New to this stuff, but got an idea. Any help??
The Legend
Posts: 5
I've been given a project to try to create a drive that can have an old fashioned, 34-bit ATA floppy drive cable hooked up to it, and then convert that to work with a PCMCIA flash card.· Basically,· I want to be able to attach flash cards to old old computers(running windows 95)·that will think they are a simple floppy drive.· Any ideas I'd appreciate.· Thanks
Comments
2. A PCMCIA FLASH card looks more like a hard drive than a floppy.
3. I believe there already exist interfaces that support FLASH cards in PC's.
Result: I don't think you're adding any value, there are cheaper solutions already in existence.
In any event, a BS2 will be a really slow interface for a drive.
Once again, speed isn't critical, only functionality.
Ide to cf adapter for 10 to 20$ at www.pcsolar.com or www.damnsmalllinux.org. Use cf as a hard drive. Move data to many host that accept cf.
Alfat.com has a adapter for i2c or spi to cf card which can interface to the stamp or sx micros. It puts data in fat table format which can be written to or read by a dos stye machine with easy and no conversions. Also can be read or written with zaurus linux pda.....
73
spence
k4kep
What about an internal or external "card reader"...
...and use the DOS command 'subst" to redirect the drive letter to "A" or "B"
I do something similar with an old "junk" laptop that I take on vacation for dumping pictures from our camera.
I have a PCMCIA <--> Compact Flash (CF) adapter in the laptop. In addition, I have some "installed" programs on the
CF that I like to run on another computer for picture editing. Problem is/was, that on different computers the assigned
drive letter for the CF was different and it affected the software configuration. Using the "subst" command and reserving
the same drive letter on both computers allowed me to install the software to the CF and run it on both machines without
any problem.
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Beau Schwabe
IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
"If I could convert from hard disk IDE to floppy, that could work."
OK HOW ABOUT THIS. GET A LS-120 IDE DRIVE. I THINK IT WILL READ AND WRITE BOTH 720 AND 144 FORMAT FLOPPYS. THEN USE BEAU'S SUBT COMMAND TO MAKE IT RESPOND AND A FLOPPY.
BEAU, WOULD DRIVERS FOR A LS-120 BE A PROBLEM FOR HIM?
73
SPENCE
K4KEP
Spence,
I don't think your understanding what "The Legend" is wanting. He want's to either build a interface to allow him to use the FLOPPY port of a computer to do what he wants, or he wants to purchase it.
He's stated that he wants to do this to "a ton of systems", so he wants to make this for a large number, and doesn't want to have to mess with drivers for other cards, or ls-120 drivers, etc. He just wants to be able to plug this into the floppy port, so act as though the computer doesn't have a IDE port!
My question is this. If speed isn't an issue, and space is acceptable of 1.44 meg.... why not use a floppy drive with a standard 3.5" floppy disk!?
Knight.
Then LS-120 option won't work. Yes, the computer thinks it's a standard floppy, but drivers have to be installed.
The only suggestions that I can come up with, require a complete redo of the harddrive in the computers.
If you can get access to the computers operating systems. Then you can purchase a Soild State harddrive, or Compact Flash adapter for each computer, and if you can find some program that will make a second harddrive appear to be a floppy, software wise, then you'd be set.
Several ideas are.
1) Solid State Harddrives. They make them. They are around 1-2 gigs, called IBM Microdrives.
2) Compact Flash cards that have a IDE interface.
3) RS-232 interface. This would be simple with a basic stamp and a EEProm or Compact Flash card.
Just some thoughts.
Knight.