Hello

has anybody connected a disk drive to a 6502 project? I ve been looking for info on this but I cant find anything. ie what disk controller chip to use..that sort of thing..can anybody help me??? Guide me?

Ralph

Try WALLYDANIELS. He's a great guy. Unfortunately his last visit to this forum appears to have been June 13th. He's done it. I suggested he post tips here about the disc drive interfacing and about the WDC 65134 and 65265 microcontrollers he has worked with, but he didn't think anyone here would be very interested. Let him know you are.

Garth

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Thanks. Will do!

That would be really cool to be able to use removable media like floppys.

Unfortunately, we would also have to use a DOS-type filesystem for it to be really useful. But, if we could do that, you could log data to a floppy file, and just copy it over to your PC to look at.....

very cool

Tony

Compatibility with DOS/Windows computers (or any other major type on the market) may or may not have any real benefit. Learn whatever you can from others who have done similar projects, and then do whatever works best for you.

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Has anyone done any work with removable smart-media cards used with MP-3 and digital cameras? They are small and can be read through USB devices by most PC's.

Daryl

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Please visit my website -> https://sbc.rictor.org/

the compact Flash (CF) units are ATA compatable, aren't they?? I think they make an adapter to use them in PCMCIA card slots, and the adapters are REALLY simple.

Tony

Do you have any references for making such adapters? I haven't found anything during my recent searches.

Daryl

_________________
Please visit my website -> https://sbc.rictor.org/

I think if you do a search for the compact flash specs and the IDE specs, the pin-outs are very similar. The adapters I saw in a store were PCMCIA card 'frames' with a connector for the PC side, and a connector for the CF card side. between them was just a circuit board. I think the PCMCIA connector is a modified IDE interface, and the CF card connector is slightly modified PCMCIA.

SOMEONE correct me if I'm wrong here...

tony

In my own searches a few months back, I found that the various cards available were extremely expensive for the amount of memory you get. However, if you don't need a standard card or compatibility with PCs or whatever, you can use something like Atmel's AT45DB642 8Mx8 serial Dataflash IC which Digi-Key sells for $45.65 for one piece (page 331 of the Sep-Dec '01 catalog). Even though it runs on 2.7 to 3.6 volts, the I/O is compatible with 5V logic. You'll need a TSOP-to-DIP adapter if you want to use wire-wrapping. I got the Aries 32-655000-10 from Mouser.

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Here is some information:

The WD1772 floppy controller is used in:
ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/cbm/schematics/drives/new/1581/

http://www.6502.org/users/andre/csa/index.html

The Compact Flash specifications can be found at:
http://www.compactflash.org
3M makes CF connectors, http://www.3m.com

CF and SmartMedia cards can be cheaper and easier to find than the Atmel 45DB serial dataflash chips.

> CF and SmartMedia cards can be cheaper and easier
> to find than the Atmel 45DB serial dataflash chips.

Digi-Key's prices on SmartMedia are lower, but both are in stock. SmartMedia however will require more hardware to interface. This appears to always be the case for parallel-interface flash.

The Digi-Key catalog lists the Atmel 8Mx8 serial Dataflash at $45; but the Panasonic 8Mx8 flash PC card (PCMCIA) is $146 on page 348 of the Sep-Dec '01 catalog. This is typically what I have found.

For parts that a few distributors like Digi-Key, Mouser, Allied, and Newark do not stock, I'm finding that it can indeed be difficult to buy specialized memory types in small quantities. I thought I had just found a source for Mosaic (Apta Group) battery-backable 2Mx8 SRAM in a 36-pin DIP, and then found that there's a 100-piece minimum order at $85/each! (The Dallas part with the integral non-replaceable lithium battery is $225.) I decided to make my own by stacking 4 512Kx8's on a DIP header and standing a 74HC139 on the end to select the right one based on A19 and A20. It will be tall, but an acceptable solution for just a few pieces.

Something else I want to try for really compact 6502 workbench computer operating system storage is putting a 24512 64Kx8 serial EEPROM in an 8-pin DIP onto an 8- or 10-position dual-row pin header. I'll probably try to figure out a way to make it hot-pluggable, but the whole thing would fit in under 3/4" square! The 24512 is still pretty new and not easy to find yet; but I've had no trouble getting the 32Kx8 24256. They're around $5 or $6 each in singles.

> The Compact Flash specifications can be found at:

> http://www.compactflash.org

The Compact Flash organization will only give the specification out to members.

Garth

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

>>The Compact Flash organization will only give the specification out to members.

Is that true? I downloaded a PDF file from their site that may not be the actual spec, but explains just about everything that you need in a 104 page document. It is revision 1.4, so it IS probably an old version of the spec....

Tony