HxC Floppy Emulator

[Retrofan]

I've seen this at Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180516490246
 
They will be available on 26.06.2010
 
Will they be usefull?

[trip6]

Its a nice project... Except it doesnt support native ADF format read\write you have to convert them. It does not mount to the case floppy slot very well... PCB Board should be designed as a drop in floppy replacement with controls and sd accessible through floppy slot and well as screwing to the floppy mounts on the case... Its kinda a fugly install in its current form... But a nice concept none the less... Just my 2 cents...

[sbeehre]

ive got one and the only problem is that it doesnt mount well into the case... it will involve a bit of hacking to get it in there.

[Buzzfuzz]

Write support not available on Amiga computers !

That's the only problem I have with it and that is not useful when saving a game.
You are better off with a CF adapter and IDE controller, even if it is for an A500 and then WHDload on it and your done.

[Retrofan]

It says "LCD and buttons can be put on an external front panel"
 
If so, I think they should have done it so the LCD screen could be towards the right of the Amiga, in the place of the floppy into something similar to a floppy box, and the SD card beside...

[Retrofan]

They say LCD and buttons can be put on an external front panel, so they should have done it so the card could fit into the floppy hole and the LCD screen, buttons and SD card could be in a panel outside where the floppy goes, covering the hole of it.

[mfilos]

It's a nice project indeed! Not to mention it's the only way to have an internal floppy type of implementation to an Amiga 600 with A603+Indivision ECS

Some drawbacks are:
- Not being able to write but only read from images (for Amiga computers)
- Not native ADF support (have to convert every ADF to HFE through software)
- Not Alphabetical order in files (iirc it's based on creation timestamp)

You can easily mount an header in a designated part on the PCB where all the signals (for LCD panel + 3xButtons) exist, to mount it externaly wherever you want on the case (with a bit of hackery ofc)



Jeff made a firmware for Atari users being able to control the SD Emulator from the computer (without LCD screen) making it very nice without extra modding to the case.
Dunno if he will ever make a firmware that will support Amiga as well... but here's hopin'

[rkauer]

How about using an Acrappy emulator to control the device? I'm pretty sure the Amiga can do it.

[fitzsteve]

@Mfilos,

Where did you get the cables to extend the screen, i can't find anything?

Anychance you can get me some if I paypal you the funds?

By the way your A600 always puts mine to shame, such a nice peice of work.  Wish I had your Skills

Steve.

[XDelusion]

I do not have the SD version, but I do have the USB version.

The only real benefit to these (that I can see) is being able to load ADF images off a virtual drive, thus negating the need to wrestle with your aging floppy drive and floppies. Some games may not be friendly with WHDLoad or your Computer for that matter, so this may be a solution there. Likewise it's great for system installs or floppy based installs like Brilliance, which is pretty much the only thing I use mine for. A reason I feel makes a device like this well justified.

If your goal is to back up floppies, another solution is on the way from a different source.

[Astral]

Will they be usefull?

Very! That is - apart from the two main holdbacks mentioned above being the inability to write (at the moment) to a file on the Amiga and the awkward shape/layout.

From the perspective of the actual job it does, it's fantastic. It realistically means not having the need to have mountains of floppy disks to hold my favourite games/programs! I've got a 2g SD card I convert the files to using my PC, put them in the emulator on my A4000 and enjoy!

When I found out about this project a while back, but realised that only the USB/PC reliant version was being made I remember opening a thread on this forum to get an idea of the interest for the SD card based version - the result was well in truly in favour of this version! The author got involved in the thread, and here we are! I don't regret buying one, and I'd have to put it on par with usefulness to the 1541-Ultimate!

[LeoNardoF]

Good News !!!
 
Amiga Write support added
 
http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/

[Rob]

UFE looks better but it needs someone to bring it into productions.

http://busydizzys.com/index.php/2010/07/28/emulating-an-amiga-floppy-drive-and-others

[LeoNardoF]

UFE looks better for Amiga, but I like the work of Jeff and the many systems supported..
It's a shame that I couldn't buy one yet, but I hope to have one really soon...

[Jeff_HxC]

Important update of the SD HxC Floppy Emulator for Amiga users:

-> Write support added for Amiga !

Quote:
22/08/2010: Firmware SD HxCFloppyEmulator v1.3.0.0
- Amiga Write support added :

Note to the Revision B PCB owners :

To activate this new features you need to add a Microchip 23K256 SPI SRAM chip and 4 resistors.
The connection to do is :

23K256 pin 1 -> 220ohms resistor -> PIC18F4620 pin 22
23K256 pin 5 -> 220ohms resistor -> PIC18F4620 pin 27
23K256 pin 6 -> 220ohms resistor -> PIC18F4620 pin 28
23K256 pin 2 -> 220ohms resistor -> PIC18F4620 pin 29
23K256 pin 8 & 7 -> VCC3.3V (this voltage can be found at the capacitor under the sdcard connector or at the output of the regulator)
23K256 pin 4 -> GND
23K256 pin 3 -> Not connected.

(a 100nF capacitor is also recommended at the pin 8 of the 23K256)

After this modification you should see the message "SRAM OK" at power up.


More infos here:

http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/index.html#SDCARDFloppyemulator