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8-Bit IDE Controller

Changing switches 5:8 should be harmless provided there isn't anything conflicting in memory at whatever address you land on. The memory address is simply where the ROM is placed in memory, and the mainboard BIOS will scan from C000 to F000 looking for ROMs to execute and does not effect the operation of the card. As long as there aren't any other devices using the memory you

The flash utility does expect the card to be at the default position, but you can change it easily enough in the menu settings.
You might check the XTIDE universal bios thread for more info on CF devices, and also check here in the test results section:
http://www.wiki.vintage-computer.com/index.php/XTIDE_TestResults
 
I just wanted to say thanks to all those who made this card possible! I just got my IDE card in my XT, and everything works great! I have it booting DOS 6.22 from an older SanDisk 256 MB CF card, and so far so good.

THANKS AGAIN!
 
Who do I have to contact to see if I can purchase some of these cards?
I contacted Hargle by PM but no reply yet... is he the person to contact?
 
Hi! I just reordered additional XT-IDE PCBs for builders. You can contact me at LYNCHAJ@YAHOO.COM and I will set you up. The PCBs should arrive in late (~28) Dec 2010 or so.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Hi Andrew,
Is that the full set of components I need to assemble it? I don't know if I can do the assemblage myself.. can you do it for me?
I think I'd like to have 3 pieces...
 
Hi! All I offer is the PCBs for hobbyist builders to assemble for themselves. There is no way I can assemble boards in addition to all the other projects I am involved with.

Fortunately the board is very easy to assemble and was designed with amateur hobbyist assembly in mind. The parts list and detailed instructions are on the vintage-computer.com wiki plus there are many builders here who will answer questions, provide moral support, etc. As a starter project it doesn't get much better than XT-IDE!

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Where do you live Gurby? I'd love to do this project again. Lots of repetitive soldering, I love it. :)

As for where to get parts, I got most of mine, pretty much all the logic and sockets and atmel eprom from futurlec.
 
Bugger. I'm in Australia, so international postage probably won't make it worth it.

But seriously, all you need is even the most basic solder station you can buy that has temperature adjustment and a very basic knowledge of soldering and just go for it. It's a good practice kit as it's all pin through soldering. :)
 
lynchaj said:
Hi! All I offer is the PCBs for hobbyist builders to assemble for themselves.
Click to expand...

I am so late to the party, but I want my very own XTIDE card!

I can solder and assemble mine, but am I right in understanding that lynchaj's offer is only of the PCB, and not of the components? Or is lynchaj offering both the PCB **and** the components needed for the buyer to assemble his very own XTIDE?
 
send me a PM and I'll get you in the queue.
I gather up the parts from mouser, jameco, and andrew, bundle it together and then sell kits and finished products.

I'm likely going to be ordering 10 more kits in the next few days (nothing will be done til after christmas though)
 
Pepinno said:
I am so late to the party, but I want my very own XTIDE card!

I can solder and assemble mine, but am I right in understanding that lynchaj's offer is only of the PCB, and not of the components? Or is lynchaj offering both the PCB **and** the components needed for the buyer to assemble his very own XTIDE?
Click to expand...

Hi! PCBs only. You get the rest and assemble.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Hi! Well, good news! I just received 20 new XT-IDE PCBs. They are $12 each plus $2 shipping in the US and $5 elsewhere. Please send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ@YAHOO.COM and I will send your PCBs right away!

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
I've been looking at the XTIDE project Wiki and at the schematics and code. I now have a blank PCB and will assemble it when I get round tuit.

But the design had me wondering about something...

I note that the 16 bit IDE register is accessed with 2 I/O instructions. Why not enable it to be accessed with a single one? On an 8 bit bus, the 8088 executes a 16-bit IN our OUT in two bus cycles (low-order from port and then high-order from port+1). It would seem to me that you could clock a flip-flop off of I/O accesses and note when the access to the low-order port occurs, and if the next access was to the high-order byte, to read or write it from the bus.

This would let the read instruction loop look like this:

Code: 
      IN      AX,DX
      STOSW

Which, I think would be substantially faster than simple byte-oriented I/O. On those CPUs (e.g. V20) that can support the 286 instruction set, this would be a single INSW.

What do you think?
 
Hi Chuck! Thanks! We could do something similar by manipulating the IO address decoder and using the inverter to make sure the two IO ports are adjacent in memory.

Here are some *untested* instructions on how to convert the basic XT-IDE board to a configuration that is DMA compatible.

As I understand it, to use DMA the IO ports need to be adjacent in the Intel LOHI format (little endian) for 16 bit access. Remapping the IO ports would be fairly simple with just 4 cuts and 5 jumpers.

Just cut the traces A3, A2, A1, and A0 as they come onto the ISA board.

A0 to A1
A1 to A2
A2 to A3

A0 is a special case because it has to be inverted. Fortunately there is a spare inverter.

Connect A0 to pin 13 of the 74LS04 pin 13 (input)
Connect 74LS04 pin 12 (output) to A3.

Solder directly to the pins on the back of the board. Alternatively you can solder directly to the pins on the chip. Just pull them out of the socket and fold them out straight and reinsert the chip in the socket.

The bad news is the modified board will not be backwards compatible with the current XT-IDE so there are some side effects. The first order of business of the software is to verify the new IO port mapping is working. That will require some quality time with DEBUG.

I think it is best since you are writing software that you have the modified board closest to you. If you are not comfortable with making the modifications I can do this a send it to you. Really this should not be a problem for you since the cuts and jumpers are pretty minimal.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Hi Andrew,

Thanks--I'll check the mods out when I get a chance. Yes, the ports do need to be adjacent in little-endian organization.

As I see things, the big bottleneck in the XTIDE is getting data in and out of the drive. Ultimately bus-mastering DMA will do the most for that, but is also the most complicated from an implementation standpoint.
 
Hi! Any news on this?

This weekend we've made some substantial progress on an ECB version of the GIDE. It will be slightly different in that it is made without GALs and interfaces to the ECB bus. It will support two separate IDE channels (4 drives total) and the RTC chip Tilmann used in the original design. The schematic and PCB layout are firming up and I'll send them out for review probably tonight. How this applies to XT-IDE is that if N8VEM has a dual GIDE design it could probably be adapted to XT ISA bus fairly easily.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
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No, no news and probably not for a month or so--other things take priority. But I'll get around to it eventually.

I've been watching advertisements and sales and note that PATA drives are getting to be thin on the ground--I've even seen Craigslist ads offering to swap SATA drives for PATA. Our neck of the woods has an aggressive recycling program, so that may be part of it. And it's been quite a while since I've seen a sale on a CF card, which makes me wonder if they're headed for obsolescence.

I'm not particularly concerned for myself--I still have MFM, ESDI and SCSI drives and controllers. But this might present a problem for some future hobbyist wanting to get his old iron going.

I'm just making an observation, not proposing anything.
 
I just got my kit in and i'm really REALLY impressed with the quality of the board.:D
 
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