[sebhc] Re: Great Idea for IDE MORE!! STATUS -- More Ideas ..

[bill malcolm]

HI:   Idea  use  IDE  as only 8 bit.  This is done sending a cmd to IDE
drive. Then you can have 2  volumes by accessing  as below.

    Normal IDE sector   or block is  512 bytes SO...
1st volume  uses  bytes  0-254
2.nd volume uses bytes  255-511

bill ..
more later...

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lee Hart" <leeahart at earthlink.net>
To: <sebhc at sebhc.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 1:20 PM
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: Great Idea for IDE MORE!! STATUS -- More Ideas ..


> dwight elvey wrote:
> > What is the problem with going from a 8 bit bus to a 16 bit device?
> > You just need an extra port and an extra latch going both ways.
> > This is not rocket science to add this simple hardware. The entire
> > world of IDE devices are then open to you.
>
> I agree. This is fairly straightforward to do. It takes about twice as
> many chips, but they are relatively inexpensive. As you say, then you
> have a "normal" 16-bit interface to the IDE, so the documentation on
> how to talk to an IDE device will apply. Or, you could reverse-engineer
> someone's IDE device software driver, if you were desperate enough :-)
>
> The skeptic in me says that the published specs for IDE devices are
> probably obscure, incomplete and inaccurate. If it were me, I'd build a
> little logic analyzer to capture the 16-bit words going back/forth
> between a PC and its IDE drive when I did a read or write. Then, I would
> program the Z80 to send exactly those commands, in the same order,
> REGARDLESS of what the published specs say!
> --
> Ring the bells that still can ring
> Forget the perfect offering
> There is a crack in everything
> That's how the light gets in    --    Leonard Cohen
> --
> Lee A. Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, leeahart_at_earthlink.net
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