Hello all,
It's been an absolute age since I showed my face round here - sorry about that.I've had a few projects on the boil but sadly can't afford to actually make / test them so I thought I'd post them all here in case anyone wants to run with any of them.
#5) PCW RAM Board
In line with my previously posted PCW expansion board here's a 2Mb RAM card for the PCW. Again, internal or external fitment. Assuming it works at all I've added the option for two further 2Mb banks of RAM at a couple of other memory addresses.
Oh, and as the PCW mostly uses the extra RAM for an M: drive I added battery backup too.
Quite untested so use at your discretion.
...and I think that's me done for the time-being. I hope somebody finds these designs useful.
All the best,
Charlie.
Amazing! 2 MB with battery back up! Great! :) :) :)
If somebody is going to build them I would like to take two of them. Together production costs shall drop.
Agreed, this looks quite exciting - Battery backup M: drive :o count me in.
Darren
Very impressed with the work done by Charlie, but since I got JonB's xIDE drive attached I make hardly any use of RAM disk any more. So much more space available on any of the C: thru P: drives, up to 8Mb on each, and automatically saved regardless of battery backup. Also, access to this 'virtual' HD space is pretty much as fast as access to the RAM disk, so I no longer have any need to transfer stuff to M: for purposes of speed - almost all of my boot-up files (that once were copied to M: ) now just stay on C:.
So really no need to a 2Mb battery backed RAM drive. It would have been GREAT before though!!
Geoff
Yes I've been following this with great interest... :)
Charlie's IDE section looks just like mine.. but there you go, there aren't that many ways to connect an IDE device to a Z80 bus, and my design is itself derived from some other design.
Anyway.. as I have recently retired I should have more time on my hands. Charlie seems to have done some interesting work, so if #4 is the expansion board and #5 the RAM board, what are #1, #2 and #3? I am looking for candidate boards to connect to the Z80 bus... but most of all I want the IDE boot board. I still have not worked it out!
As to these other boards, I could go into production if Charlie is happy. As the designs are untested there is still a bit of work to do. And I would want to redo the PCB layouts so that they are compatible with the Z80 bus, and can be programmed for I/O address like uIDE.
[Edit:
#1: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/cpc-8255-ide/msg178236 CPC464 IDE
#2: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/cpc-512k-expansion/msg178238 CPC 512k RAM
#3: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/z80-accelerator/msg178239 Z80 accelerator
]
Quote from: GeoffB17 on 00:02, 19 September 19
So really no need to a 2Mb battery backed RAM drive. It would have been GREAT before though!!
Geoff
This RAM can be used for everything, not only as RAM disc.
What CPM Plus apps actually use it though?
Quote from: JonB on 17:42, 19 September 19
What CPM Plus apps actually use it though?
Why should I care? My own apps can use it.
A general question for the benefit of Geoff and others who might be considering this upgrade.
Of, course. :) IMHO the software will come as soon as the hardware is available. :)
Is that the sound of a gauntlet being thrown down, I wonder?
;)
Thanks for the kind feedback chaps. :-)
Certainty I would hope some might find this a good starting point for their own projects, sadly as I'm out of funds I doubt I'll be perusing any of the designs I recently posted hence the reason for sharing.
To reiterate this is wholly untested so if anyone does have a go PLEASE be sure to check the design VERY carefully BEFORE making one.
All the best,C.