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CD-ROM, IDE HD, and SATA HD — Parallax Forums

CD-ROM, IDE HD, and SATA HD

The CaptainThe Captain Posts: 60
edited 2006-08-23 22:28 in General Discussion
Has anyone been able to interface to these devices:
CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
DVD-RW
CD-RW
IDE HD
SATA HD

Comments

  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-08-22 20:21
    Captain,

    ·· I have interfaced all of the above to my PC at home.· =)

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • The CaptainThe Captain Posts: 60
    edited 2006-08-22 20:34
    Chris Savage (Parallax) said...
    I have interfaced all of the above to my PC at home. =)

    DOH! I mean to a BS2, Javelin, SX, or Pchip. lol.gif
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2006-08-23 08:42
    Why would you?

    None of those chips have the memory needed to fully parse the directory structure of those things.... (At least not in PBasic or SX/B. Maybe the Java version on the Javelin can do it, and probably Spin, too, but it'll be slow, cumbersome and messy.)

    If you need storage, either go for larger EEPROMS, or look at one of the many SD-card adapters available. Some of these even have a dedicated processor to help with handling the FAT file-system.
    There are a couple of threads in the Propeller forum...
    (too lazy to search them out right now)

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    Don't visit my new website...
  • The CaptainThe Captain Posts: 60
    edited 2006-08-23 15:44
    I don't want to use them for file storage. It's just one of those things I can say, look what I can do. turn.gif
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-08-23 17:24
    Captain,

    ·· A simple control interface could possibly be realized using the SX or the Propeller.· You might be able to implent simple control on the IDE stuff, but not the SATA devices.· You could start by opening the CD Tray and closing it on the CD-ROM Drives.· =)

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • hammerhead74000hammerhead74000 Posts: 58
    edited 2006-08-23 21:25
    Mmmm.... somewhere around here I've got a board with either an AVR or PIC (can't remember) that could read & write to an IDE HDD... from EDTP, IIRC...

    But, anyway - IDE is not that hard to do. Heck, folks even have it on TRS80s, C64s, and Apple ][noparse][[/noparse]s... IIRC, basically, it requires 8 bidirectional data lines (yes, this does leave 1/2 the drive unused), and 5 control lines (3 address, 1 write, 1 read). The command protocol is well documented.

    Google for ATA and IDE specifications, you'll find lots of info...


    As for SATA - I haven't got a clue, but would tend to suspect that it would require a dedicated chip...
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-08-23 22:28
    Correct, that's what i was getting at...Controlling the drive itself is relatively easy.· It's trying to read/implement the file system that can be a daunting task with a lot of overhead requirements.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
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