-asisted instruction system. Starting in 1960, it ran on the University of Illinois ILLIAC I computer. By the late 1970s, it supported several thousand graphics terminals distributed worldwide, running on nearly a dozen different networked mainframe computers. Many modern concepts in multi-user computing were originally developed on PLATO, including forums, message boards, online testing, e-mail, chat rooms, picture languages, instant messaging, remote screen sharing, and multi-player games.

What is CYBER1.ORG?

CYBER1.ORG is a CYBIS system initially set up in 2004, as a haven for ex-PLATO users to experience a classic PLATO author experience.

CYBER1.ORG is home to many thousands of classic PLATO lessons and notesfiles which have been restored from various sources, and have been made available in the interests of preserving PLATO.

What is IRATA.ONLINE?

IRATA.ONLINE is a CYBIS system that has been set up for the benefit of the greater vintage computing community, in the interest to provide a unique experience that can be accessed on a wide variety of vintage computers with a bitmapped graphics display. To this end, IRATA.ONLINE develops PLATOTerm for dozens of platforms, so that they can access CYBIS systems, as well as provide a community and learning infrastructure for vintage computing users of all types, in the hopes that as a cohesive community, something unique can hopefully emerge.

What is the connection between IRATA.ONLINE and CYBER1.ORG?

CYBER1.ORG and IRATA.ONLINE are independent of one another. With that said, the reason IRATA.ONLINE and PLATOTerm exist, are because of the efforts of CYBER1.ORG to not only preserve a running PLATO system, and provide the necessary information for interested parties to write terminal software to access CYBIS systems, but also in their effort to produce a publically available distribution of CYBIS that others who are interested may also run their own CYBIS installation. IRATA.ONLINE is a direct result of the public release of this distribution.

Loading PLATOTerm

PLATOTerm can be loaded by executing '''plato.x''' from Human68K. For best results, run '''tmsio.x''' before launching '''plato.x''' to get improved serial port performance, using a command such as:

tmsio -b16

Default Settings

This Pre-release version of PLATOTerm99 is configured for the following settings:

Built-in RS232 Port
19200 baud
No Parity
8 Data Bits
1 Stop Bit

Connecting to IRATA.ONLINE

Once PLATOTerm is started, you can connect to CYBER1.ORG using your WIFI modem, using a command such as:

ATDTIRATA.ONLINE:8005

Connecting to CYBER1.ORG

Once PLATOTerm is started, you can connect to CYBER1.ORG using your WIFI modem, using a command such as:

ATDTCYBERSERV.ORG:8005

PLATO Keyboard

The PLATO keyboard is mapped to the Atari keys, like so:

(TODO: Map all the keys)

TTY Mode Keys

In addition, the following keys are available in TTY mode:

Credits

'''Thomas Cherryhomes''' - Terminal coding, sleepless nights.
'''Steve Peltz''' - original PAD protocol decoder from MacPAD.
'''Shaun Thompson''' - Testing, and toolchain guidance

Platotermx68000

Install / Use

README