USIfAC II:Convert a PC or USB stick to Amstrad HDD,access dsk's,and many more!

[eto]

Well, in order to add an external power connector i'll have to add a diode to the internal 5v supply, otherwise the external 5v supply, will try to power amstrad too!   
The problem by doing that, is that diodes cause voltage drop of ~0.5-0.7volts, which can cause problems with USIfAC or usb host module (if supply from amstrad drops lower than 5volts e.g. board will get 4.5volts or less).

On the motherx4 there are jumpers which select if you use 5v from the computer or the external power supply. 

[ikonsgr]

On the motherx4 there are jumpers which select if you use 5v from the computer or the external power supply.

That's a very nice alternative indeed! :-) 
Still can't find a purpose of having an added power supply connector on the RAM/ROM board,as extra power consumption would only add ~5% strain on Amsrtad's 5v psu (less than 50mA compared to ~1000mA of Amstrad's typical current draw).
 

[ikonsgr]

On second thought, although Ram/Rom board + USIfAC II are working fine using Amstrad's internal 5v supply,  you might want that, to support connection of extra boards to the 50pin connector + edge connector.... 

[ikonsgr]

Ok, after a bit of board tweak, i've manged to fit a 5V supply connector along with a jumper to isolate internal 5v power (in case of connecting an external supply):

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Board dimensions is ~10cmX7cm and if all goes well with the prototype tests, that should be the first "official" version 

[buzby]

i am interested in a unit please, pm sent

[issalig]

Ok, after a bit of board tweak, i've manged to fit a 5V supply connector along with a jumper to isolate internal 5v power (in case of connecting an external supply):

Board dimensions is ~10cmX7cm and if all goes well with the prototype tests, that should be the first "official" version 

What's the reason for such that big bias holes? With smaller ones it would be easier to design the board.

[Fran123]

Will be able to work with RAM and ROM?

For example, having 4 ROMS and the rest for RAM

[danhans42]

I have the SRAM and latch parts here if you want me to test ram expansion with my DIY version @ikonsgr 

[Fran123]

did  you tried to download a webpage with an ESP01 connected to UsifacII?

I always get the first part losed.

 

[ikonsgr]

@issalig , man,really i never thought about vias, i just left the default size...    but you are right! Vias are pretty large (1.8mm diameter, 1mm hole),so i've decided to shrink them a lot (0.7mm diam. 0.3mm hole) and with a little effort ,i've managed to reduce height of board ~4-5mm. 

@Fran123, in order to have both RAM expansion and Rom board activated together, is much more complicated, as it needs latch/unlatch of the SRAM and rom select/ram configuration enabled at the same time. With current design,and possibly some board tweak of USIfAC (a direct connection between a ram/rom board PIC mcu and USIfAC PIC MCU is required) it might be able to have 256K ram along with one rom.
BUT, if i "merge" USIfAC II and RAM/ROM board into a single board (and with a couple of extra 3-state buffers for the needed latch/unlatch of SRAM), it should be possible to have 256k RAM with up to 16 roms, at the same time! 
For the moment, the main goal is to test upper&lower roms enabled together.... 

@danhans42 , except for USIfAC II, extra testing of ram/rom board with various other hardware (like M4, DDI3, dandanator etc), will surely needed to verify the compatibility. So if you have a lot of Amstrad stuff, i can nominate you "official beta tester" for RAM/ROM board and send you  board for testing, as soon as i verify it's working ok at least with USIfAC II 

[SkulleateR]

@ikonsgr 

Count me in 

[ikonsgr]

Ok,after a bit of tweaking i manage to convert both CAT and |CAT commands to "dual column" display! 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3hezc6wji387j4/fmanager.mp4?dl=0

Speed for getting each page, is ofcourse less than previous version,but since you get twice the names, it's actually 20-30% faster (~0.9sec/single column vs ~1.4sec/dual column in mode 2).

I also updated the file manager ( https://www.dropbox.com/s/852jaokpzkuxsyb/new_file_manager.zip?dl=0 ), by sacrificing a bit of speed, to get aligned names which are more neat and easy to read.

[Fran123]

hello

Why don't you use four columns in mode 2?

 I think it's very easy, every column needs 20 characteres, so you need not use print \r and \n, and it's valid for all screen modes.

[ikonsgr]

hello
Why don't you use four columns in mode 2?
 I think it's very easy, every column needs 20 characteres, so you need not use print \r and \n, and it's valid for all screen modes.

Hmmm, yes, it might be possible to do that rather easy, first, i have to check current video mode (SCR_GET_MODE) and set columns accordingly.

[Fran123]

No, you needn't, because columns are 20, 40 and 80, that they are multiples of 20

format would be:

NNNNNNNN.EEE·BBBBBB·

where · is SPACE and B are characters to print the size

when file size is greater than 1M  you can print:

NNNNNNNN.EEE····+1M·

[eto]

No, you needn't, because columns are 20, 40 and 80, that they are multiples of 20

It would still require that you only print 20 files in Mode 0 but could be 80 in Mode 2.

@iconsgr: If I understand correctly, the filemanager is called by another BASIC program. Would it be possible to set the mode there instead of inside the compiled part? I personally find it extremely hard to read text in Mode 2 on a real CTM or even worse on a  MP-1/2 modulator.

[Fran123]

Sorry, I didn't understand very good and I confused rows with columns 

Maybe, you need not know the mode, if it could be possible to pause the CAT listing pressing a key (ESC) and other to continue.

[ikonsgr]

Done 
You need to know the screen mode in order to set column variable to either 2 or 4. For mode 0 i've added a "change screen mode" message, as i don't think anyone whould ever wanted to get catalogue using MODE 0...

[ikonsgr]

@iconsgr: If I understand correctly, the filemanager is called by another BASIC program. Would it be possible to set the mode there instead of inside the compiled part? I personally find it extremely hard to read text in Mode 2 on a real CTM or even worse on a  MP-1/2 modulator.

Actually, file manager is also a Basic program (like the fm/fsm programs), but it's compiled (using Hisoft's TurboBasic compiler), in order to get proper execution speed. Anyway, i'll see to it and make a "MODE 1" version too.
Btw,with new filemanager, you can now go from 1st to last page by using left arrow, and from last to 1st page by using right arrow (e.g. cyclic page shift)

[Fran123]

Done 
You need to know the screen mode in order to set column variable to either 2 or 4. For mode 0 i've added a "change screen mode" message, as i don't think anyone whould ever wanted to get catalogue using MODE 0...

much more professional!!

[ikonsgr]

It's official: 200 USifAC II boards sold!

[Nworc]

It's official: 200 USifAC II boards sold!

Nice! So who is the lucky guy with order number  200? I think my one could have been close ...
It's a great board, says another happy customer.

BTW: First test of a server component in Java was successful.

[Animalgril987]

Hi @ikonsgr . Is there a simple m/c code way to detect a USIFAC  connected to the CPC?

[ikonsgr]

Hi @ikonsgr . Is there a simple m/c code way to detect a USIFAC  connected to the CPC?

Yeap, just give:
print inp(&fbd8)
This will get you USIfAC's Rom number (usually 5),otherwise you will get '255', which means no USIfAC board is connected. 
Note also that, using this simple method,you can detect presence of USIfAC board, even if you have "hide" it from booting, by giving a rom number greater than 15. For example, if you give: OUT &fbd2,20 and reset Amstrad, you will not get USIfAC's boot message and no RSX commands will function, effectively disabling the board. BUT,you can still detect the actual presence of board by the simple inp() command mentioned above 

[ikonsgr]

Nice! So who is the lucky guy with order number  200? I think my one could have been close ...
It's a great board, says another happy customer.

Actually, it's some friend of mine who got the 200th board 
Btw,with 200 boards out in the world,and ~dozen more each passing month, perhpas now is a good time to add USIfAC II support to FUTURE OS!