SpartaDOS X MyIDE Driver

[flashjazzcat]

I decided to start a new topic for this since the original RWTEST one ended up well and truly off at a tangent from its original subject matter...

 

I'm currently "finishing" the SpartaDOS X MyIDE driver written by Kyle Dain in 2007. With a few tweaks to his code (and some hardware mods), the driver was immediately suitable to service my everyday HDD requirements under SpartaDOS X. He didn't, however, implement a partitioning system, having apparently become (understandably) bogged down by the CHS partitioning system. I believe hardware problems caused him to abandon the project soon after.

 

With the help of Hias, Shawn Jefferson, Draco, Trub, and Sijmen (Mr Atari), I'm close to implementing a new LBA partitioning system for MyIDE, together with an SDX driver and attendant FDISK program. The system will cater for hard disks, IDE modules and compact flash cards, in both 8 and 16-bit mode, supporting 512 byte sectors, 15 partitions, 60KB/s read speeds on supported hardware, and compatibility with most SDX and legacy software since there's no need to use a custom OS ROM.

 

Here's the state of FDISK at the moment:

 

 

It doesn't do much but the UI is working!

 

(A nice side-effect of the FDISK development is a text mode menu/window library which I'll publish as open-source code later on. It will be compatible with Draco's VBXE/CON drivers.)

 

The main discussion at AtariMax is here.

Edited September 18, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[twh/f2]

Hi Jonathan,

 

all this sounds outstanding to me! Actually it is exactly the kind of solution I always wanted to have. I just ordered the myide-flash cart and a couple of transcend flash modules. I can't wait to get all the hardware and to start testing!

 

To be honest, this is a brilliant and spectacular "Atari year 2010":

 

QMEG (new version by stefan dorndorf)

SDrive (new firmware, fully compatible to SDX)

SDX 4.43 (amazing OS-enhancements, SpartaDos Commander, VBXE support)

VBXE (needless to comment further)

MyIDE SDX Driver (holly sh*t!!)

 

all together, this is my new dream computer .. What a waste that I just bought an Intel i7/12GB Ram

 

take care,

\twh!

[flashjazzcat]

I know what you mean. I'm spending more and more time actually using my 130XE now that it's up to spec, and a fast mass storage device is just the icing on the cake.

 

I'm still not finished writing the FDISK app, but it teeters on the brink of functionality. Hais is working with me on the partition table design so we ought to have a working system within the next few days.

Edited September 19, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[+bf2k+]

I know what you mean. I'm spending more and more time actually using my 130XE now that it's up to spec, and a fast mass storage device is just the icing on the cake.

 

I'm still not finished writing the FDISK app, but it teeters on the brink of functionality. Hais is working with me on the partition table design so we ought to have a working system within the next few days.

 

Is this going to be usable with the MyIDE Flash cart or will it require internal MyIDE?

[flashjazzcat]

Is this going to be usable with the MyIDE Flash cart or will it require internal MyIDE?

It will work with either, but I can only test with the external (non-flash) interface.

[a8isa1]

Is this going to be usable with the MyIDE Flash cart or will it require internal MyIDE?

It will work with either, but I can only test with the external (non-flash) interface.

You can test either interface type simply by tapping $D1xx and $D5xx signals and putting them on a switch I should think.

 

Hmmm, guess that would be a little awkward to do for an external interface.

 

Well, it's a thought.

 

-Steve

[flashjazzcat]

You can test either interface type simply by tapping $D1xx and $D5xx signals and putting them on a switch I should think.

 

Hmmm, guess that would be a little awkward to do for an external interface.

 

Well, it's a thought.

Interesting idea. However, Hias has an internal interface so there's one tester. The differences between the internal and external interfaces should be nothing but the location of the hardware registers. The driver will detect which is installed and configure itself accordingly.

 

Anyone have more than one drive rigged up with MyIDE? FDISK will handle master and slave devices but I don't know if the hardware will...

[+wood_jl]

SDrive (new firmware, fully compatible to SDX)

 

 

Damn, I wasn't aware that Sdrive (or Sdrive NUXX in my case) wasn't compatible with SDX. That sucks, but it's good to know so I won't be trying it in frustration.

[spookt]

SDrive (new firmware, fully compatible to SDX)

 

 

Damn, I wasn't aware that Sdrive (or Sdrive NUXX in my case) wasn't compatible with SDX. That sucks, but it's good to know so I won't be trying it in frustration.

 

I use my SDrive NUXX frequently with SpartaDOS X without issue so I'd be interested to know what the current problems are.

[flashjazzcat]

I use my SDrive NUXX frequently with SpartaDOS X without issue so I'd be interested to know what the current problems are.

Sounds to me like the new firmware adds "enhanced support" rather than basic compatibility.

[spookt]

I use my SDrive NUXX frequently with SpartaDOS X without issue so I'd be interested to know what the current problems are.

Sounds to me like the new firmware adds "enhanced support" rather than basic compatibility.

 

Yes, that's what I was hoping for

[flashjazzcat]

I wish I had some experience with SDrive but sadly one of those devices has never crossed my path. I'll have to have another crack at making one some time.

 

FDISK will be functional by tomorrow evening, I estimate:

 

 

The program will no longer run on any emulator, but fortunately it will run straight off the PC via SIO2SD. The interface is fun to use and develop. A lot of stuff which could be accomplished with generic library routines are coded in longhand, but I begin to see the usefulness of coding general purpose "list box" routines and such like. No doubt this kind of thing would interface quite nicely with CC65.

Edited September 20, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[+Stephen]

I have a MaxFlash 1MB MyIDE cart with a Transcend module. I can test that for you - will that cart work with a 1MB Flashcart version of SDX I wonder?

[flashjazzcat]

I have a MaxFlash 1MB MyIDE cart with a Transcend module. I can test that for you - will that cart work with a 1MB Flashcart version of SDX I wonder?

Should do. I'll hopefully have something for you to test this week.

[+Larry]

I'd be happy to test for you. I have several MyIDE interfaces, and I'd really like to see if this can work with the XL7 accelerator. Perhaps bob1200xl has tested this?

 

Hate to ask , but can I presume at some point that this can be fairly easiy modified for MyDos?

 

-Larry

Edited September 21, 2010 by Larry

[twh/f2]

I use my SDrive NUXX frequently with SpartaDOS X without issue so I'd be interested to know what the current problems are.

Sounds to me like the new firmware adds "enhanced support" rather than basic compatibility.

 

Yes, that's what I was hoping for

 

that's the way how misunderstandings take a life of its own .. The SDrive is fully compatible to SDX. Actually the drive itself doesn't have clue what DOS is being used. However, there is a very small bug in the firmware: The SDrive supports mounting any file on the SD-Card. Technically it creates a DOS2.5 ATR image on the fly. However, the image could not be recognized by SDX because the first VTOC byte was not $02. It was $00 instead. This made it SDX impossible to identify correctly the disk file system.

 

THIS is fixed .. so the SDrive is now fully compatible to SDX.. and yes. afaik there are more enhancement planned. just stay tuned..

 

grtx,

\twh

[flashjazzcat]

I'd be happy to test for you. I have several MyIDE interfaces, and I'd really like to see if this can work with the XL7 accelerator.

 

That's great news.

 

Hate to ask , but can I presume at some point that this can be fairly easiy modified for MyDos?

Hate to say it, but no. If you think carefully about how the driver works, it will be obvious. SDX effectively boots from ROM, so it provides a means to make the computer "aware" of the MyIDE interface before it attempts any disk reads. The only way any other DOS can boot from MyIDE is to use the MyIDE OS ROM, so that the computer can read the boot sectors from the hard disk from a cold boot. Even the SDX implementation is imperfect, since CONFIG.SYS cannot be read from the disk without the custom OS (since SpartaDOS X uses the OS SIO routine to read CONFIG.SYS).

 

Of course you could boot MyDOS from an SIO device on drive 1, then load a driver which redirected the DOS SIO calls to MyIDE code, at which point the HDD would come online. But this is hardly convenient.

 

SDX presents a special opportunity to use MyIDE with a stock OS purely because the DOS is ROM based. If MyDOS ever makes it onto a cartridge, things will be different. Until that time, MyDOS users are better off using a custom OS in the usual fashion. It is hoped that Sijmen's next ROM based OS will be compatible with the SDX LBA partition layout.

Edited September 21, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[+bf2k+]

If MyDOS ever makes it onto a cartridge, things will be different.

I have a MyDos Cart.

 

I think it came from Video 61 or AtariMax.

 

Edit: Instant MyDOS Cart from ATariMax - MyDOs v4.53/4

[Fres]

I have a My-IDE cart. It'd be fun to play around with SDX on it. I'd be happy to test.

[flashjazzcat]

I have a MyDos Cart.

 

I think it came from Video 61 or AtariMax.

 

Edit: Instant MyDOS Cart from ATariMax - MyDOs v4.53/4

Well I never knew of such a thing. I guess it would be possible to do a MyDOS driver for the cart version. Let me finish the SDX driver first, though. FDISK will also need to be heavily modified since it uses the SDX library.

[+bf2k+]

I have a MyDos Cart.

 

I think it came from Video 61 or AtariMax.

 

Edit: Instant MyDOS Cart from ATariMax - MyDOs v4.53/4

Well I never knew of such a thing. I guess it would be possible to do a MyDOS driver for the cart version. Let me finish the SDX driver first, though. FDISK will also need to be heavily modified since it uses the SDX library.

 

Well don't do it on my account because I never use it myself, but I guess others would like it.

[flashjazzcat]

Well don't do it on my account because I never use it myself, but I guess others would like it.

We'll see: it won't happen soon, because I never use MyDOS.

[Shawn Jefferson]

I have a MaxFlash 1MB MyIDE cart with a Transcend module. I can test that for you - will that cart work with a 1MB Flashcart version of SDX I wonder?

 

No, it won't, since the banking registers are different than the plain 1MB Flashcart (with no MyIDE). I don't believe there is a SDX image for the 1MB+MyIDE Flashcart currently, but maybe with FJC's new driver, it would make sense to have one, and the SDX Project guys could be persuaded.

 

PS. I can test as well, but I'm guessing that there are only two hardware configurations that will actually work with this:

 

1. intSDX + cartridge/external MyIDE (either Sijmen's original version or the Atarimax 1Mb+Flash version).

 

2. external SDX cartridge + internal MyIDE.

 

I only have one of those combintations, so can only test #2.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Shawn Jefferson

[Roydea6]

PS. I can test as well, but I'm guessing that there are only two hardware configurations that will actually work with this:

 

1. intSDX + cartridge/external MyIDE (either Sijmen's original version or the Atarimax 1Mb+Flash version).

 

2. external SDX cartridge + internal MyIDE.

 

I only have one of those combintations, so can only test #2.

 

I also only have internal MyIDE so I could test with my SDX cartridge. Is this driver going to be imbedded in the Cartridge code like Kyle's or is it a MyIDE.sys file.

[flashjazzcat]

I also only have internal MyIDE so I could test with my SDX cartridge. Is this driver going to be imbedded in the Cartridge code like Kyle's or is it a MyIDE.sys file.

I'm not sure what Kyle used to embed the driver into the cart image. However, the only useful place for the driver to be is on the CAR: device. Regardless of whether the driver makes it onto the "official" SDX release (bearing in mind it must be referenced in the default CONFIG.SYS), I believe a utility will be provided with the next SDX release which will allow users to add files to the 8K "user" area of CAR: (including a customised CONFIG.SYS). This is what I'm using at the moment, but it's in beta and is not for public release.