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Tandy 1400 Lo-Tech XT-CF Help

Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
15
Hello, this is my first time posting here.

I have a Tandy 1400LT computer, and I noticed that lo-tech had an XT-CF PCB. So, I made an order with Seeed, and linked them the .zip file on the Lo-Tech wiki, however, they got back to me saying the file was corrupted, and when I went to the file directly, it just redirects to a page: "Something went wrong".

I have sent Lo-Tech many e-mails about this, yet they are not responding at all. Is there anyone on here that can give me the files for the 1400 XT-CF PCB, or is there someone from Lo-tech here?

Thank you,

-abrahamstechnology
 
Not sure I follow...you go the BIOS and flash utility from here - https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/CompactFlash_Adapter_for_Tandy_1400_Laptops and it was corrupted?

Sounds like you can use the generic XT-IDE Universal BIOS, don't necessarily need their version of the files.

I picked up one of those boards a couple of years ago now...never have gotten around to building it - really should some day!

Wesley
 
Not sure I follow...you go the BIOS and flash utility from here - https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/CompactFlash_Adapter_for_Tandy_1400_Laptops and it was corrupted?

Sounds like you can use the generic XT-IDE Universal BIOS, don't necessarily need their version of the files.

I picked up one of those boards a couple of years ago now...never have gotten around to building it - really should some day!

Wesley

The problem is I don't have the PCB Gerber file itself, and I already made an order with Seed.
 
It sounds like OP is trying to run his own *boards* from the Lo-tech design, at Seeed Studio. AFAIK Lo-tech/James Pearce does not actually release the board design files for any of his projects.
 
Did you ever make any progress with this? I just got a 1400LT as well and, while the floppies are fun, it would be nice to have an easier way to move files to/from the machine.
 
But according to twistedpneumatic, it only works with the Tandy 1400FD and 1400HD, not the 1400LT.
 
I think I tried that board with my 1400 (pretty sure they were LT) and couldn't get it to work.
 
Hmm.. I may give it a try anyway. I'll price out the components and see what the final cost will be before deciding.
 
I was able to pick up one of these board pre-made for my 1400LT and I can't see how to make it work.

The CF card is there. I just grabbed an unused 128MB card.
The board is in the expansion slot.

But when I boot, the computer's normal Phoenix ROM fires up and goes. There's nothing in the BIOS for a hard drive config (no surprise).

I can't find any documentation about how to get my computer to see it.
 
I was able to pick up one of these board pre-made for my 1400LT and I can't see how to make it work.
Did you get it from TexElec? He said no one had tried the card in the 1400LT, but offered to assemble one for me so I could try it in mine.

It's possible that the 1400LT doesn't recognize option ROMs on the expansion card slot. If that's the case, you'd need to either use a boot disk with a small program to execute the XT-CF card's ROM code, or patch the 1400LT's ROM to do so.
 
Did you get it from TexElec? He said no one had tried the card in the 1400LT, but offered to assemble one for me so I could try it in mine.

It's possible that the 1400LT doesn't recognize option ROMs on the expansion card slot. If that's the case, you'd need to either use a boot disk with a small program to execute the XT-CF card's ROM code, or patch the 1400LT's ROM to do so.

I got it off of eBay already assembled. But I think you are correct.

I do remember reading something about having to boot from a floppy and do something more to make it run in a 1400LT, but I can't find that link anywhere. 8(
 
Hey. I just got it from the guy who made it for me. As is though, since he doesn't have 1400
It doesn't read any flash. I tried 64, 138, 256 and 1Gb.
I thought information about you supposed to deactivate second floppy. Not sure if that's the case
But without any CF inside, computer is booting abd everything is OK
Wondering if I need to update the BIOS
 
But without any CF inside, computer is booting abd everything is OK
Wondering if I need to update the BIOS

I was looking at making this same upgrade, adding the Lo-Tech XT-CF card for the Tandy 1400 to my LT, and this thread caught my attention. It seems that no one has had success with this card on the LT model yet, correct? Since people are able to install the card it give me hope that the issue is not a system configuration one, but maybe the BIOS ROM you suggest.

The LT technical manual is widely available on the Internet - does anyone have a copy of the FD manual? I would like to confirm the similarity of these machines. If all it takes is a ROM swap, that would be great!
 
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