Raspberry PI as a real Amiga Floppy Drive - Page 4

mram · 18 January 2014, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

All you need do is on the Eject event switch back to serving the floppy manager disk. Then the user resets the Amiga with CTRL+A+A. Just like they would had changed disks physically.

It is how actually works, if you CTRL+A+A and press both buttons (diskchange+savetosd) you go in floppy manager.

kipper2k · 18 January 2014, 15:24

With the price of SD cards so cheap now people could even use multiple SD cards that contain less directories that would also relieve the congestion. Normally after playing a game you have to reboot anyway so why not just put in the next SD card you want. It's a lot smaller than the floppies that would be required. The SD cards are easy to copy/clone so its easy to setup.

Also i think most of us have our favourite games so a favourites SD card could be setup so catering for hundreds/thousands of files is a possibility but for me i would probably create a few SD cards

kipper2k · 19 January 2014, 00:16

I fixed a few bugs, added the support circuits for DF2 and DF3 to the board and also reshaped it a little to support a switch(s) placed where the floppy eject button would normally sit

lukassid · 19 January 2014, 10:13

Bloody nicely coming along lads.

alexh · 19 January 2014, 10:34

Out of interest. How long does it take th Pi to boot on power on? Is it really 7 seconds?

mram · 19 January 2014, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

Out of interest. How long does it take th Pi to boot on power on? Is it really 7 seconds?

Because this is a bare-metal solution, the kernel is really little,~240KB, so it is loaded in less and started in less then 7 seconds, say "0 seconds". The rest of the time is initialization and SD directory reading, it takes 7 seconds or more depending in how many (thousands) disks you have.

kipper2k · 19 January 2014, 16:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by mram

Because this is a bare-metal solution, the kernel is really little,~240KB, so it is loaded in less and started in less then 7 seconds, say "0 seconds". The rest of the time is initialization and SD directory reading, it takes 7 seconds or more depending in how many (thousands) disks you have.

I think that is a good reason to make a "favourites" SD card to keep the rarely used games off it and keep the Directory lists small

tomcat666 · 19 January 2014, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by kipper2k

I think that is a good reason to make a "favourites" SD card to keep the rarely used games off it and keep the Directory lists small

How about adding directory support to it ?

It would solve all problems... and most people would like to sort their files in dirs instead of having all of them in the root...

mram · 20 January 2014, 04:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomcat666

How about adding directory support to it ?

It would solve all problems... and most people would like to sort their files in dirs instead of having all of them in the root...

Actually waiting 7 seconds on Amiga when it powers up doesn't seems to me a "problem". While breaking the list of disks in directories would be a nice option even if it is to be done manually, if you have 4000 disks, easy to navigate during "floppy manager" with keyboard/mouse/joystick, if you split in 20 directories of 200 disks it doesn't make so easy to navigate going up/down/inside/outside with an up/down buttons solution.
Better is to use the "floppy manager" or run an Amiga program in Workbench and navigate through the disks using the screen, the keyboard and the mouse.

mram · 20 January 2014, 05:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by kipper2k

I think that is a good reason to make a "favourites" SD card to keep the rarely used games off it and keep the Directory lists small

I don't think wait some seconds once on power up to scan all disks available can make a difference, also considering we are going to use a floppy drive which is "slow by nature"... While swapping SD, if really needed, could be a nice work
around for today, it can't be done on system running, it should be fixed in future software release.

tomcat666 · 21 January 2014, 09:03

Is there a possibility of the sources for the software to be released ? Would love to add stuff like directory support if the original author doesn't intend to update it further...

mram · 21 January 2014, 10:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomcat666

Is there a possibility of the sources for the software to be released ? Would love to add stuff like directory support if the original author doesn't intend to update it further...

"The original author" intends update it further, with it's (free) time.

tomcat666 · 21 January 2014, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by mram

"The original author" intends update it further, with it's (free) time.

Great

Satisfied. btw. GREAT work on the hardware and software. It is really good.

btw. a few of us had your PCB made and there are some problems on it. Some of the pads touch each other (not quite sure which ones since mine are still in the post) - so one needs to use a knife to separate them. I will try getting more info soon.

mram · 21 January 2014, 10:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomcat666

btw. a few of us had your PCB made and there are some problems on it. Some of the pads touch each other (not quite sure which ones since mine are still in the post) - so one needs to use a knife to separate them. I will try getting more info soon.

Which PCB ??? Do you mean the kipper2k PCB?

tomcat666 · 21 January 2014, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by mram

Which PCB ??? Do you mean the kipper2k PCB?

No, the pcb on the homepage :

Schematic sch (Eagle) Amiga_RPI_Drive.sch.zip

We sent it to the factory before kipper made his

mram · 21 January 2014, 11:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomcat666

No, the pcb on the homepage :

Schematic sch (Eagle) Amiga_RPI_Drive.sch.zip

We sent it to the factory before kipper made his

Perhaps you mean "Protoboard (Eagle) Protoboard.zip"
This wasn't a real PCB, the bottom side was only vertical, it means more a "visual reference" for the stripboard usage. But finally the pad sizes shouldn't be a problem. Which factory did you used?

kipper2k · 21 January 2014, 13:33

I will send my board for fabrication this weekend, i will get a few for testing before i submit a final order. I intend on selling as a kit or complete... preferably as a kit as i have lots to do, price won't be too high, board size is pretty big so i reckon about $8 - $10 each for the board alone. The rest of the parts are not too expensive. custom size cables would be about $4 each (Pi, A600 and a500 etc) if you need them made. Resistors and diodes are cheap. A ballpark figure for just the components and board is about $19 (not including cables), if i build/test it then add $10. The hardest soldering would be the logic chip, but it is not too hard if you use the right tool for the job

. Price doesn't include a switch, haven't for sure decided which one/type to use, they range from $1.50 - $10

The jury is still out on the switch(s) so this order would be considered the beta of my design

alexh · 21 January 2014, 17:42

My only worry was that the "button" was not recessed far enough so that a user could put the plastic eject from the floppy drive in place.

I'll definitely be having one.

gazj82 · 21 January 2014, 18:01

Is this A1200 compatible, I guess it's the same as a A600, but never had one open to know if it is?

kipper2k · 21 January 2014, 19:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

My only worry was that the "button" was not recessed far enough so that a user could put the plastic eject from the floppy drive in place.

I'll definitely be having one.

Hi Alex,

The button has quite a bit of flexibility for the location. i bought a few sample buttons to see how they look, once i get the board iit'll prob be easier to decide where to put them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gazj82

Is this A1200 compatible, I guess it's the same as a A600, but never had one open to know if it is?

yup, it is

21 January 2014, 13:33	#77
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	I will send my board for fabrication this weekend, i will get a few for testing before i submit a final order. I intend on selling as a kit or complete... preferably as a kit as i have lots to do, price won't be too high, board size is pretty big so i reckon about $8 - $10 each for the board alone. The rest of the parts are not too expensive. custom size cables would be about $4 each (Pi, A600 and a500 etc) if you need them made. Resistors and diodes are cheap. A ballpark figure for just the components and board is about $19 (not including cables), if i build/test it then add $10. The hardest soldering would be the logic chip, but it is not too hard if you use the right tool for the job . Price doesn't include a switch, haven't for sure decided which one/type to use, they range from $1.50 - $10 The jury is still out on the switch(s) so this order would be considered the beta of my design Last edited by kipper2k; 21 January 2014 at 13:44.

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18 January 2014, 15:24	#62
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	With the price of SD cards so cheap now people could even use multiple SD cards that contain less directories that would also relieve the congestion. Normally after playing a game you have to reboot anyway so why not just put in the next SD card you want. It's a lot smaller than the floppies that would be required. The SD cards are easy to copy/clone so its easy to setup. Also i think most of us have our favourite games so a favourites SD card could be setup so catering for hundreds/thousands of files is a possibility but for me i would probably create a few SD cards

19 January 2014, 00:16	#63
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	I fixed a few bugs, added the support circuits for DF2 and DF3 to the board and also reshaped it a little to support a switch(s) placed where the floppy eject button would normally sit

19 January 2014, 10:13	#64
lukassid Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Surrey Posts: 390	Bloody nicely coming along lads.

19 January 2014, 10:34	#65
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	Out of interest. How long does it take th Pi to boot on power on? Is it really 7 seconds?

21 January 2014, 09:03	#71
tomcat666 Retro Freak Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Slovenia Age: 51 Posts: 1,647	Is there a possibility of the sources for the software to be released ? Would love to add stuff like directory support if the original author doesn't intend to update it further...

21 January 2014, 17:42	#78
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	My only worry was that the "button" was not recessed far enough so that a user could put the plastic eject from the floppy drive in place. I'll definitely be having one.

21 January 2014, 18:01	#79
gazj82 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Cambs / UK Posts: 356	Is this A1200 compatible, I guess it's the same as a A600, but never had one open to know if it is?

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