• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

XTA CompactFlash for older systems?

A

acadiel

Experienced Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2009
Messages
287
I know we have the XT IDE, but we also have older systems like the 1100FD and HD that had IDE ports on them for XTA drives.

This webpage seems to indicate that CompactFlash can run in 8 bit IDE mode: http://www.waveguide.se/?article=8-bit-compact-flash-interface

Do we have any talent here that could possibly put a small AVR to write the registers and such to get the CF cards to come up in 8 bit mode so we can add drives back to older systems like the 1100?

Would also allow drop ins for other Tandy systems that had an XTA controller onboard as well without an XT-IDE:

* Tandy 1000 TL/2, TL/3, RLX, RLX-B
* Tandy 1000RL & RL-HD
* Tandy 1100 FD and HD
* IBM PS/1 Model 2011
* IBM PS/2 Model 25 and Model 30
 
I think the most promising solution is probably eeguru/Alan Hightower's NetPi-IDE adapter. As Chuck(G) said, just because CF cards can operate in 8-bit mode doesn't mean they're XTA compatible.
 
glitch said:
I think the most promising solution is probably eeguru/Alan Hightower's NetPi-IDE adapter. As Chuck(G) said, just because CF cards can operate in 8-bit mode doesn't mean they're XTA compatible.
Click to expand...

And I will see Alan on Saturday at the AHCS meeting. :) I'll ping him there!

There's been creative uses of the old 8 bit mode on CF cards. The TI-99/4A NanoPEB uses 8 bits on the CF, so it's essentially throwing half the storage away.

Shouldn't be that hard to make a signal translator (or likely simpler) to translate 8-bit XTA to an 8-bit CF card rather do multiplexing to 16 bit, etc.
 
I believe that there was a version XTIDE BIOS that used 8-bit transfer mode in a CF. You could hook a CF to the current integrated IDE and simply rework (or amend) the BIOS. That's simple and straightforward--requires no special hardware.
 
I've been delayed on working on the netpi-ide project for a while. I hope to get back to it soon. XTA should work without issue. Should be a minor tweak to the FPGA code and it should work with the current firmware.

What is a common machine that uses XTA I could acquire for cheap to test with?

And acadiel, who are you? Are you going to bring a XTA machine Saturday? If so, I'll bring what I need to test with.
 
eeguru said:
I've been delayed on working on the netpi-ide project for a while. I hope to get back to it soon. XTA should work without issue. Should be a minor tweak to the FPGA code and it should work with the current firmware.

What is a common machine that uses XTA I could acquire for cheap to test with?

And acadiel, who are you? Are you going to bring a XTA machine Saturday? If so, I'll bring what I need to test with.
Click to expand...

Hah, you know me. It's Jon. :)

I have a Tandy 1000 RLX that you're welcome to borrow that has an XTA drive in it while you're trying this. I'll bring it, the VGA cable (which has a pin cut out of it), and the keyboard.

The Tandy 1100/1110 also has a hard drive header for a 2.5" XTA 20MB drive on it as well. However, I think I need to get a copy of the 1110's BIOS to slap in my 1100 if I want to use the HDD port.
 
acadiel said:
Hah, you know me. It's Jon. :)

I have a Tandy 1000 RLX that you're welcome to borrow that has an XTA drive in it while you're trying this. I'll bring it, the VGA cable (which has a pin cut out of it), and the keyboard.

The Tandy 1100/1110 also has a hard drive header for a 2.5" XTA 20MB drive on it as well. However, I think I need to get a copy of the 1110's BIOS to slap in my 1100 if I want to use the HDD port.
Click to expand...

Ah, ok. Don't worry about accessories. I have a RSX that is similar. I just didn't realize the RLX was XTA.

I'm bringing you an EMS board Saturday as well.
 
If you sort out how to get the 1110/1100 working, I would be keenly interested, since I have a couple of these and only one 1110 that is working with the original hard drive.
 
The NetPi XTA possibility excites me. I had posted about it a few weeks back before realizing it had been mentioned several times on the forum so far.

I have a Tandy 1000 RLX/HD "B" that I'd love to be able to use the NetPi in. I don't want to sacrifice the one ISA slot for an XTIDE adapter :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top