Anybody seen this?

Bryce · 23:13, 03 February 15

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=76866

With a simple address decoder and some ROM based drivers, this would work on the CPC too

Bryce.

Executioner · 01:01, 04 February 15

Quote from: Bryce on 23:13, 03 February 15
With a simple address decoder and some ROM based drivers, this would work on the CPC too

Would there be a problem with the missing 8th bit (strobe bit) on the CPC?

TFM · 01:19, 04 February 15

No, but with the lack of getting data in. The printer port on the CPC is a output device only (actually 8 bit out, 1 bit in). So you would have to plug it to the expansion port.

pelrun · 03:00, 04 February 15

Better to co-opt a Gotek floppy emulator to the task; it's essentially the same hardware just connected to a more suitable bus

(yes I know I promised to do something with the Gotek a while back; I'm trying to pick that project back up now.)

Bryce · 10:13, 04 February 15

Quote from: TFM on 01:19, 04 February 15
No, but with the lack of getting data in. The printer port on the CPC is a output device only (actually 8 bit out, 1 bit in). So you would have to plug it to the expansion port.

That's why I said it would need an address decoder. It would need to be connected to a "new" 8-bit i/o on the extension bus to work. It would never work on the standard CPC printer port due to the lack of the 8th bit and the fact that the port only works as an output.

Yes, it's similar to the Gotek, but it's DIY so it could be shrunk down to a mini MX4 format, the Gotek can't. It's also not dependent on the floppy controller so it could be much faster.

Bryce.

CraigsBar · 10:45, 04 February 15

Quote from: Bryce on 10:13, 04 February 15
That's why I said it would need an address decoder. It would need to be connected to a "new" 8-bit i/o on the extension bus to work. It would never work on the standard CPC printer port due to the lack of the 8th bit and the fact that the port only works as an output.

Yes, it's similar to the Gotek, but it's DIY so it could be shrunk down to a mini MX4 format, the Gotek can't. It's also not dependent on the floppy controller so it could be much faster.

Bryce.

that makes me interested, one for when you finish the laptop perhaps?

Bryce · 11:39, 04 February 15

Yes, possibly... and all the other stuff that needs to be done before I can get back to the laptop

Bryce.

CraigsBar · 11:42, 04 February 15

Including the radio controlled thingy as discussed in Dublin

Bryce · 13:01, 04 February 15

That comes after the laptop.

I was in Dublin again at the weekend, but I didn't have time to meet up so I didn't bother mentioning it.

Bryce.

Optimus · 13:10, 04 February 15

Is it easy to connect a USB mouse on the CPC with something like this?
Yesterday I was trying SymbOS on my new CPC setup, I still wish I had a mouse.

CraigsBar · 13:21, 04 February 15

Quote from: Optimus on 13:10, 04 February 15
Is it easy to connect a USB mouse on the CPC with something like this?
Yesterday I was trying SymbOS on my new CPC setup, I still wish I had a mouse.

it's easy with a Bryce mouse adaptor. Not sure if any are left, but a recent run of ps2 and USB models were made.

Bryce · 14:18, 04 February 15

My device is AMX mouse compatible, ie: it replicates the joystick movements, so any software (old or new) that supports the AMX mouse will work with it.

Bryce.

Optimus · 15:06, 04 February 15

Are there any left? Interested..

Bryce · 15:24, 04 February 15

Ask Talrek. I don't have any left.

Bryce.

TFM · 17:23, 04 February 15

Quote from: Bryce on 10:13, 04 February 15
Yes, it's similar to the Gotek, but it's DIY so it could be shrunk down to a mini MX4 format

So what would you get? Is this like a USB drive then? Where is the difference to the USB cable at the CPC Booster?[nb]I'm not into USB since it's not used with CPC.[/nb]

Bryce · 22:53, 04 February 15

The USB on the CPC Booster is a simple USB to RS232 converter and the CPC is the USB client. With this the CPC is the USB host, so you can connect USB sticks etc.

Bryce.

TFM · 22:59, 04 February 15

Ah got it, nice mass media so. Now any idea about drivers? Maybe the amiga guys got sources, so it could a bit more easy than developing from scratch.

Bryce · 23:02, 04 February 15

The main thing that really got me interested was the fact that it's designed to work using a relatively standard 8-bit printer i/o port / protocol, so it should theoretically work on ANY 8-bit computer (with a small adapter in some cases). This is the closest you can get to a standard across 8-bit computers!

Bryce.

ralferoo · 00:15, 05 February 15

Talking to an SD card is actually easier than that!

There's is a 4-bit mode, but practically every non-PC device out there that has an SD socket uses the 1-bit mode, which needs just 4 wires: clock, data in, data out and select. This is 3 out, 1 in and so could easily be done on the CPC printer port (except that SD cards natively use 3.3V, so you'd also need a level converter).

Data is guaranteed to be 8-bit aligned, so to speed things up a bit, you could connect it to the expansion port and have a shift and latch clocked by a counter chip. Such a thing would probably be fairly easy to implement on a small CPLD.

The biggest problem really is the need to handle the FAT filesystem. The advantage of using something like the Atmega that this Amiga version did is that it can expose an even simpler API to the client side.

Subaru · 04:16, 05 February 15

Quote from: Bryce on 15:24, 04 February 15
Ask Talrek. I don't have any left.

Bryce.

FR
oui, il en a. (au moins un en vente.)

ENG
yes, there are. (at least one sales.)

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ps: Héhéhé ^^... T'as fait des progrés, Talrek, depuis ta wii. GG !

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