AtariAge forum: username: else

Hi all. Long time Adam lover here -- as you may already know. The Adam was my family's very first computer, which I still have to this day. After watching lots of other old systems get CF and/or SD card solutions (such as the Atari, Commodore, Apple II, etc), I began feeling jealous and sorry for my lowly Adam. And so, after years of waiting and seeing nothing similar emerge for the Adam, I began thinking that it must be so hard to do that only an idiot would try making such a thing. Then I slowly began to realize that I was probably just the idiot to try!

Well, after spending way more time on this then I care to admit, I'm happy to report that I have been quite successful -- way more successful that I even dreamed of when I started working on this (I initially pegged my odds of success at about 1%).

So here's what I have come up with. I call it the Adam SD Drive....

Features:


Full Compatibility: Works with all existing Adams. It bridges to the AdamNET protocol to the FAT16/FAT32 file system on the SD Card. This means no software to install on the Adam (or the PC/Mac). Simply plug and play.

Big Capacity: With standard SD Cards, it provides up to 32 "disk" pairs (64 "disks" total). Note: it could actually store a lot more disks than this, but I ran out of space for LEDs -- I think 64 disks is probably plenty(?).

Small Size: Small enough to mount inside the Adam, if desired.

Fast: Programs load and save nearly instantly -- virtually as fast as cartridges do.


More features:


Drive Emulation: Acts as Disk Drive #1, Disk Drive #2, both, or none. This is selectable by using a push-button.

Disk Pair Selection: Selects which of the 32 "disk" pairs to use (64 "disks" total). This is selectable by using push-buttons.

Disk Pair Swap Selection: Each pair of "disks" can be mapped straight to Disk Drive #1 and Disk Drive #2, or this mapping can be swapped (reversed). This feature is necessary because some Adam programs do not behave well (or work well) with Disk Drive #2. This is selectable by using a push-button.


Still more features:


Disks are Files (and vice versa): These "disks" are simply files on the SD Card, and can be manipulated as such when the SD card is plugged in to a PC/Mac. The names of these files follow a strict naming convention so that the Adam SD Drive can find them for the Adam (additionally the Adam SD Drive will automatically create a new file whenever an existing one is not found). Some examples of valid file names are:



adam0-a.ddp adam0-b.dsk (disk pair #0)
adam1-a.dsk adam1-b.ddp (disk pair #1)
etc.




Existing Disks: Works with .dsk and .ddp images found on the internet. Put the SD Card in a PC/Mac, copy the files on to the SD card, and rename them to follow the naming convention mentioned above. Now put the SD Card in to the Adam SD Drive and go! Or vice versa -- provides a simple and easy way to move Tapes and Disk to a PC/Mac, for backing up and/or sharing Adam data.


Below are some pictures of the Adam SD Drive. The first shows the prototype breadboard I did. The second shows the bare PCB I had made. Finally, the third shows the fully assembled Adam SD Drive. There are a few minor things I'm going to change on the PCB (fix incorrect labeling, add another button, and change the placement of some of the buttons and LEDs).

Anyhow, let me know what you think