Zip Drives for 8-Bitters

[Gunstar]

First off, your not making much sense...first you say that you want to do it without a PC or other hardware, but then you talk about making

a usb-ttl circuit...that's called HARDWARE. But aside from that, since it's impossible to do without a PC or added hardware, I'd suggest making the interface through the PBI port on the XL/XE's as it's a million times faster than the SIO port. That being said, whether you like it or not, I'm going to refer you to several ways of doing this, that is, hardware&software that is already available to do this with. The First two are the MIO board from ICD and the Black Box from CSS. Both are designed for just this purpose with everything you need but the Zip drive. the BlackBox is still manufactured to this day, the MIO will require a search on E-bay or else where. The third option is of course the SIO2PC cable that many of us here use, which allows you to access any type of drive you have on the PC through the A.P.E software. This method of course DOES use the SIO port, so it is slower.

Assuming you still want to look into designing your own custom cable, go thru the PBI port, forget about the SIO.

[Gunstar]

Sorry, I just noticed you are talking about the 800 which doesn't have the PBI port, so I guess if that's the machine you insist on using, it would have to be done through the SIO port. But, I'd suggest getting an 800xl or 130xe if your not too attached to the 800.

[ajbufort]

A little rough in your reply there, eh?

 

I never said "no hardware"! What I was getting at was not using any hardware larger that what can be bundled neatly and compactly inside a cable. I am convinced that such little hardware need be used that it can be bundled within the custom cable itself, without dragging anything like the black box into it.

 

And the reason I 'insist' on using SIO is that ALL Ataris have it natively, 800s, XLs, and XEs. So it could be widely used without having to purchase any other items.

[ajbufort]

Hello Everyone!

 

Let me start out by saying that I know some of you are already thinking "Why?". There are plenty of other, better 8-bit storage solutions available. My reply is that while that is true, it is fun from a hobbyist's standpoint to explore this idea. And I am not just talking about hooking it up through some cumbersome SCSI interface, or some other piece of hardware, or whatever. I want to ask if any of you have anything to contribute on the topic of a direct USB-to-TTL interface which would allow a USB Zip drive (with appropriate custom cable) to plug directly into the SIO port of an Atari 800 machine, no PC or other parts needed whatsoever?

 

I understand that this a problem of several parts: (1) Constructing the USB-TTL conversion circuit, and (2) Writing the driver necessary to be able to send/retrieve data to a Zip drive. I've done some research on #1, and from what I can see, buying ready-made ICs that go most of the way, if not entirely there, should not be a problem. I am still doing research on #2.

 

Please lend me your thoughts, whether positive or negative, but hopefully in any case informative.

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

-Tony

[Gunstar]

Point taken. Yes i was a bit rough, sorry, but you asked for it!-

 

"Please lend me your thoughts, either positive or negative..."-so I gave it to you straight and unforgiving. But I assume since your talking about making it compatible with all the Atari's through the SIO that you intend to make some for sale? If not, I still say go with the PBI on the XL/XE it makes a WORLD of difference and worth it if your only making the cable for your own use.

[ajbufort]

Yes, indeed I did, didn't I?

 

Okay, point understood. If I were not so attached to 800s, I would do just that, and perhaps I still will. And yes, your assumption is correct - whatever I build I would like to make for sale to those Atarians interested.

 

Ataris are just so cool, I am in love with the idea of doing some meaningful electronics project involving them. It's hard, ya know? I love Atari, and at the same time I know it's not an Atari world anymore. Sometimes I think I should just focus on my Java software engineering career and spend my spare time feeding that. But all work and no play, right? And I really want to get into the hardware side of things as well, and my little Atari seems such a nice place to start.

 

-Tony

[Gunstar]

Well, good luck. To help with your endeaver and to draw inspiration, check out this thread and link:Clever 8-bit

 

[ 02-23-2002: Message edited by: Gunstar ]

[ajbufort]

Okay, thanks. I'll check it out.

 

-Tony

[Curt Vendel]

Actually if you want a Hard Drive for the Atari 800, you have 2 options that are new and now available, one is the SIO2IDE interface which I have licensed for sale here in the US from MMsoft, I'm finalizing a design to go inside of an SF disk drive case and for 800 users who want a color/style matching look, I can put together a system into an Atari 810 disk drive case with a piece of ABS plastic covering over the front.

 

The other option for those looking for more speed is Sijmen's MYIDE interface, I was originally doing a design to use Compact Flash cards, but space contains on the expansion board are making this a tough proposition, however I have finished up and having a run of MYIDE800 OS Board replacement boards with an IDE header on them, you just run the cable out of the back of the top cover of the 800 and connect it to an External IDE drive and your ready to go.

 

 

Curt