DDI-1 CLONE ver. 2.0 ready

[Bryce]

Hi Piotr,


Since we already had this discussion coming up about a 2nd FDC.


Could you make an FDC board with the Vortex I/O addresses? And maybe using all four DS signals, so one can add four floppy drives.


It would be easy you just have to change the two I/O addresses of your DDI-1 V2.0.

What exactly needs to be changed. Maybe I could add it to my PCB to make a standard 6128 "Vortex compatible" and have 4 drives in both environments?

Bryce.

[TFM]

What exactly needs to be changed. Maybe I could add it to my PCB to make a standard 6128 "Vortex compatible" and have 4 drives in both environments?

Bryce.

The I/O addresses. Else the Vortex Controller is like the internal FDC of the CPC...

A 2nd FDC is a great idea - especially since it is already supported by different D(OS).The only thing you have to do is so change the both I/O addresses of the internal FDC from &FB7E/F to the right ports of the external FDC, that is: &FBF6/7.This 2 FDC solution is already supported by the great V-DOS 2.11 an also by FutureOS (drives A-H).

Of course the patch for using four drives must be added too.

[Bryce]

The I/O addresses. Else the Vortex Controller is like the internal FDC of the CPC...

Doh! I got that much! The question was "What exactly": ie: What do I need to be checking for on the Vortex, instead of the standard address?

Bryce.

[TFM]

Sorry, I got a bad flu. Just don't understand your question. I provided the I/O address in the last post. What else do you need?

[Bryce]

Eh, I don't have a flu, but there is no I/O address mentioned in the last 3 posts from you. What addrees does the vortex react to??

Bryce.

[TFM]

Eh, I don't have a flu, but there is no I/O address mentioned in the last 3 posts from you. What addrees does the vortex react to??

Bryce.

No, I got a flu. And you need glasses! 


It was my 2nd last post, here:
DDI-1 CLONE ver. 2.0 ready

[Bryce]

Ok, accepted, but I really didn't expect you to have quoted yourself, so I didn't read the quotes! Who the hell quotes themself??

Bryce.

[TFM]

Actually most people do. And ... Everybody who is sick and doesn't want to type a dozen of sentences again. IMHO you should start to read more carefully. In your words: Who the hell reads only half of a post? 

[Bryce]

Who the hell reads only half of a post? 

I confess, I tend to skim over posts I'll see if I can add that to my PCB.

Bryce.

[TFM]

Awesome! Maybe a DIP switch is enough so select for "internal FDC, Amsdos compatible" and "external FDC, Vortex compatible".  The four drives option could be realized in every case. Can't remember anything else now.

[steve]

Since HD floppy drives are most readily available, would it be possible to make a DDI to support 2 or 4 1.44MB or 1.76MB floppies on the CPC?

[TFM]

Since HD floppy drives are most readily available, would it be possible to make a DDI to support 2 or 4 1.44MB or 1.76MB floppies on the CPC?

For the support of HD floppies you would need to supply the FDC765 with the double frequency (I remember Robert Steindl back the day told me that he got 8" running on CPC with doubled frequency).
However, for HD you also need to have the DOS being able to transfer the double amount of data, I don't know which DOS/OS/etc. can handle that. FutureOS btw. is prepared for HD or 8" drives, and the routines are quick enough to handle it, but I never had the chance to try it in real hardware. For AMSDOS a patch should enable us to have enough data transfer rate.
Further on using HD format makes the drive just more quick, but it will not change the capacity of the disc, without introducing an new floppy format. Also here, a patch could help.