c0nsumer

Thanks! That's exactly what I was hoping for. With those caps in place it looks really bad...

A bit off topic, but would any of you happen to have scope output showing these lines with and without the caps? I'm just curious how they affect the signals... I've got a scope here, but no 130XE to do the testing with.

No idea, but good thought. I don't have a 130XE so I wasn't really aware of this. Hopefully he'll see this. I'll send him a link to be sure.

To add to this, after talking with Robert via PMs it seems his issue when using the SDrive NUXX only with a 130XE, yet the a8maestro SDrive works fine with the 130XE. With an 800XL both SDrive implementations work just fine. Multiple SD cards and ATRs were tried, and the differentiating factor between right or not seems to be the Atari hardware itself. I'm at a loss to explain this, but perhaps the 130XE doesn't provide enough power (or perhaps not clean enough power or something?) and the SDrive NUXX is less tolerant of that than the a8maestro version? This surprises me because the SDrive NUXX implementation is the same design as the original Raster/CPU version; the only differences are in the voltage regulator and LEDs and such. The only way I could see a variance like this causing an issue is if the 130XE can't provide quite enough power and thus the AVR is running quirky. Anyone else have any suggestions / ideas? (UPDATE: Note that the SDrive NUXX ships with original firmware from Raster/CPU. It's possible that the a8maestro version has different firmware? I haven't investigated this yet...)

Yes, you need this firmware to use the highest speed, the original firmware won't go faster than ~90kbit/sec. If you are already using this firmware (better ask c0nsumer which firmware he programmed into the SDrive), make sure you don't have more than 1-2 other SIO devices connected, and that the caps on the SIO lines are removed in the Atari and also the floppy drives (1050s also have these nasty caps, for example). so long, Hias For what it's worth, the SDrive NUXX uses the straight-up stock SDrive firmware taken from the SDrive081012.zip or SDrive20090403.zip packages. More info here. So yes, if you want to do something that requires new firmware you'll need to flash the AVR with whatever that new firmware is. This exact scenario is why there's a programmer built on to the PCB. Reprogramming the AVR in situ is covered here.

Damn that's hardcore, I spent a bit of time deciding on whether I should order a kit to build since I had one unit already. If you want one, I've still got four kits or so left. Yep, you're correct, and it doesn't claim to do anything more. It's just a high quality (and openly reusable) implementation. Technically (and legally) anyone else could take my design files (PCB CAD, end pane designs, etc) and do the same thing that I did. They were very intentionally released that way to give back to the community. (License info here if you're interested.) I just like working on very polished projects and this met a need I had to work on something new.

Now four kits left...

Nooooooooo! I was ready to order an assembled one too... I am considering buying a kit. The one concern I have is getting the SIO Connector. I have spent a long time searching both Best Electronics and myatari.com and can't find them (best electronic's website is a nightmare to navigate). Any chance you have an extra that I could purchase with a kit? If not, does anyone have a direct link to a page where I can buy SIO connectors? Many thanks, -Doug Doug, Sorry, I don't. I've got a few spares, but they are all broken in one manner or another. Try giving Best Electronics a call, I know they have some because that's where I got them for the assembled units. Also, you might be able to find someone on here with some dead Atari gear who would be able to help you out... -Steve (PS: Not to rush you, but there are five kits left. They are selling at a rate of about one every other day now.)

Depends on who is doing it, really. There's a lot of people out there who do really good work. Of course, if an SDrive NUXX failed I'd probably be willing to take a look at it first, since I'd be really surprised if one had a problem and became damaged during normal use. There just really isn't much to go wrong.

Oh, c0nsumer didn't include the extra tube of quality with the second run? sorry i wasnt awake when i wrote that... other way around... he drowns them in quality before shiment ;') sloopy. That's just residue from the nitrile gloves worn while wiping them all off before packing.

This was my justification. Plus, it's hard for me to imagine a world where my Sdrive NUXX craps out on me (at some point in the future) and I am without, hence spares (for this and everything). This is why I personally have just one. (Only one 800XL here...) One nice thing about the SDrive design is that it's so simple any sort of repair should be really easy, although it's rather unlikely that it'll be needed as there's just not much to go wrong. That microcontroller should be pretty easy to find for years, and everything else is very standard. If an LED were to go a 3mm item could be fitted into the plastic holder, the tactile switches are super-basic, resistors are as they are, etc. Nice, basic, through-hole electronics like this stuff is often a maintenance (when needed) dream.

I could honestly see one for each Atari that you've got regularly connected as being a safe idea.

Now there's one less. Easiest build I've had in a long time. Now if I can just remember to order that one part. Aww, that's one super-important part too. Just remember to use the screws for the SIO connector. It's kinda important for strain relief and ensuring a solid feel to the finished device.

Can't wait to see... My poor Hand Etched MTG SDrive is getting jealous! There's still a handful of kits available...

Pictures?

Woo! You're welcome, and thanks for buying one. I'm glad to hear the UK orders are arriving. The vast majority of international shipments went over there.

Thanks. Yes I fitted it afterwards, forgot it in the testing excitement. It's not really needed unless you're going to be using the onboard programmer, but since the DB25 and resistors are there... Glad to see it working. For everyone's knowledge, those four yellow LEDs indicate that the SD card is being seen and the device is powered. Woo!

Are you copying them on with a Mac? And are the duplicate files prefixed with a .? Yes but they have that ≈ symbol. This only shows up on the Atari, not on the Mac. Allan That's the mac hack to store the extra information mac files have on a filesystem that doesn't handle that. The files are there on the Mac, it just hides them (or counts them as part of the same file really). Yeah, that's just metadata stored in a separate file because FAT doesn't support storing it. There's a few ways to get rid of them. Search around a bit for removing .DS_Store and other "dot files" from FAT filesystems on a Mac and you'll find plenty of info. The inclusion of a tilde (~) in the filename is part of the conversion to 8.3 filenames. Use L and Ctrl-L to display long filenames on the SDrive software (read the manual for a little more info.)

Thank you, and thanks for buying one. I'm glad to hear you like it.

Woo! That looks good. Not going to fit J3, though?

Are you copying them on with a Mac? And are the duplicate files prefixed with a .?

That's a quality solution right there.

I must say, I am tempted to turn some of the kits into assembled devices...

Sure thing! Thanks for buying one. That was really nice of her.

Welp, that's it! The assembled SDrive NUXXs are sold out. There are nine kits left for those interested in a bit of DIY work...