HxC Rev.F DIP-Switches and DSKx (DSx)

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schmitzi
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Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:14 am

HxC Rev.F DIP-Switches and DSKx (DSx)

Post by schmitzi »

Hi,

is there any manual for the Rev.F-drive ? In particular, for the DIP-switches ?

And, what is the highest DSK-Number that I can configure ? DS3 = DSK4 ?
We have different Floppy-Controllers for the TI-99/4A which support up to DSK8,
(and support 8 floppydrives the same time)

thx
RS

Jeff
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Re: HxC Rev.F DIP-Switches and DSKx (DSx)

Post by Jeff »


CoBra
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:46 am

Re: HxC Rev.F DIP-Switches and DSKx (DSx)

Post by CoBra »

Hi, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree, NOT ALL the manuals are there. There are only 3 manuals:

SDCard_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_User_Manual_ENG.pdf (English)
SDCard_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_User_Manual_FRA.pdf (Français)
Slim_SD_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_User_Manual_ENG.pdf (English)

The first two describe some old version whose circuit board looks nothing like the rev. F., it's dark blue and the board in the rev.F that I have is white. The dip switches are different, the data connector is different. EVERYTHING is different.
In these manuals it says that pin 16 of the data connector means "ID3#" which is supposed to mean... what? "DS3", the select signal for drive 3? And by the way these manuals are dated 2011... they cannot possibly describe rev.F.

The last manual describes a drive whose circuit board begins to look like what I have (rev.F). The circuit board is white, like mine, the data connector and the DIP switches are the same. The rest is different.
And in this manual pin 16 of data connector is described as "MTRON#", in contradiction with what it says on page 7:

"the SD HxC Floppy Emulator doesn’t use the motor control line"

(the only possible interpretation of 'motor control line" is MOTOR ON I guess....).
There is no SELECT signal available for drive 3 anymore. What happened to it? I see the DIP switches are still providing "ID3A/ID3B". Is there maybe a typo in the data connector pinout?

Please, can you clarify for me the function of pin 16 of the data connector on rev.F emulators? Because I'm trying to emulate a drive 3 with a Shugart controller and the drive is not found, and I'm trying to figure out if the problem is with the controller or with the emulator.

Another important thing: this is not clarified anywhere - when you say the emulator can emulate 2 drives, does that mean these 2 drives can be accessed SIMULTANEOUSLY, or not? I mean, can I load a floppy image in each drive and have both drives running with the host hardware AT THE SAME TIME?

Thank you

CoBra

Jeff
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Re: HxC Rev.F DIP-Switches and DSKx (DSx)

Post by Jeff »

The switches meaning is printed on the pcb. Rev C & Rev F SD HxC Emulator is basically the same hardware.

At which pin is connected the DS3 signal on the host system ?

CoBra
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:46 am

Re: HxC Rev.F DIP-Switches and DSKx (DSx)

Post by CoBra »

OK, I think this is just a glitch in the controller software on the host, because if I reset and retry I eventually see the virtual emulated drive 3.
The DS3 signal from the controller is connected to pin 16 of the emulator, and I think there is no problem with this. Looks like pin 16 in emulator IS INDEED DS3.

When I saw it wasn't working as drive 3, I just thought I would read the manual for the slim emulator too, to see what's in that one and I got very confused when I saw pin 16 assigned to "MTRON" instead of "ID3#" (which is supposed to mean DS3). I believe this is a mistake in the manual for the slim emulator and it should be corrected, but anyway, eventually mine DOES work as drive 3 too without problems.

The thing is, this was not very easy to figure out, because the firmware behaves unexpectedly:

While the manual says "When you insert the SDCard in the emulator, this drive selector should appear", this does not happen. In order to get to the "Change drive" option, I'm supposed to press and hold the middle button for a second or two. But this ONLY WORKS IF A FLOPPY IMAGE IS ALREADY MOUNTED IN THE CURRENT DRIVE. If not, the display just keeps flip-flopping between the current dir and the parent dir and asking for an image file to mount. And if an image is already mounted, pressing the middle button - without holding - will eject it before getting to the option to change the current drive. Easy to get the drive not ready if you don't pay attention.

Maybe if I disable the "remember last image file" feature I will get the drive selector at start?

Can you change the firmware so that it behaves like in the manual? And maybe change the way the buttons work: the middle button should be tested for a press and then wait for it to be released BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION (like change dir, select file, eject a file or display the menu). Then, ONLY IF the press time is bigger than 1 sec the config menu should be displayed.

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