Catweasel as df0 in WinUAE

[Borg_Number_One]

Hi.


I have got a catweasel MK4 (with latest installed drivers) and it works really fine.

Well, because:
a) the catweasel utility: " imagetool " still does not support extended ADF or SoftPress disk images (CAPS disk images)
b)
the stored data on floppy disks do not exist/work for ever and can be lost in future

... I would like to know, if it is possible to mount floppy drives ( which are connected with the Catweasel ) as df0: in WinUAE.

This would make it possible to use X-Copy or Softpres / Caps disk dumping utility with WinUAE and Catweasel.

It would be great, if such a feature could be added to next WinUAE versions.

Maybe in this way:

[Pulldown menu for df0:]
--c:\xxx\yyy.adf--
--c:\xxx\abc.adf--
--c:\xxx\123.adf--
...
--c:\xxx\xyz.adf--
---catweasel:drive0---
---catweasel:drive1---
---catweasel:drive2---
---catweasel:drive3---

[Toni Wilen]

Search other catweasel-related threads. CWMK4 core _still_ lacks the needed features for direct DF0: support.

[xenepp]

I had no idea this was the case, I've just wasted all that money on a Catweasel for this very purpose.

Why will they not update the core for this? Surely it what most people would want it for?

I'd have kept using the Amiga>PC transfer system if I knew this.

-Joel

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

CWMK4 core _still_ lacks the needed features for direct DF0: support.

I cannot see that changing, ever!

Jens Schoenfeld is now doing Clone-A which is almost certainly taking up all his free time.

With the "Catweasel core" being his "long hard work" over many years I cannot see him open-sourcing the VHDL/Verilog for the FPGA any time soon.

Seems a bit of a con for him to launch such a board with the promise of core updates and then never deliver on them.

[xenepp]

That's the bit that's kinda got me. Though I've only just got a Catweasel, I know how long it's been about and I swear I remember someone boasting about how their Catweasel setup sounds awsome with WinUAE. That's why I bought it.

Silly me.

-Joel

[ceztko]

Originally Posted by xenepp

That's the bit that's kinda got me. Though I've only just got a Catweasel, I know how long it's been about and I swear I remember someone boasting about how their Catweasel setup sounds awsome with WinUAE. That's why I bought it.

Silly me.

-Joel

Sent them an e-mail and report to us. It seems it's only a firmware problem (basically, the catweasel 4 has the same firmware of the catweasel III, retaining the same functionality of the older version...).

[xenepp]

I emailed them yesterday to see if there would be a firmware update in the future, we'll have to wait and see I guess.

-Joel

[Dwyloc]

Originally Posted by alexh

I cannot see that changing, ever!

Jens Schoenfeld is now doing Clone-A which is almost certainly taking up all his free time.

With the "Catweasel core" being his "long hard work" over many years I cannot see him open-sourcing the VHDL/Verilog for the FPGA any time soon.

Seems a bit of a con for him to launch such a board with the promise of core updates and then never deliver on them.

I have owned a Catweasel mk4 for more than a year now and I am quite happy with it. The drivers have improved quite allot since it was first released and there have been a number of driver updates which updated the FPGA. Which anyone who has downloaded the drivers and read the included readme's would know

In fact they have just released an a driver update the which updates the firmware the other day. See http://www.jschoenfeld.com/news/news124_e.htm for more details.

I am not saying its perfect but I have used it to backup over 100 disks and also to write a number of ASF images back to disk to use on my A1200 so it dose work.

DF0 emulation under winUAE would be very nice as I would love to be able to create CAPS images from my PC, but I would not use DF0 support every day.

[xenepp]

From the latest update:

and a few files for developers have been added to the archive, so direct access to disks is possible for other programs

Well that looks pretty interesting.

-Joel

[Toni Wilen]

a few files for developers have been added to the archive, so direct access to disks is possible for other programs

This does not have anything to do with direct floppy data streaming that is needed for useful direct DF0: support.

It is "only" about API changes that makes it easier for other applications to use Catweasel floppy.

[whiteb]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

This does not have anything to do with direct floppy data streaming that is needed for useful direct DF0: support.

It is "only" about API changes that makes it easier for other applications to use Catweasel floppy.

Oh, okay so that would not help Fiath and Company with being able to support writing CAPS images back then ?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by whiteb

Oh, okay so that would not help Fiath and Company with being able to support writing CAPS images back then ?

No. Hardware is still the same. It only makes accessing the floppy hardware easier, it does not magically add new hardware features.

[ceztko]

Originally Posted by xenepp

I emailed them yesterday to see if there would be a firmware update in the future, we'll have to wait and see I guess.

-Joel

Did they answer you eventually?