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Anyone Selling XT-IDE Cards?

In case anyone is wondering, this is the deep cyan I'm using:

g31Tioj.jpg


This is of course the prototype base board for the 20 mA current loop converter project.
 
Would it be possible to change the PCB so it's more conducive for use as a hard card? I'd be using this in a Compaq Portable and would prefer to mount the HDD in the expansion slot area, keeping both original floppies.

Perhaps the easiest way would be to have an option for hardcard buyers... make the PCB full length and add mounting holes in the long section?

-J
 
compu_85 said:
Would it be possible to change the PCB so it's more conducive for use as a hard card? I'd be using this in a Compaq Portable and would prefer to mount the HDD in the expansion slot area, keeping both original floppies.

Perhaps the easiest way would be to have an option for hardcard buyers... make the PCB full length and add mounting holes in the long section?
Click to expand...

See this writeup: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2010/12/16/xtide

Adding a bunch of blank space for mounting a hard drive would add a lot of cost to the board. Using an industrial Flash module keeps the board compact, draws significantly less power (important for systems like the IBM 5150 PC with its original low wattage supply), and then you don't have to worry about a mechanical hard disk, especially in a portable machine. Personally I use an XT-IDE with industrial Flash module in my Leading Edge Model D, which lets me keep both floppy drives and not worry about overloading its supply.

I'll be selling various capacities of industrial Flash modules as an option for these, too.
 
Trixter said:
It just dawned on me, this won't work on dodgy systems like the AT&T PC 6300. If the "Chuck Mod" is permanent, then this board has no chance of working in those systems, does it?
Click to expand...

Correct. You will have to use it as a rev 1 card (i.e. compatible mode). However, it is possible to add yet another transfer mode to the BIOS but it wouldn't be much faster than using the existing compatible mode. Also, this additional transfer mode would really only be needed if you absolutely must use a normal harddrive since, when using CF media, you should be able to use other types of controllers such as the XT-CF or even a regular 16-bit IDE controller. And of course, with memory mapped I/O controllers such as the ADP50 there is no problem at all regardless of drive type.
 
Final design, as submitted to the manufacturer:

74HieR6.png


Final design changes:

- Extra LED output using a spare inverter from the 74LS04
- Few component value tweaks
- Added layer for hard gold plating on edge connector

Should have prototype boards in hand in about a week.
 
Glitch

Are the design files for the board available from anywhere I'd like to take a look at them if possible.

Cheers.

Phill.
 
prime said:
Are the design files for the board available from anywhere I'd like to take a look at them if possible.
Click to expand...

The full project will be hosted on GitHub, I just need to set up a repository and get the file structure cleaned up.

Prototype boards should be in today!
 
Boards arrived today!

6K2jnpa.jpg


One slight problem -- KiCad apparently changed cathode designations on diodes and LEDs between the version that the rev 2 board schematic was created with, and the new KiCad libs. So the LED is backwards on the silkscreen. I also eliminated a discrete resistor by using a spare from one of the resistor packs. Other than that, it works!

As you can see from the picture, the board house I do prototype runs with wasn't able to do selective hard gold for the edge connector. I'm getting quotes from a few of the production shops I've used in the past, including PCBCart, which I believe is who did the rev 2 run. I'll probably remove the unused ISA fingers to save on plating costs.
 
GitHub repo created/current work pushed:

https://github.com/glitchwrks/xt_ide

Wouldn't recommend making boards from those Gerbers yet. There were no authors/contributors listed on the old KiCad project from the rev 2 board, which is what I started with. If you worked on it and would like your name added, please contact me, or send a pull request.
 
glitch said:
Isn't he selling the XT-CF rather than the full XT-IDE?
Click to expand...


That is correct. I'm selling the XT-IDE CF rev 3 cards from lo tech.

I have however just 2 days ago built the full XT-IDE version from lo tech for myself:

WP_20160514_001.jpgWP_20160514_002.jpg

I can say that the PCB's are absolutely top notch. If someone is interested in the lo tech version of the full XT-IDE i can build a small batch of them. Price of course would be a little higher than XT-IDE CF due to the component count being almost triple and higher PCB cost too.

Not to too my own horn but unlike sellers on eBay i don't cut any corners when making my cards. All functionality is to be included by installing even the optional parts. I believe that the functionality provided by the extra components (activity LED, slot 8, ROM address space selection) are really important. I like to use my XT-IDE cards on slot 8, as it allows me to save other slot for other stuff that won't work on slot 8.
 
CarlosTex said:
I like to use my XT-IDE cards on slot 8, as it allows me to save other slot for other stuff that won't work on slot 8.
Click to expand...

That's probably something worthwhile to add to the XT-IDE rev 3. I'll see what that will take, tack it onto the current proto boards, and work it into the final rev 3 board.
 
CarlosTex said:
If someone is interested in the lo tech version of the full XT-IDE i can build a small batch of them. Price of course would be a little higher than XT-IDE CF due to the component count being almost triple and higher PCB cost too.
Click to expand...
Can you provide an estimate of the actual price for your finished card? I'm interested but I can't assemble one myself.

I asked glitch last week but he failed to respond.
 
Stone said:
Can you provide an estimate of the actual price for your finished card? I'm interested but I can't assemble one myself.

I asked glitch last week but he failed to respond.
Click to expand...

I do not want to speak out of turn, but in an e-mail he sent me (messages have been falling through the cracks, so I don't believe he is intentionally being ignorant of requests) that the estimated cost of a fully assembled card was approximately $100 U.S.
 
lyonadmiral said:
I do not want to speak out of turn, but in an e-mail he sent me (messages have been falling through the cracks, so I don't believe he is intentionally being ignorant of requests) that the estimated cost of a fully assembled card was approximately $100 U.S.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Daniel.

BTW, I made the request in a thread he had posted in, not in an email or PM:

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?52487-IDE-CF-adapter&p=413088#post413088

Maybe he missed that post.
 
Stone said:
I asked glitch last week but he failed to respond.
Click to expand...

Sorry, been super busy with this project, as well as day-job work! I must've missed your question. Typically in the past I've sold the rev 2 boards for $100 assembled or $85 if the buyer didn't want the UART bits. I'm hoping to offer the rev 3 to *hobbyists* at $85 each, assembled, but it will depend on what kitting up actually costs. I'd previously been running from stocks of ICs that were basically surplus from other day-job billable work so I don't have a solid figure on what the parts kits will cost right this moment.

Assembled of course really means "assembled and tested."
 
Stone said:
You say UART. Did this have a serial port as well?
Click to expand...

The rev 2 board had a built-in UART for "bare metal" booting. I've had very few (none?) people request it be populated. As such, I removed it from the rev 3 board entirely. The UART was not usable as a COM port under DOS, strictly for booting. You could've used it with customized software, of course.
 
glitch said:
That's probably something worthwhile to add to the XT-IDE rev 3. I'll see what that will take, tack it onto the current proto boards, and work it into the final rev 3 board.
Click to expand...

All this and the bus MUX timing has been solved already by my board which is available already.

The nice feature of the XTIDE R2 project is the serial boot, which can be used for file transfer between machines as well.
 
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