Any interest in a Zorro II to PCMCIA card?

[aperez]

I have a significant quantity of 3Com 3c589D-TP PCMCIA Ethernet controllers, and it got me thinking if a Dual-PCMCIA-to-Zorro II Ethernet card would be feasable, based upon either the Vadem VG-469 or the original Intel 82365SL PC Card to ISA bus controller. The Vadem VG-469 is really just a Register-compatible enhanced clone of the Intel 82365SL.

The 50-pin x2 "SCSI PCMCIA" 3.5" card sockets which you might have noticed once or twice on eBay are really just passive PCMCIA connectors, which traditionally ran back to a PCMCIA-ISA controller bridge over then-commonly-available 50-pin IDC cables.

The datasheet for the VG-469 is viewable at http://www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/469pb.pdf

For those who must worry about such things, there in fact are RoHS-compliant lead-free versions of the VG-469 available from Amphus, P/N VG-469-LF

Since there are Linux and BSD drivers available for the VG-469, creating a functional driver shouldn't be hideously difficult, either. There's some BSD-licensed driver code for the Intel i82365 controller at http://code.google.com/p/glendum/sou...um/devi82365.c

It might even be possible to, with a small CPLD and EEPROM to handle autoconfig and autoboot bring-up, boot an A2K or A3K amiga from CF devices in ATA mode.

Also possible that this could be made to permit use of Proxim/Orinoco-based 802.11b PCMCIA cards on big-box amigas (or even the A500, in a different form-factor)

Given that these old ISA-PCMCIA adapters can be had for under $20 all day long, these days, it may make more sense to for the sake of expeditious development, simply use one of these in conjunction with a custom made Zorro-ISA bridge, meant only for driving/interfacing with the i82365 and its clones/derivatives.

I also have access to a large quantity of 2-20 megabyte ATA linear flash PCMCIA cards.

Thoughts?

[amigakit.com]

Sounds interesting Alex!

[alexh]

You think you'd be able to come in under the price of an X-Surf?

I guess the drivers would need to be changed, but both are open source (Neil Cafferkey). They currently must bang the hardware (Gayle chip) direct.

[aperez]

AlexH, yep, coming in under the price of the x-surf would be the goal. Given that they cost 90 pounds/~140 USD, I suspect it could sell for around half that, and not be a uni-tasker, to boot.

The other interesting possibility would be to re-implement parts of Gayle in a CPLD such that the driver could think it was speaking directly to an A1200/A600 PCMCIA port. We'd only need to make it work with the 3Com card, and/or the Prism.

[amigakit.com]

Any help you need, let me know.

[rkauer]

@Aperez: I think you can contact Mika Leilonen, as he made the IDE68k.

The IDE68k is the IDE part of the Gayle emulation. Maybe he know a bit more about the other part of the Gayle?

[mech]

@aperez

Are these the scsi pcmcia readers you mean? i used to use these on my amiga scsi with a pcmcia->cf card adapter to use cf,sony memstik,mmc,etc cards before usb was prevalent.Beware,these are true scsi.I think know the one you mention. i think i may have one around here that used the 2-50 pin cables to a isa card(which is isa and not really scsi).
when i used this, i had a mountlist for the particular card. you have a great idea and it would be really cool to have pcmcia port on the zorro buss. zorro3 would be a bigger plus,but i know thats just wishfull thinking being able to use cheap orinoco cards would be a nice thing.

mike

[alexh]

Originally Posted by aperez

The other interesting possibility would be to re-implement parts of Gayle in a CPLD such that the driver could think it was speaking directly to an A1200/A600 PCMCIA port.

I don't think you can do that an have it as a Zorro II card. It would have to connect to the CPU.

Originally Posted by rkauer

The IDE68k is the IDE part of the Gayle emulation. Maybe he know a bit more about the other part of the Gayle?

I'm sure there is nothing complicated. It's not like it is a hidden secret or anything. Pretty sure all the registers are documented and probably also emulated in UAE.

But like I said... probably not possible as a Zorro II card.

[Toni Wilen]

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=399851

[aperez]

Great, thanks Toni!

[aperez]

Originally Posted by mech

@aperez

Are these the scsi pcmcia readers you mean?

mike

Nope, definitely not. Those are rare as hens' teeth, these days.

[aperez]

Originally Posted by alexh

I don't think you can do that an have it as a Zorro II card. It would have to connect to the CPU.
<snip>
But like I said... probably not possible as a Zorro II card.

Agreed...might be viable to put this sort of emulated device on an A3640 top-hat (ala X-Calibur)

[alexh]

Originally Posted by aperez

...might be viable to put this sort of emulated device on an A3640 top-hat (ala X-Calibur)

Depends if there are any sideband signals the emulated Gayle needs from other Amiga custom chips to operate as a PCMCIA controller. The IDE controller part of the Gayle didn't need anything.

If it were possible, I dunno how practical a turbo card addon would be. The height restrictions in the A4000 and certainly in A3000 make this sort of thing difficult. Plus then you've got to wire it through to the Zorro back plate. It is getting less and less practical.

Case of nice idea, too difficult to implement. (Unless you get a flash of technical inspiration).

An addon for A500(+)/A2000/CDTV, expanding the capabilities of IDE68k, might still possible depending on what (if any) extra signals the emulated Gayle needs. But again, height restrictions (when used with turbo cards) applies.

IDE68k + 5.5Mbyte RAM + PCMCIA might be possible in a single board for the aforementioned 68000 Amiga's.

[Amiga4000]

I would easily pay $100.00 for a Zorro II to PCMCIA adapter! Why?

[mech]

Very interested, this should of been done long ago..
what would be even cooler is a zorro3/32bit cardbus controller,although i guess it would be way more work.

[Locutus]

Originally Posted by mech

Very interested, this should of been done long ago..

...And it was...






http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.co...ct.aspx?id=914

[shaf]

I like the Idea and would buy one.

[Locutus]

I think the reason why this didn't get off the ground is simple, the whole Zorro2>PCMCIA convertor setup would likely cost the same as just building a Zorro2 Ethernet card directly.

[gulliver]

Originally Posted by Locutus

I think the reason why this didn't get off the ground is simple, the whole Zorro2>PCMCIA convertor setup would likely cost the same as just building a Zorro2 Ethernet card directly.

Probably, but it also looks very interesting for having the possibility of using other type of pcmcia cards such as wifi and cf card readers.

It seems a really atractive option.

[graffias79]

I would totally use a ZII -> PCMCIA adapter as it's quite versatile. I don't always need access to a CF card for storage, and I don't always need access to an Ethernet card. Plus I could use my existing A1200 Ethernet card when needed. It would also give external case access to the CF card.

I wonder if it could be built with IDE ports as well, killing two birds with one stone?