IDE interface works

IDE interface works

Feb

17

2012

Believe it or not but I am still waiting for memory and UARTs board from BatchPCB. I am waiting for a redo after my last shipment was lost but looks like these guys assign lower priority to redo jobs. All in all, I have been waiting for two boards since November 1 last year. My ...
read more →

Construction

Wait states 1

Wait states

Jan

8

2012

My recent order of boards from BatchPCB got lost somewhere on its way. I am not sure if it was lost by USPS, at customs or at my local post office here in Warsaw, but the fact is I am still waiting for a new memory and UARTs boards. BatchPCB is re-doing my order now ...
read more →

Design · Design - control

IDE interface with RTC 4

IDE interface with RTC

Dec

4

2011

There are two things in my design still missing to declare completion of basic hardware – real-time clock and IDE interface. Hence, my recent project activities concentrated on these two elements. RTC and IDE will occupy a dedicated expansion board and will be built in a way to keep hardware complexity to the minimum. RTC ...
read more →

Design - I/O

New memory and UART boards

New memory and UART boards

Nov

1

2011

It is difficult to lay out boards properly. This task requires a lot of patience and experience, otherwise you end up with poorly routed boards, hundreds of vias or lengthy signal traces. Somehow I am still unable to avoid all these imperfections and my boards are not quite how I would like them to be. ...
read more →

Construction

Memory system update

Memory system update

Oct

29

2011

My memory system has recently undergone an update to hardware design. Originally I planned and implemented four memory bank registers – two for lower and upper 32kB of code, and two for lower and upper 32kB of data (see this post for details). With hardware able to address maximum of 128 banks via 22-bit address ...
read more →

Design · Design - memory

EPROM emulator hacked and working

EPROM emulator hacked and working

Oct

2

2011

The EPROM emulator I mentioned in my last post now works with the memory board. Making it work was an easy task and required a few simple hacks in hardware and software. Now I have a convenient and reliable development environment based on real hardware, and free of the hassle of EEPROM programming. I know ...
read more →

General