PCMCIA card reader in Zorro bus

[protek]

Just wondering, how come there are no PCMCIA card readers that connect to the Zorro bus.

That kind of adapter would enable people to use PCMCIA ethernet cards in boxed Amigas. Yes, there are Zorro network cards and those are probably a cheaper option in the long run but theoretically, would it be hard to create that kind of adapter for i.e. A4000?

[alexh]

Originally Posted by protek

how come there are no PCMCIA card readers that connect to the Zorro bus.

Because there is zero demand?

Originally Posted by protek

Theoretically, would it be hard to create that kind of adapter for i.e. A4000?

Easy. Manufacturing them would be the hard bit. Too hard to be worth bothering about.

If an A4000 is what you've got and ethernet is what you want, but value for money is important you could buy a Zorro III Deneb. It would probably even be faster as I think they support 100Mbit USB lan adapters. Plus you'd have access to a whole range of other USB devices.

[Doobrey]

Originally Posted by protek

...would it be hard to create that kind of adapter for i.e. A4000?

Ask Kato, they designed one 10 yrs ago.
http://www.katodev.de/english/unity-net.html

Also, answering your first question
(from http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?product=unity)

Notes
.The Unity never left prototype status
.standard version was too expensive

[ferix]

Attach a PCMCIA device to the Zorro II bus is an easy task. You only need a pair of buffers for the datapath, an address decoder and some glue logic.
A small CPLD can do the job.
The problem is always the same... the device drivers...
I think It would be cheap, less than $40.

[protek]

Originally Posted by ferix

Attach a PCMCIA device to the Zorro II bus is an easy task. You only need a pair of buffers for the datapath, an address decoder and some glue logic.
A small CPLD can do the job.
The problem is always the same... the device drivers...
I think It would be cheap, less than $40.

This might sound stupid/ignorant/n00b/whatever but wouldn't it be possible to utilize the device drivers from A1200?

[alexh]

Only if the hardware was the same, i.e. replicated Gayle (?) registers

[Zetr0]

it would be a cool idea if it was to come to pass, but it would be just as simple for a zorro-pci bridge enabler, with that you get gfx, network and sound drivers exist already.

I was going to ask Alexh about those OLE PCMCIA usb cards I think he makes, was it USB or was it network? I cannot remember...

[DoogUK]

Or what if somone could write a driver one of these for PCI busboards...it supports the ma-401 wireless card which we already have amiga drivers for.

[alexh]

The Oxford Semiconductor CFU950, a 16-bit PC Card PCMCIA to USB 1.1 host.

Not really worth bothering with. Better to just get a subway.

[Zetr0]

Originally Posted by alexh

The Oxford Semiconductor CFU950, a 16-bit PC Card PCMCIA to USB 1.1 host.

Not really worth bothering with. Better to just get a subway.

true, but might not be the most elegant solution given the feature with a standard A600 or A1200 with no clock port =)

do you have or a linkie to the linux source drivers ? I would love to have a little peruse =)

[ferix]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

true, but might not be the most elegant solution given the feature with a standard A600 or A1200 with no clock port =)

do you have or a linkie to the linux source drivers ? I would love to have a little peruse =)

I was looking at the linux source drivers last night. There are very well commented, and the gayle's pcmcia interface doesn't look too much complicated.
I think It can be implemented in a standard CPLD, like 7128 from Altera or even much smaller, like 7032.

[Zetr0]

@ferix

hmmm 32 macrocell

off the top of my head, you would need a FIFO buffer of atleast 16k in size,
that controller alone could easly eat up the better part of 32 macrocells.

a 7128 with 128 macrocells would be a better choice in this instance, but it will come down to the Gayle logic code and FIFO buffer control.

I am unsure that would be enough my friend, as you would have to Z2/3 bus controll, (even in PIO setup) then the Gayle intupretation, then argument with the FIFO buffer (then onto the pcmcia port)

The above is incredibly simplistic, thinking it now, you would also need a small command cache as well, this could easly eat a 128macro cell for breakfast.

However its not UNDO-ABLE, especially with todays el-cheapo hardware, but as with everything, the hardware is only 20% of the work, its the software that makes it happen.

Personally I have always wondered about shadowing the PCMCIA so you could two ports on the A1200, now that would be just as awesome too =)

[amiman99]

Did anyone used this device with Amiga? IDE to PCMCIA converter, It may work!!!

$6, people...

http://tekgems.com/Products/la-idsc09.htm

or from Ebay for $6, I would try it but I dont have IDE controller for my A2000 / A3000 Amiga

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-PCMCIA-to-ID...item1e58e2eb47

[ferix]

@Zetr0

Well, I was talking about how to make It in a simple way...
If you want high transfer rates, yes, you need a more complex hardware, or even implement the CARDBUS interface...
But If you only want the same PCMCIA interface from A600 or A1200, It's not so complicated to get It working.
I think that cloning the Gayle's PCMCIA interface can be done, as someone did before with the IDE controller...

[Zetr0]

Originally Posted by amiman99

Did anyone used this device with Amiga? IDE to PCMCIA converter, It may work!!!

$6, people...

http://tekgems.com/Products/la-idsc09.htm

or from Ebay for $6, I would try it but I dont have IDE controller for my A2000 / A3000 Amiga

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-PCMCIA-to-ID...item1e58e2eb47

Now thats an interesting bitof hardware, about as practical as a chocolate fire-guard, but still cool =)

Originally Posted by ferix

@Zetr0

Well, I was talking about how to make It in a simple way...
If you want high transfer rates, yes, you need a more complex hardware, or even implement the CARDBUS interface...
But If you only want the same PCMCIA interface from A600 or A1200, It's not so complicated to get It working.
I think that cloning the Gayle's PCMCIA interface can be done, as someone did before with the IDE controller...

indeedy =)

it would be simple enough to make an auto booting IDE zorro card based on that work, depending on how-much of the Gayle code is interpreted it shouldn't be a far stretch for a working PIO driven PCMCIA adapter.

The first person I would ask would be Toni and get an overview of the Gayle functions and requirements, you will then be in a better position to calculate the needed Cell Size =)

Its certainly interesting indeed

now I must poke Alexh into giving me the coordinates to the rebel base (ahem) I mean a link to the OLE PCMCIA USB drivers

[amiman99]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

Now thats an interesting bitof hardware, about as practical as a chocolate fire-guard, but still cool =)

I know it would not be useful for Ethernet cards, but some one could use it as a storage device, like CF, SD, and other cards.

[protek]

Originally Posted by amiman99

I know it would not be useful for Ethernet cards, but some one could use it as a storage device, like CF, SD, and other cards.

Well, for CF cards there are direct CF to IDE adapters. I might actually get one of those card bracket models to fill up the empty bracket hole in the back.

[amiman99]

Originally Posted by protek

Well, for CF cards there are direct CF to IDE adapters. I might actually get one of those card bracket models to fill up the empty bracket hole in the back.

But then you are limited to CF cards only, if you have different PCMCIA adapters, you can use different storage cards. It's a Cool factor