NKC Electronics has developed a new SD2IEC flashcard drive for the Commodore. The older version has been sold out for months. Now the new version is out in prototype form.
The new SD2IEC comes in two parts, a mainboard and an optional daughterboard. NKC Electronics' Tony Kim explains, "The idea of having a separate board for the connectors is to be able to install the main board inside a DTV, Commodore console, or 1541 box. Or users can create a 1541 look-alike box with the SD2IEC inside. Having the boards separate helps in creating custom layouts. It was suggested by Shadowolf, the designer of the SD2IEC hardware."
Furthermore, he says, "The boards were tested by Shadowolf with all the JiffyDOS and other turbo loaders as supported by the SD2IEC firmware.... The board fully implements the original Shadowolf SD2IEC v1.2 design. I even added the rest of the unused pins of the atmega644p chip as pads on the PCB, for users to add possible future enhancements. The layout on the PCB was mine, but it was reviewed by Shadowolf (he is way more picky in following good electronics design rules), so the PCB has his name on it, as a sign of 'approval'."
Tony also explains that there is limited availability, which means only 3 working prototypes. However, he said, "...as soon as interest grows, I can produce 100 or more (current PCB design) in days/weeks."
The links to the new SD2IEC pics are
http://www.nkcelectronics.com/sd2iec-boar2.html
http://www.nkcelectronics.com/sd2iec-da ... boar2.html
Tony has been kind to send our club one of the prototypes for testing, and in the upcoming weeks I will report on our findings.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore/Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org/
New SD2IEC from NKCElectronics
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Pedro Lambrini
- Vic 20 Scientist
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The new SD2IEC has a different mainboard design when compared to the uIEC. Also uIEC either comes with a CompactFlash slot and an IDE connector or SD slot, whereas SD2IEC is obviously just SD.Pedro Lambrini wrote:So, is there any major difference, except the JiffyDOS stuff, between this and the uIEC?
Yes, it seems to be that way.Pedro Lambrini wrote:It seems that this is a golden age in flash media hardware for our trusty Commodores...
At last summer's Commodore Scene meeting in the U.K., we had so many different flashcard variants there, it was starting to get confusing! But it was a happy kind of confusion. 
Better to have choice than no choice,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Catch the Fatman and Circuit Girl at
http://vimeo.com/jeri
What JiffyDOS stuff? The uIEC supports JiffyDOS. According to Jim Brain, the software that this device uses is functionally identical to the software used by the uIEC and the uIEC/SD is smaller and thinner. The big difference appears to be the voltage.Pedro Lambrini wrote:So, is there any major difference, except the JiffyDOS stuff, between this and the uIEC?
In the end it will be as if nothing ever happened.
The firmware running on those SD2IEC boards and the firmware running on the various uIEC revisions are built from the same sources, so any differences in features are usually because of different compilation-time settings and/or parts of code that haven't been merged between the local source trees yet.Pedro Lambrini wrote:So, is there any major difference, except the JiffyDOS stuff, between this and the uIEC?
Jim has used larger controllers that offer more space for code/data and more free I/O pins that are even routed to an extension connector on uIEC/CF, so his hardware can potentially support more features in the future than the boards offered by NKC - assuming that someone will find time to implement something.
I believe that's the guy dragos was talking about.nbla000 wrote:dragos wrote:just give him some time,
Jim ?
I'm not sure what Jim's working on for the uIEC/SD but I know he has some really neat tricks of his sleeve for its big brother, the uIEC/CF (the one that supports IDE devices). He has talked about making it IEEE compatible and adding USB and/or ethernet. It's all very exciting.For example ? i'm curious...awesome things are coming!
Last edited by gklinger on Sun Feb 01, 2009 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
In the end it will be as if nothing ever happened.
About the SD version, may it mount d64/d71/d81 images ? may it surf directories and support long file/dir name ? how ? and what about prg/p00/tap files ?I'm not sure what Jim's working on for the uIEC/SD but I know he has some really neat tricks of his sleeve for its big brother, the uIEC/CF...
Mega-Cart: the cartridge you plug in once and for all.
Yes - d71/d81 starting with firmware version 0.8nbla000 wrote:About the SD version, may it mount d64/d71/d81 images ?
Yes, long file names up to 16 charactersmay it surf directories and support long file/dir name ?
Same commands as used by the CMD driveshow ?
prg/p00 yes, tap noand what about prg/p00/tap files ?
Mega-Cart: the cartridge you plug in once and for all.
Yesnbla000 wrote:dragos wrote:just give him some time,
Jim ?
Well, I tend to understate things, because of this:For example ? i'm curious...awesome things are coming!
This is the problem will discussing planning features. Someone misstates the information, and it turns into a feature that is already delivered. Then, when others try to set the record straight, the developer is dissed because he "promised" a feature and now is backing away from delivering.carlsson wrote:I've read people on other forums believing it already supports IEEE-488.gklinger wrote:He's talked about making it IEEE compatible
But, you did ask, so here are the plans.
- Adding a USB option to uIEC/IDE+CF. This will allow uIEC to listen on multiple device IDs and send the requests over to the PC. I've got a large chunk of the PC code done, but the sd2iec firmware needs a bit of restructuring so it can watch for PC comm when the bus is free.
- uIEEE option for uIEC/IDE+CF via a daughtercard. Not much to report, other than I have figured out how to do the electrical, but a learning about the IEEE protocol. Some non CBM folks also want this for HP and such units, so I am trying to ensure the IEEE interface will be CBM and HPIB compliant.
IEEE is interesting, as most PET owners would prefer something like this, but the USB option is more interesting to me. Once I can transfer IEC data to the PC, I can create "virtual" drives that are web site, ftp sites, handle postscript printing (simply listen for activity on device #4, grab the data stream, if it's GFX, spin it through a filter and send to a PS printer), and do quirkly things like Ethernet or RS232 over IEC (usefulness is not guaranteed, but the potential is there).
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Thank you for your reply.brain wrote:But, you did ask, so here are the plans.
For me, the most exciting thing is the ability to print to a modern USB printer (Laser too) and to use a USB Pen-drive like a CF or a SD, do you think it will be possible ?
- Adding a USB option to uIEC/IDE+CF. This will allow uIEC to listen on multiple device IDs and send the requests over to the PC. I've got a large chunk of the PC code done, but the sd2iec firmware needs a bit of restructuring so it can watch for PC comm when the bus is free.
And just because we are speaking of future planning, why not a single interface with CF+SD+USB(PenDrive) support ?
Mega-Cart: the cartridge you plug in once and for all.