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KAYPRO and KayFreHD as a hard disk module

I'm not the least familiar with the KayPlus ROM, but there are at least two different harddisk layouts (high level formatting) used by Kaypro ROMS, and they are not compatible. I'm not sure I have a detailed scenario where that could cause the symptoms you see, but it may be that the KayPlus ROM does not use the same layout and thus requires that you format when switching ROMs. The Kaypro 10 ROM I used was 81-302, which has a totally incompatible harddisk layout compared to the 81-478 "Universal" ROM. It may not be possible to format the harddisk under the Kaypro ROM and use it on the KayPlus ROM (without reformatting).
 
Alphasite said:
I decided to try to get the Kayplus ROM working on my 10/83 with the SWP CO-POWER II board. I burned a 2764 EPROM and installed it in the 10/83 with the mods noted in the Kayplus manual. The Kaypro starts up and I can boot from floppy.

I had errors when I tried to format HD 1. I copied hard4-1 to hard4-0 and then tried again and it could see both drives and allowed me to format and verify both.

What I'm running into now is when I boot from floppy I can't access the hard drives. If I do a "DIR B:" the FreHD LED flashes but I get a BDOS error. I get a BDOS error and the FreHD LED doesn't flash.

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?

I had the FreHD working just fine with the original 10/83 ROM. If I can't get this working then I'll try the TurboROM but I liked the idea of the RAMdisk in the SWP board working automatically with the Kayplus ROM.
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Alphasite, the thread has on a bunch of different postings stating you need to use the Advent ROm, not the kayplus Rom. The kayplus Rom isnt supported at the present time.
 
VERAULT said:
Alphasite, the thread has on a bunch of different postings stating you need to use the Advent ROm, not the kayplus Rom. The kayplus Rom isnt supported at the present time.
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I asked about it earlier. See jaquinn's response in post #107. With the Kayplus ROM it should be able to see the FreHD and install to it. Since the Kayplus has a much larger set of supported features I thought I'd load it up and see if I could figure out what was causing the issues with running some programs with the Kayplus ROM installed.
 
OK, I'm in. I want this too. After pulling apart two K10s that had failed hard disk drives, and having no luck with Low Level Formats, etc. it's time for the FreHD. I'm a bit late to the party here, but I've just received my 2nd FreHD (first one is on my TRS-80 M4) and I've ordered that Kaypro board which I should have in the next week. I hear the next step is to get the disk images to boot from for the FreHD? Is there anything further I should be considering here? These are original K10s that I have - no ROM upgrades etc. Appreciate any tips & suggestions here.
 
k0d3g3ar said:
OK, I'm in. I want this too. After pulling apart two K10s that had failed hard disk drives, and having no luck with Low Level Formats, etc. it's time for the FreHD. I'm a bit late to the party here, but I've just received my 2nd FreHD (first one is on my TRS-80 M4) and I've ordered that Kaypro board which I should have in the next week. I hear the next step is to get the disk images to boot from for the FreHD? Is there anything further I should be considering here? These are original K10s that I have - no ROM upgrades etc. Appreciate any tips & suggestions here.
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When I did the FreHD in my Kaypro I used a Turbo ROM. But I just put my original stock 81-302 ROM back in and it started right up. So your original ROM should be fine. You just won't get any of the extra capabilities that come with the Advent Turbo ROM.
 
djones1960 said:
When I did the FreHD in my Kaypro I used a Turbo ROM. But I just put my original stock 81-302 ROM back in and it started right up. So your original ROM should be fine. You just won't get any of the extra capabilities that come with the Advent Turbo ROM.
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Thank you for the feedback. Yes, I'm fine with stock ROM on this. I'm just looking to revitalize this old beast so I can use it for a book authoring project in Perfect Writer that I plan on doing. I just need something a bit more reliable than a 35+ yr old hard drive to store the files (and yes, of course I'll have backups :))

I got the FreHD from Ian Mavrick and got the boards in from OSH. Do you know where there is a parts list for the components for the board? How did you go about building that yourself?

K
 
So I'm very late to this thread, but I recently picked up a "Kaypro 4" which seems to actually have a Kaypro 10 motherboard inside (it says "Kaypro 10" onscreen during boot, and the pins at J9 on the motherboard are fully populated but not connected to anything). Is there anyone selling these KayFreHD boards anymore? I'd love to add some solid state storage to my new luggable!
 
wowbobwow said:
So I'm very late to this thread, but I recently picked up a "Kaypro 4" which seems to actually have a Kaypro 10 motherboard inside (it says "Kaypro 10" onscreen during boot, and the pins at J9 on the motherboard are fully populated but not connected to anything). Is there anyone selling these KayFreHD boards anymore? I'd love to add some solid state storage to my new luggable!
Click to expand...

I just ordered some board from OshPark and the chips and build up my own. The only tricky part is programing the chips. So might be easier to get a kit below.
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/ocyrewRG
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/8UOxQcmf

Has the FreHD boards and kits but need to use the Kaypro adapter board to make it work
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ianmav/trs80/emulator.htm
 
It seems this thread has been necro'd again. :)

After building a FreHD for my Model 4P, a Kaypro 2X came my way. Since I have some spare FreHD boards I thought I'd pop one in the Kaypro. My 2X motherboard has the 50 pin connector populated but is missing the components for the real time clock and the modem. I've ordered some of Geneb's adapter PCBs from OSHPARK and sourced some 2764's.

I've read the thread, but parts of it are confusing and so I have a couple of questions.

1) I see that Geneb's adaptor board has a power input. Does this need to be connected in addition to the power connection on the FreHD board or does the adaptor power the FreHD directly?

2) where the issues with the Kayplus boot ROM ever resolved or is the Advent ROM still the best option? If a 3rd party ROM is used does this require the use of different utilities for example to format a floppy disk?

3) How is the initial disc image built on the SD card? For the TRS-80 card images were already created and to make a new "HD" you just needed to copy an old one. How do you build that first image?

Thanks

Fletch
 
djones1960 said:
I just ordered some board from OshPark and the chips and build up my own. The only tricky part is programing the chips. So might be easier to get a kit below.
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/ocyrewRG
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/8UOxQcmf

Has the FreHD boards and kits but need to use the Kaypro adapter board to make it work
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ianmav/trs80/emulator.htm
Click to expand...

The URL provided for Ian Mavric does not respond. Anyone have a working link?
 
Has anyone made documentation explaining the process of adding the FReHD to the kaypro, or at least instructions for the software portion?
 
Alphasite said:
I checked again and I'm able to see the page, but I think there was an issue where one of the ISPs in the US having issues connecting to Mav's site. What is your ISP?
Click to expand...

burlingtontelecom.com

It's a rather small municipal fiber-to-premises ISP.

Update: For whatever reason, it's now working! Thanks.
 
Fletch said:
It seems this thread has been necro'd again. :)

After building a FreHD for my Model 4P, a Kaypro 2X came my way. Since I have some spare FreHD boards I thought I'd pop one in the Kaypro. My 2X motherboard has the 50 pin connector populated but is missing the components for the real time clock and the modem. I've ordered some of Geneb's adapter PCBs from OSHPARK and sourced some 2764's.

I've read the thread, but parts of it are confusing and so I have a couple of questions.

1) I see that Geneb's adaptor board has a power input. Does this need to be connected in addition to the power connection on the FreHD board or does the adaptor power the FreHD directly?

2) where the issues with the Kayplus boot ROM ever resolved or is the Advent ROM still the best option? If a 3rd party ROM is used does this require the use of different utilities for example to format a floppy disk?

3) How is the initial disc image built on the SD card? For the TRS-80 card images were already created and to make a new "HD" you just needed to copy an old one. How do you build that first image?

Thanks

Fletch
Click to expand...

* I didn't power the adapter board.
* Used the Advent ROM in mine
* If I remember right. I used WinDD or something similar to to write a TRS-80 hard drive image to the SD card. Then I used the Kaypro boot disk to reformat it and load the software I wanted.
 
Years back I downloaded a bunch of information that involved a GAL change on the FreHD to change port address and a fairly complex piggyback adapter for the Kaypro. Is this GAL change required with the smaller board from OSH Park that's linked from this thread?

Can someone _please_ take a few minutes and explain the broad outlines of how a stock FreHD (from Ian Mavric) is used with a K10?
 
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