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Last update March 17, 2006

By Glen VanDenBiggelaar

Hello, and welcome to my attempt at a thorough support page for the beloved Coco. We here at Quark X are dedicated to preserving the past, and from time to time we come across old Technical Reference Manuals, Service Manuals, and schematics. I will do my best to make them into PDF files, to share. If you have an interesting old manual, book or schematic that you would like to donate to the Co Co library, or if you have any interesting story and/or corrections/additions, please feel free to e-mail me. This site started out as a composite of all the CoCo sites I could find and a lot of information (and thanks) is due in part to great CoCo sites by Al Santos, SockMaster, L. Curtis Boyle, Techno's site, Cloud 9 , Nickolas Marentes, just to name a few. If I haven't named your site, I do apologize. These are the main ones I have gathered info off of.

Latest updates

March 17, 2006
Happy St. Patrick's day to all of our Irish Friends (and those who loike to drink GREEN Beer!) I have finally got this month's more marshmallows page up on hard drives for the CoCo. Finally! , I will be putting more stuff on the onlne store soon, as I will have more time now, because I just startrd a new job- I work for DELL computers! No, I won't be flogging them here. From writting about the worlds biggest computer company ( in the '80's) to working for (the present) worlds biggest computer company- how is that for Irony! NO! I have not met Mike Dell, but I would love to have lunch with him some day! I am just a lowly Peon!

March 12, 2006
OK, Just a "quicky" update to the hardware page (thats all I had time for). I have put up a CoCo1 3003B, so white, you will need sunglasses to look at it (ok, so I am exagerating a bit, but it is the "Brightest" I have ever seen. I also put up 2 printers (boxed) and 1 double-sided disk drive, this is the one I use daily (or use too, until I got a job in November). Hopefully by tomorow, I will have that Hard drive artical printed. I am thinking of putting a "Grab Bag" of cassettes up for sale. Since I have boxes full of "Back up" and copied cassettes, and it will probably take the rest of my life to even sort through them all, I was thinking of putting up 30 for $9.00. If you think this is a good idea or are interested please drop me a e-mail. Please remember, I will just pull 30 tapes at random, I will not list the programs, nor check if they all work. (hense a "Grab bag"). Who Know what you will get?

March 11, 2006
Ok, so I finally got another night off (only my second since Feb. 24) so I am a bit burned out, but I am trying to get the hard Drive article up that was published in the March 1988 issue of the Rainbow, as the fourms have been hopping with the topic lately. I hope to have that up by Sunday in "More Marshmallows". I put some more stuff on the online store, including my prized 1 Meg Disto CoCo 3. I normally wouldn't sell CoCo 3's but since Cloud 9 doesn't have 1 meg kits and I was quirious to see if someone will pay the asking price. It has a fan installed and an "external" Power supply, similar to laptops in the "Brick" form. It does come with the disto manual and Driver disk. I also put a few more Floppies and cassettes up.

March 6 , 2006
The T&D Cassettes were sold last night, so just the "Rainbow On Cassette", Rainbow on Disk, Chromo- Cassettes and the TRC Magazine cassette subscription software to inventory and put up, then the 2 boxes of loose cassettes, and all the Rainbow magazines left to post. Not to mention the half dozen other boxes to got through, and all the hardware and printers left. Oh, boy, what have I gotten Myself into.

March 5, 2006
Wow the T&D software disks were not even up 2 full days, nor did I get a chance to post all of them, and they were sold. It just goes to show you to bookmark the site and check it daily for new items. I do my best to get stuff up daily. I still have the T&D cassettes (Suprise) and they fill in the gap of the months that the disks were missing.

March 3, 2006
I have been and will be working 6 nights straight, so I am exhausted, but I did manage to get up early today and get some T&D disks up on the online store, I still have yet to finnish the cassettes. With running on 3 hours of sleep, its been hard to keep up, but I have tonight off and will be plugging away later tonight, with more. The online store has been hopping and most of the Key stuff has been sold. My thanks to all that bought, and I will do my best to make the shipment out tomorrow (afternoon). I have pulled the double disk drives until I can thoughaly test them. It seems nobody wanted to take a chance and I don't blame them, the only downside is that they will be more money once they go back up. The MPI sold quickly, as I expected, but the X-Pad is still up for sale. I have to get some sleep now. Later.

February 28,
Where did the month GO? Wow! OK, due to sales on the store, I had to do a quick update today. Staring tomorrow, I have the next few days off, so within the next 48 hours, I will be putting the rest of the T&D cassettes up, as well as the T&D subscription on Disk.

February 26,
Slashed more prices on the online store, This time most of the front page of Parts, books ETC. has been slashed by over 50% in some cases. Order your stuff now before it gets sold. I have also Slashed Hardware prices just to get rid of the over stock. The $80 Double floppy drives have been slashed to $69.98. CoCo1 and 2 are now only $4.95 for any regular Stock CoCo under 32K all units will come with cables, switch boxes and manuals.

February 25,
I was up all night updating the online store. I have 2 Double FD500 systems for grab at under $80. Why so cheap? Because I have not had time to test them and people are e-mailing for them right away. So they are up. Also I have hundreds of Cassette games going up. I know Cassettes are not really wanted, but hey for under $5, its a good way to get those games you really wanted then transfer them to disk. More later as I still have a bunch of T&D software to catalogue (both disk and Cassette) and throw up.

February 24,
Got a good Idea of what came in, still have hundreds of cassettes to go through, but I did take a break to get some new Items on the store. I have dropped the prices on 90% of all my software, so most Floppy Software is under $10, and most cartridges are about $5. I still have yet to get up the hardware, which includes 3 more cassette decks, A MPI in box and at least 7 CoCo's. I have an after market Keyboard upgrade for the CoCo 1 and a CoCo 1 with a CoCo2 keyboard (the Enhanced one), at least 3 printers, Rainbow magazines, And T&D subscription Software disks.

February 18,
Just a quick update today. I got a VAN full of CoCo stuff given to me yesterday, a local collector here in Edmonton was cleaning out his basement and I have Boxes of CoCo stuff to catalogue and put into inventory. It will take weeks, to go through all the stuff, but as always the stuff I have already will go up on the online store. I will be dropping prices on the store in order to clear this stuff out. Stay tuned for more updates.

January 28, 2006
I finally sat down and banged out the "More Marshmallow " page for January. Its short an sweet. I introduced a new feature called "Twisted Cables" its a chance for you humour to shine through. Its all on the January "More Marshmallow" page.

January 27,2006
Added (So far) to the online store Today:
3 Cartridges
8 Cassettes
13 books / manuals
9 Floppy software
More to come later today
I saw this cover of the Rainbow and I just couldn't resist this caption.

After 20 years, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer Still Can't Get Enough of the CoCo!

My apologies to the Microsoft lawyers and legal dept. in advance, and to all the Linux users who can't take a joke, but I think if Steve actually saw this, even he would get a small chuckle out of it.

January 25, 2006
Yes, I am still around! This last 2 weeks have been real strange here at the lounge! I won a few ebay auctions on books that I was dying to get my hands on and then I received a huge donation from a local "ex" coco user that could not bring himself to toss out ! I got 2 big crates of books and Rainbow magazine, and I have yet to catalogue al of it and decide what will be put up in the store, in the mean time, I have put some more OS-09 books up (that I had got from auctions) and a few more carts and Cassettes in the Online store. I plan tomorrow to spend the day on a double issue of "More Marshmallows" to take care of January and february issues. A big thanks again goes out to Andrew Steppan for donating all the books and stuff. I now have Rampage and Predator (not for sale) now, I always wanted them, and they are almost impossible to find on e-bay!

January 09, 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
I know I am almost 2 weeks late, but I am busier now , than the last few years put together! I hope to have the January issue of More Marshmallows up by Friday, and I have some new stock for the store. I got a bit behind in my shipping over the holidays and will catch up, by the weekend. It seems I am getting packages on a daily basis, and , again, I thank you for all the donated hardware. I have yet to catch up on the E-mail replies, so if you have donated hardware, and haven't heard from me, fear not! I just haven't been able to wade through all the e-mail yet. I am working 12 hour graveyard shifts, so I don't have much time lately for even sleep, and with the Post Office dropping off packages daily, the sleep factor even gets interrupted. AGAIN, THANK YOU!

December 21, 2005
I know, I have been so busy with the new job, I have not had a day off in ages to update the site. It looks like i will be working straight through un till new years, 12 hour shifts. I have gotten in some new stock for the online store, and I will try to test it and put it up over the next few weeks, but I did get some stuff up tonight. I have gotten in some highly sought after stuff, such as some COCO MAX paraphernalia and a rare 32K CoCo 2. Most CoCo2's were upgraded to 64K, although not unheard of, there are just not many left of the 32K birds. I am working on the (late) Christmas issue of More Marshmallows. I want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!!

December 8,2005
Well it seems there are not enough hours in the day, to get everything done they way its suppose to go! The new issue of More Marshmallows will be up in the next day or so (better late than never) and I have a few more trinkets on the online store. More will be added before Christmas, so Stay tuned.

November 25, 2005
Well, Its a month before Christmas, and what a busy week, Besides starting a new job, My responsibilities have increased here at the lounge. Hopefully within the next 2 months, I can get more stock in for the on-line store. I have been absolutely flattened on E-bay lately and the prices for "Disk Games" have skyrocketed. One auction of Floppies recently went for over $300 US funds- WOW. Fear not, We will always have some stock available, so you won't have to bid. Just today, a CoCo graphics Designer Plus floppy popped up WITHOUT the manual (auction # 8728881960). Within moments, there were bidders. I am watching to see what it fetches, but we here have it WIth the manual. We also have the font disk to go with it. No bidding or nothing. I have also got an interesting letter about the CBC here in Canada -Looking at the Video-Tex way back in the early '80's. I have posted it on the letter's page.

November 23, 2005
Do to factors beyond my control, I am out of server space at the moment. BUT that doesn't mean the manuals are not getting scanned. If you wish to order a CD with the all the PDF's, just send a Blank CD or DVD into the lounge and $8 to cover the P and H and I will burn you a copy. If you don't have a blank CD or DVD, no problem, just mail or Paypal $10.00 to us here at the lounge. More are done daily.

November 22, 2005
Do to requests for Non -Game software PDF's, created a page for them. I had just wanted to focus on games for now, but some people just can't wait. It looks like my web server is out of space for now, so it might be a while before any new PDF 's go up. Also, I must apologize to anyone that made a donation to the lounge and I haven't personally respond. Thanks to Mike P's generosity ,we found that some of the donation buttons were not going directly to myself and they have been fix.

November 20, 2005
Well, its 1:00 am in the morning and the CoCo 3 teardown page is finally up and running. Tomorrow, I will link all the pages up. I can now start scanning in the service manuals to PDF. When that will be done, I don't know, but hopefully before our next birthday. I also have update some photos on the scrapbook page and hardware page.

Part 2.
Well I have been busy learning Adobe Acrobat and have a few game manuals scan for you to download. I will be alternating between all the manuals (hopefully) on a daily basis, as this will keep me busy for months. I will try to get the "requested" manuals up ASAP. If you have a request, and if I have it, by all means send it to me.

November 18, 2005

Ok, as many of you regulars know, the site is changing daily. The online store has items sold and added on a daily basis. I usually try to spend at least a hour on the site and about 2 hours actually using the CoCo, so the information on games and programs etc, is always being updated. I wish to take a moment to answer a FAQ that I get here all the time. Yes, I DO take your old CoCo's off your hands. If you wish to donate your old CoCo collection to the lounge, by all means please check out the "Snail Mail Contact" or click here. Your Items do not go to e-bay, but ether stay in my personal collection, or get put up for sale on the online store. This is a not for profit website and all donations are use to keep the website up and running. I know I can not stand to see any CoCo go to waist,even if it is a 4K CoCo 1 with the Standard Basic. I have many such units on "display" in my apartment, and people always ask when they see them. Just because you have no room for them, I will always make room. Don't toss them, donate them today

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November 15, 2005

Its official ladies and gentleman, we have been up and running for a year now!
Over the last year, I have gotten e-mails from many different people and they are all willing to share stories of the CoCo. It seems that the love affair of this great machine never ends! It 's not just from home uses, but I have had e-mail from a Guy that his brother has worked (and still does) at NASA! NASA during the 1980's used the CoCo for all types for for inputting info etc. I am in contact with a few people still left at Radio Shack that ether have worked on some part of the CoCo or at least know what it was ( I was expecting some bad news from Radio Shack threatening me with lawyers and such from posting their information, but what I got was the opposite.) Radio Shack has been so supportive of the site, that it just strengthens their excellent company image! And they are always willing to help more.
This coming from a guy, that just a year ago, almost knew nothing about the CoCo and was "stuck " with just a tape drive growing up!
Again, I wish to thank all of YOUR support and the great e-mails I get daily. KEEP THEM COMING! I also wish to thank the 2 people that have generously donated cash to the lounge, every little bit helps. Remember, this site is( for now) a one man operation and time is just not there. I have so many pages left to make and post and within the next year the site again will double in size and strength.
In the next few days, you will slowly see new pages posted, and the site slowly cleaned up a bit. I do apologize for the delay. Also, In the near future, we again will be changeling the whole look of the site. One of Canada's top FLASH designers is throwing some cool ideas around to make the site "Feel" like a CoCo.
Last, but not least, we are now selling CUSTOM MADE NEW HARDWARE!!!! in the online store. YES, NEW hardware, starting with Custom made floppy drives Click on the online store"Custom Hardware" page, or here to see it now.

PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FILTERS, IF YOU HAVE ORDERED PRODUCT FROM THE ON-LINE STORE AND YOU HAVEN'T RECIEVED ANY CONFORMATION OR STAUS ON THE ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I do not receive any indication back from you or messages from your server, saying the e-mail has bounced, I assume everything is OK. My e-mails go through the "Hotmail" server. Please , I can not be held responsible for YOUR filters. Thanks

Click Here to see page 1 , page 2,page 3 ,page 4, of past updates