RE: [N8VEM: 2578] Re: Disk I/O IDE Session Log

["Andrew Lynch" <lyn...@yahoo.com>]

Hi Max!  

It just occurred to me that this could be implemented as a "smart cable."
Make a 40 conductor cable with the IDE signals to a small protoboard PCB.
You can get power to the protoboard by replacing the CSEL pull up resistor
R1 with a jumper and then IDE pin 28 is Vcc.  

Place another 40 pin cable on the other end of the PCB with the replaced
qualified signals and also a pull up resistor for pin 28 CSEL.  There are
neither cuts nor jumpers on the Disk IO itself.  Only R1 is replaced by a
wire jumper.  Place the PCB midway on the cable length and it will not
interfere with the Disk IO or SBC.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch

> -----Original Message-----
> From: n8...@googlegroups.com [mailto:n8...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
> Max Scane
> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 4:27 PM
> To: N8VEM
> Subject: [N8VEM: 2578] Re: Disk I/O IDE Session Log
> 
> 
> Some good news
> 
> I managed to get a 74HC32 installed between the drive and the IOR and
> IOW signals by pulling U10 and moving it to a breadboard.  I used the /
> IDE signal to enable the read a write strobe when the drive was
> actually addressed.  This worked a lot better.  I can now read what
> looks to be a valid status from the WD drives.  I can see that it is
> not ready during spin up and becomes ready (with a status 0f 0x50).  I
> can't however, write to any of the registers.  I think that the
> problem is a timing issue with the write sequence.
> 
> I think that however proves the theory that the WD drives do not like
> read/write strobes without a valid Chip Select.
> 
> The next step is to try and figure out how to qualify read and write
> and meet the timing requirements. The way I have done it impacts the
> floppy controller so it is not useful long term.  I just used it to
> test my theory without cutting tracks etc.  Since other drives work I
> might just avoid WD drives and make a mental note for the future
> implementations of the HD interface.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Max
> 
> On Feb 16, 2:46 am, "Andrew Lynch" <lyn...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: n8...@googlegroups.com [mailto:n8...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf
> Of
> > > HD64180
> > > Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 5:12 AM
> > > To: N8VEM
> > > Subject: [N8VEM: 2558] Re: Disk I/O IDE Session Log
> >
> > > Hello Andrew,
> >
> > > On 14 Feb., 23:56, "Andrew Lynch" <lyn...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > > > [AJL>]
> >
> > > > Hi Rolf!
> > > > Does TP-IDE and FMTPART2 work with your Seagate hard drive?
> >
> > > > I will update the wiki with your information.  I am not sure what
> you
> > > mean
> > > > by the floppy drive conflict in the BIOS.  The CBIOS does not
> support
> > > the
> > > > floppy drive at all.  Is the floppy drive turning on when you access
> the
> > > IDE
> > > > hard drive?  If so, I suspect you have a problem with the IO
> decoder.
> > >  The
> > > > IDE circuitry is $2x and the FDC circuitry is $3x and there should
> be no
> > > > overlap.
> >
> > > > Please describe your situation in more detail so I can help better.
> > >  Thanks
> > > > and have a nice day!
> >
> > > > Andrew Lynch- Zitierten Text ausblenden -
> >
> > > > - Zitierten Text anzeigen -
> >
> > > i can not more tested the Seagate Hard Drive.
> >
> > > The FMTPART2 works with my Seagate Hard Drive.
> >
> > > I saw what a Format is the HD on my PC with Windows XP.
> > > The Format was NTFS.
> > > I make the HD with FAT16 Partitions.
> > > Then I have the HD connected with the Disk Board.
> > > The HD make small Bang then the HD was hot.
> > > Then the HD was Dead.
> >
> > > In Germany hard to find small Hard Drives.
> > > I order small Hard Drives form USA.
> >
> > > English is not my Mother Tongue and translating by google is not
> > > perfect.
> >
> > > Why the HD-WD Drive does not work is curious?
> >
> > > Thank you!
> > > Have a nice day!
> >
> > > Rolf
> >
> > > [AJL>]
> >
> > Hi Rolf!
> >
> > I am sad to hear about your hard drive failing.  Did you find out what
> > happened to it?  It sounds like a part failed or maybe something shorted
> and
> > overloaded a component.
> >
> > So far, the Seagate drives seem to be performing best.  You can get
> those
> > fairly inexpensively on eBay at least in the US but shipping would have
> to
> > be considered.
> >
> > Although several builders have been investigating why the WD drives are
> not
> > working, I am not sure.  I suspect there is some incompatibility with
> timing
> > or possibly the way the interface is designed is confusing the WD
> drives.
> >
> > There are things we can do to explore possibilities to get the WD drives
> to
> > work.  One would be to substitute the /RD and /WR signals on the IDE
> > interface with /IOR and /IOW from IC12.  It is possible that the extra
> > activity on /RD and /WR are confusing the WD drives.
> >
> > Another possibility is the relationship of the two chip select signals
> on
> > the IDE interface relative to the /RD and /WR signals.  Max has proposed
> > qualifying the /RD and /WR signals with the chip selects.  I believe
> that
> > would use additional 74ls32 and 74LS08 chips mounted on another mini
> PCB.
> > Please inspect the schematic and datasheets to find some ideas on other
> > things we can test.
> >
> > I think use of other IDE devices is possible but it just requires all
> the
> > builders to experiment with their Disk IO boards to determine what works
> and
> > how.  Just send your results to the mailing list and I will update the
> wiki
> > page with the results.  Some devices are probably going to take a deeper
> > investigation and experimenting to resolve their issues.  At the moment
> we
> > just do not know why some devices are not responding.
> >
> > Thanks and have a nice day!
> >
> > Andrew Lynch
>