Nov 22, 2024
Vince Cate, The Critical Connection
In
my last interview, I talked with the creator of SIO2PC, which
let Atari users use a DOS computer as its disk drive and printer.
This interview is with the creator a product which - six years
earlier - let Atari users use a CP/M computer as its disk drive and
printer (and keyboard.)
Vince Cate owned a company called USS Enterprises, with just
one product: The Critical Connection. Critical Connection was a
combination of a specialized cable and software for connecting an
Atari 8-bit to a computer running CP/M. The long cable had an SIO
plug on one end and a 25-pin serial plug on the other, and some
chips in the middle, allowing the Atari and CP/M box to communicate
at 19,200 bps.
The Critical Connection was released in 1983, six years before
SIO2PC. They shared many similar features: with it you could: use
an entire CP/M floppy disk as an emulated 600K Atari disk drive,
create 92KB CP/M disk files which emulated Atari 90KB disks, and
print from the Atari to the CP/M computer's printer. The CP/M
machine even acted as a print spooler. You could also use the CP/M
machine's keyboard to type on the Atari.
Vince needed to create a file format to store virtual floppy
disks on the CP/M machine: the filename extension was .ATR. I don't
know positively, but I'm pretty sure it's a different file format
from the well-known .ATR format that Nick Kennedy created for
SIO2PC six years later... just similar functionality given similar
names. Nick Kennedy told me that he had never heard of The Critical
Connection.
Here's what Jerry Pournelle wrote about Critical Connection in
the September 1983 issue of Byte magazine:
"Vincent Cate continues to improve his Critical Connection.
This gadget makes an Atari think a CP/M computer system is a set of
disks. The only requirement is that your CP/M system have an
RS-232C serial port operating at 19,200 bps. Given that, you
needn't buy disks for an Atari; by using The Critical Connection,
you can make the Atari believe you have four disks. The really nice
part is that you can use 8-inch as well as 5 1/4 -inch disks.
Cate's new software package has automatic installation for a
number of CP/M systems, including Kaypro, North Star, Sanyo, CCS,
Heath/Zenith, and Morrow. ... Cate's documentation is improved, but
it's not what I'd call good. Still, you can puzzle it out, and if
you don't want to invest a lot in an Atari system but still want to
use disks with it, Cate's Critical Connection is the way to
go."
This interview took place on November 20, 2024.