3.5" USB --> Atari SIO - Howto?

[Xebec]

Hey -

 

Just thinking we have a lot of methods for emulating SIO devices -- via Arduinos and Raspberry Pi type devices.

 

Is there one of these that might be suitable to modify "easily" for 'passthrough' emulation of a USB 3.5" floppy to the Atari 8bit?  

[Rybags]

It's sort of pointless because you'd be adding extra layers of emulation to accomplish the same thing as e.g. SIO2SD with no real extra benefit.

 

The SIO2* devices have to provide the high level emulation layer in that they process read, write, format commands.

The low level PC floppy emulators just take controller commands like seek, read, write sector or track and perform the relevant operation on the image.

I would guess that the USB types on PC would be classed as a mid level emulation in that they look on the surface just like a USB 3.5" drive but take commands then perform the operation on the SD card (or whatever) image file.

 

The key to efficient emulation with such devices is avoid unnecessary duplication, keep things as simple as possible.

Just providing the USB interfacing on it's own is a complex enough process and not really necessary.

 

Cost is another thing.  Thanks to low modern day component prices you can do SIO2* emulation on the likes of RasPi and Arduino for very little cost.