[sebhc] USB for the H8?

[Lee Hart]

Deb and Glenn Roberts wrote:
> The only real problem I have with the H8 is the reliability of the
> old hard-sectored disk media and the H17 drives (having to clean
> the heads a lot which presumably means the oxide is continuing to
> erode)

Same here. I am finding that more and more of my old 5.25" floppies are
gradually dying. As you say, I have to keep cleaning the disk drive
heads, so it's either that the oxide is coming unstuck, or that
something is growing on them. What a surprise -- many are over 20 years
old!

It's still not too hard to find blank 5.25" soft-sector disks, so I have
been (slowly) copying my old H37 disks onto newer ones. Or, I can plug
in a 3.5" floppy drive, and copy my H37 5.25" disks to 3.5" media. (I
haven't done this, because it appears that 3.5" disks are LESS reliable
than 5.25").

But hard-sector disks are a real problem. You can't buy new ones, and
you can't copy them to other media.

> I think all the discussion on how to interface to "modern" storage
> (e.g. IDE, flash memory, or cabling to a PC) is right on target.
> Has anyone given any given any thought to building a simple USB
> adapter for the H8? It seems there are lots of inexpensive
> solutions for adding USB. Add an inexpensive thumb drive and write
> a device driver and you're in business. I'd be interested in
> hearing from anyone who's tried it given this some thought.

Hardware-wise, there is nothing magical about a USB interface. It is
just a fast serial port. There are lots of chips that can implement it.

The real problem is software. Many USB devices are explicitly designed
for PCs, and require special (secret, undocumented) software drivers to
work. This blocks things like USB printers, modems, and thumb drives
from ever being interfaced to anything except late-model PCs and
Windows.
-- 
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the
world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has!" -- Margaret Meade
--
Lee A. Hart  814 8th Ave N  Sartell MN 56377  leeahart_at_earthlink.net

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