On Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Brian Lanning wrote: Brian, I've done something similar with my Amiga 2000. I'm using a SCSI-IDE bridge connected to an IDE-CF adapter. Works great. I'm using a Focus IDE controller in my IIe to run my bbs (telnet://aor.retroarchive.org). I'm using a ProDOS formatted 128MB CF card instead of a drive though. What OS rev has drivers for the USB card and ethernet controller? I would love to have the ability to put my A2000 on the net. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Brian Lanning wrote: I found the SCSI-IDE bridges on eBay for $30 each. I think the IDE-CF adapter (made so you can mount it in a slot opening in a pc case) was $7. Thanks for the links Brian. I'll have to go digging. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Joachim Thiemann <joachim.thiemann at gmail.com> wrote: That's starting to sound like a backwards version of this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Amiga-500-1000-2000-3000-Floppy-Simulator-w-MPDOS-Pro_W… I've also seen a gadget for the c64 (or was it an apple 2e?) that connects the serial port to a PC. You run some software on the PC which then looks like a hard drive to the old computer. Like a file server over a serial connection. brian

Joachim, for the non-IDE-Equipped amigas, I think a better approach would be a bootable IDE interface, which has schematics on the net, isn't all that complicated and would free you from the dammed diskette booting. CF cards are all-IDE compatible and easy to interface.

Joachim> But at the expense of convenience, the SDHC parport Joachim> interface would be super simple and thus cheap. In fact, Joachim> the minimal implementation would require: - DB25 parport Joachim> plug - protoboard - 6 resistors - a way to connect a SD card Joachim> (could be soldering pins directly to a SD-microSD converter Joachim> and one can still swap microSD cards) - some wire ... I'm not sure about "super simple". I think SD cards have an MMC compability mode that's pretty simple (I2C, or SPI, one of those). But that's a legacy ultra-slow interface. The "real" SD interface is a 25 Mbit/second (or 50 Mbit/second in high speed mode) packet oriented serial interface. Yes, you can construct those packets in software, but you can't do bitwiggling in software at those kind of clock speeds... paul

Brian Lanning wrote: I've seriously contemplated making my own matching memory expansion module for my VXL/30 A500 cpu accelerator. Fairly complicated because I have to create a DRAM controller. Thinking FGPA w/ a pre-made memory controller core. Yeah, it's absolutely amazing what prices those things command. I'd love to get a back-up A500 accelerator board. I've been buying/collecting all types of amiga documentation. I've been trying to really figure how it works --- alot of stuff happening inside that computer from 20+ years ago. I've made an external usb amiga floppy drive controller. Attaches to USB on PC and a regular 34-pin floppy drive -- creates .ADFs for archiving, emulators, etc. Fun project. It's prototyped and not easily/cost effectively reproducible. But lots of fun. Keith

Paul Koning wrote: Yeah, that's actually what I had in mind.(and probably didn't say) Xilinx has their Memory Interface Generator which is part of their coregen IP. That works on several different FPGAs. I've tried the MIG generated stuff, and some opencores ones too. Unfortunately, I've been unable to make any of them work with my Spartan 3E starter kit -- even though several of them are explicitly written for that platform. This is mainly due to my lack of experience and knowledge than it does to the quality of the cores. I'm still banging away. I'd really like a simple straightforward interface to read/write data to the onboard DDR. Thanks Keith

Something I could never understand: Why not using SRAM? We have tens of megabytes of SRAM today for cheap - useless pentium cache memory. And even SRAM chips, I have a 2MByte chip that costs almost nothing. Why all the hassle of using slow and refresh-dependent DRAM if SRAM is so easy to use?!

Keith> Alexandre Souza wrote: Keith> Alexandre, Keith> I haven't ruled out SRAM. As a matter of fact, it was my Keith> first choice. It just seems like SRAM (and memory in general) Keith> is somewhat hard to buy new in the right form factor and in Keith> low quantities. What is "right formfactor"? Keith> I'd prefer something that is wide, 32-bits, or I could use two Keith> 16's. And I need 8mb. And it needs to be fast. The memory Keith> would need to be faster than 60ns. I'll be losing time Keith> through the fpga, so faster memory is definitely a plus. Keith> I've looked at digikey, mouser, newark, and I can't seem to Keith> find memory that fits the bill. 8 Mbit or 8 MByte? Digikey mentions Cypress sync SRAM, 512k by 36, that' 18 Mbit, $30 quantity 1. Or 256k by 36 (9 Mbit), $16 quantity one. Those are TQFP-100 packages, which are easy enough to hand-solder if you're careful and a good magnifying glass, fine tip iron, and thin solder. As I recall, several of the FPGA eval boards (Xilinx Virtex, for one) come with sync SRAM. paul

Keith> Paul Koning wrote: Keith> Fairly easy package for hobbyists to work with -- and the Keith> proper tech specs as mentioned. TQPF fits that test in my book... Keith> 8 megabytes. Keith> I have the Spartan 3E that comes with DDR DRAM. The older 3 Keith> board comes with 1 megabyte of SRAM. Keith> I haven't seen a reasonably priced FPGA eval board with enough Keith> SRAM to do the trick. I can believe that; chances are that it would come with one chip, and you can't get 8 MB SRAM in one chip. If you're willing to build your own board, you could put 4 of the 512kx36 SSSRAMs I mentioned onto a board. It could probably be a daughterboard, to plug into an FPGA eval board that has an expansion connector. (If that doesn't work, life gets harder because you may not be able to get a decent FPGA in a package other than BGA. I don't know about you, but I draw the line there for hobbyist projects...) I'm still sorting through this for a project I'm working on that needs 2 M x 60 bit memory... that seems to be too much for sane SRAM. Fortunately I can cope with DRAM latencies there. paul

Brian Lanning wrote: Coincidentally, I'm readying an Ethernet cartridge for the C64/C128 this week for production: www.jbrain.com/vicug/gallery/nic/ It's jumper configurable (since this crowd loves jumpers) to allow a theoretical maximum of 16 ethernet cards in a C64 :-) (theoretically, since I'm not sure what the point would be, and the bus would degrade too far after a few carts). I can definitely see value in 2 carts, though: C64 firewall :-) (or 3 cards, with a Internal, External, and DMZ segments...) Jim

On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 2:56 AM, Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote: It's sounding like I just need to watch ebay for a scsi to ide bridge at the right price. I think hard drive manufacturers assume scsi drives will be in noisy server rooms instead of people's livingrooms. I think this results in quieter, i don't know what, bearings maybe, in the drives. Maybe it's the drive motors. Maybe more reliable drive motors are just noisier for some reason. I'm switching to CF for all my old machines and SSD for my new machines as soon as it's practical. brian

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Keith wrote: How about a gadget that'll let me use a VGA display with an Amiga 2000 that won't cost an arm and a leg? :) g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

Gene Buckle wrote: Gene, A rather convoluted thread but there's one that Roy??? has been working on that is or is close to being released. http://www.amiga.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=flat&topic_id… Ballpark price $65 Keith

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 4:10 PM, Gene Buckle <geneb at deltasoft.com> wrote: if it's external, it will work on any of the amigas, assuming it works that is. brian

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Jim Leonard wrote: The problem there is the $200 part. :) Just not in the budget right now. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

It is something proprietary. All boxes with the StI5518 chip shares more or less the same software.

An extense list...google it!

Keith wrote: In some respects, it's required, as the old technology disappears or becomes hard to use. I've done a few such projects for the C64: C=Key: A converter that allows one to use PS/2 keyboards (including the much loved Model M) on your C64/128/VIC/etc. uIEC: Use CF and/or SD cards as drives on your CBM machine. Jim -- Jim Brain, Brain Innovations (X) brain at jbrain.com Dabbling in WWW, Embedded Systems, Old CBM computers, and Good Times! Home: http://www.jbrain.com

you're wrong. there is true abandonware. if a company dies and no one picks up the parts, the copyrights (owned by the company) lapse. and when you work for a company, any code you write is typically owned by the company (you lose all rights to it). "typically". you could say theres a provision of 25 years, but when the entity ceases to exist, and no holders remain, this is not the case. unless the author had special provisions in their contract or worked something out before the company died, or someone picked it up, it's free game. maybe it doesn't happen a lot, but there were literally HUNDREDS of companies that disappeared without a trace, registered only to a PO box, and not to a person. I will gladly "make available" code by a c64 software company called "MMI" (Magnetic Manipulations Inc.) if anyone wants it... go ahead, sue me... Dan. _________________________________________________________________ Share photos with friends on Windows Live Messenger http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9650734

And if there are no creditors? If the company ceases to exist because nobody pays the annual (or whatever) fees for its maintenance, without creditors, what happens to its assets? (I'm not trying to argue either side of this question; I'm just curious about something that appears to me to be an interesting corner case.) Copyright violation - even if that's what this is, a poin ton which I am deliberately not chipping in - is not theft. Speaking as though it is (using words like "stealing" for it) does not help anyone, possibly excepting those (such as IP lawyers) who profit from the resulting confusion, and certainly does nothing to incline readers believe your other assertions. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

Heh. Actually, in an attempt to forestall a reaction I've had when making that point in other places: I didn't say there was nothing wrong with it; I said it is not theft, and that using language based on equating the two merely further confuses an already confused area. (The reaction I'm trying to forestall is the "oh, so you think there's nothing wrong with [...sketch of copyright violation, usually further conflating it with theft...], hmm?" one.) /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Dan Gahlinger wrote: Even if there were such a thing as "abandonware", it would CERTAINLY not be applicable without making a "good faith" effort to find the rightful owner. That does NOT mean just the yellow pages and Google. Where was Magnetic Manipulations Inc. incorporated? (THAT is what the Inc means). Who filed the articles of incorporation? Don't know? -- then you never had any intent of making a good faith effort to find the owner, and "abandonware" is merely a euphemism for theft from those who aren't right there to stop you.

Dan Gahlinger wrote: No, there is not. And I'm going to qualify this statement by dropping the bomb that I created the modern form of Abandonware. I was not only one of the original members of the first "ring", but I created the public infrastructure that evolved into what you recognize as typical abandonware today (ie. a public presence with decent websites, search engines, and linked networks; had I not done this, the name "Abandonware" and its concept would have died in the internal underground network we had). I also hold the dubious honor of being the first website that the then-named IDSA sent a cease-and-desist letter to shut down. (Which I complied with.) I never liked the term Abandonware because it's not a legal concept; it's a dreamer's concept. I was always in favor of changing the name of our ring to "oldwarez", because that was not only technically correct, but had the right spirit (we were going to preserve history whether companies liked it or not). Obviously, I never got the name changed. Copyrights are inherent, and inherited. When a company goes under, their assets are picked up by the creditors, typically a bank. They are always owned by someone... ...unless they are explicitly dismissed and given away, like in the case of Polarware / Penguin Software. The owner of the company declared all the old tools ("Graphics Magician") and games ("Transylvania", etc.) public domain and offers them freely on his Penguin Software history website. But that is not "abandonware" -- that is public domain. There is no such thing (legally) as "abandonware". Copyright is 75 years, but that is not necessarily what protects things. Intellectual Property Rights is what you should be learning about. Go look it up. I wrote an article about all of this for MobyGames; it's dated, but it's here if you would like to read it: http://www.mobygames.com/featured_article/feature,7/ (Yes, I consulted actual lawyers.) BTW, I founded MobyGames too. MobyGames was my effort to get as close to the historical appreciation aspect of what the abandonware movement partially stood for, without offering illegal downloads. -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/