Hans01
Experienced Member
This comparison is based entirely on my personal experience as an experienced and enthusiastic computer user.
Feel free not to agree with me and add your own experiences to this review.
Hans.
The TRS -80 IDE versus the FreHD
As owner of a TRS80 Model 4p my love for old computers completely revitalized.
I want this computer to keep as much as possible in his original condition.
On the other hand, I do want maximum ease of use and solve his shortcomings from past.
At the moment there is a unique opportunity to solve one of these known shortcomings in two ways.
Unfortunately, the floppydisk system barely meets the modern requirements for ease of use , due to the absence of a reliable hard disk system.
There are now two excellent solutions available, namely the FreHD from the
highly active duo Ian Mavric and Frederic Vecoven and the TRS-80 IDE interface of the trio Matt ( FireBox ), FrankG, ( Chromedome45 ) and James Pearce.
Sorry for all the names of the people who have done a lot for these projects and I did not mention here, I don’t know them.
With one of these two systems you can make your TRS-80 completely up to date and useful for modern applications.
I bought a sets of the TRS-80 adapter and Ian was so kind to send me a FreHD set to evaluate it to convince me of the qualities of this interface. This set is going on tour in Europe for other users to test it for a few weeks. Just ask Ian about it.
First something about the technical aspects. As I have available only a model 4, I can only involve my findings on this model.
For the other models ( Model 3 and Model 1 ) the possibilities are about the same, but mostly with an extra interface or only minor limitations.
The hardware consists of a board of about 10 x 8 cm. The quality of the print and the components is excellent. The interfaces in both cases are available as a kit, loose components and as a readymade version.
The self-build of the interface, using a component package is for some experienced hobbyist with some experience and a good soldering iron and solder certainly feasible and cost saving properly.
I have 3 TRS-80 IDE's built without any problems and they worked immediately and were completely interchangeable.
The manual and support for the FreHD is excellent and for the TRS-80 IDE, less obvious and requires some detective work of the builder.
The result is a perfectly functioning modern disk system with a capacity of
about 26 megabytes. This is the maximum for the TRS-80 IDE and intentionally limited to the FreHD.
This space can be divided into up to eight partitions. This is more than enough, I think it fits all the available software for the TRS80 5 to 10 times in this space .
The hard disk can be used for LS-DOS 6; LDOS 5 and CP/M.
After this general information I would like to mention the advantages and disadvantages of the two interfaces.
The pro’s in green the against in red.
The FreHD
Pro:
Very small PCB that is rather easy to build.
Really FAT32 file system, so that the images can be edited and saved on an SD-Card, which can be modified on a PC. The images can be managed and used with
Most popular emulators for building and maintenance.
No need for modified drives, just use the default TRS 80 drivers.
The software sees the FreHD as an ordinary TRS 80 hard drive.
Extremely useful support software for file transfer between the hard disk and the PC,
TRS80 and floppies .
A built-in clock chip for date and time with battery backup, which can be fully integrated into the software.
By using different SD-cards you can easily switch between the various operating systems.
If you use the modified TRS80 bootrom, you get a menu to select one of the operating systems which exist on the SD.
Automatically boot without a floppy in the drive.
Very active development of supporting software.
Against:
Data storage is only possible on a SD card. (No real hard disk or CF-card supported).
Due to the technical expensive components and advanced file system and the RTC is the FreHD considerably more expensive than the TRS-80 IDE.
Think also about the transport from Australia and customs clearance fees at customs.
Due to extra build in security checking the response and transfer time is a little bit longer than the with the TRS80-IDE controller.
The TRS-80 IDE
Pro:
The ability to choose between a hard disk , CF or SD makes the system attractive
With a real harddrive is the system super fast.
With multiple partitions and smart boot floppies you have way to build a powerful system that supports more operating systems on one storing device.
Built-in in a computer is certainly possible, but requires some ingenuity.
If you build it yourself, you have a real cheap harddisk for your TRS-80.
Against:
Besides the small PCB with the controller there is need for a real harddisk, CF to IDE or SD to IDE adapter.
The system depends on modified drivers for every operating system, so you are
dependent of the good will of the developer.
The supporting software is minimal and you will need to make use of
utilities that are available in various libraries on the internet.
Auto Boot is not available, but seems to be solved by modifing the
existing software and the system rom.
The development of supporting software is at a low level or has completely stopped.
The data on the CF or SD card can not be maintained on the PC, but needs through
floppies happen.
Conclusion
Both interfaces do well where they are made for. They provide your TRS 80 with an extremely powerful hard disk system.
It makes working with the elderly computers again a pleasure.
Are you going for a cheap solution then the TRS-80 IDE is a good choice.
If you want more comfort and support, and you are willing to pay a reasonable, but justified price, then go for the FreHD.
A final point to consider is the availability and support in the future.
Both projects rely entirely on highly motivated volunteers, but for how long
they can and will continue to do so.
But whatever you chose, just do it, you won't regret it.
Feel free not to agree with me and add your own experiences to this review.
Hans.
The TRS -80 IDE versus the FreHD
As owner of a TRS80 Model 4p my love for old computers completely revitalized.
I want this computer to keep as much as possible in his original condition.
On the other hand, I do want maximum ease of use and solve his shortcomings from past.
At the moment there is a unique opportunity to solve one of these known shortcomings in two ways.
Unfortunately, the floppydisk system barely meets the modern requirements for ease of use , due to the absence of a reliable hard disk system.
There are now two excellent solutions available, namely the FreHD from the
highly active duo Ian Mavric and Frederic Vecoven and the TRS-80 IDE interface of the trio Matt ( FireBox ), FrankG, ( Chromedome45 ) and James Pearce.
Sorry for all the names of the people who have done a lot for these projects and I did not mention here, I don’t know them.
With one of these two systems you can make your TRS-80 completely up to date and useful for modern applications.
I bought a sets of the TRS-80 adapter and Ian was so kind to send me a FreHD set to evaluate it to convince me of the qualities of this interface. This set is going on tour in Europe for other users to test it for a few weeks. Just ask Ian about it.
First something about the technical aspects. As I have available only a model 4, I can only involve my findings on this model.
For the other models ( Model 3 and Model 1 ) the possibilities are about the same, but mostly with an extra interface or only minor limitations.
The hardware consists of a board of about 10 x 8 cm. The quality of the print and the components is excellent. The interfaces in both cases are available as a kit, loose components and as a readymade version.
The self-build of the interface, using a component package is for some experienced hobbyist with some experience and a good soldering iron and solder certainly feasible and cost saving properly.
I have 3 TRS-80 IDE's built without any problems and they worked immediately and were completely interchangeable.
The manual and support for the FreHD is excellent and for the TRS-80 IDE, less obvious and requires some detective work of the builder.
The result is a perfectly functioning modern disk system with a capacity of
about 26 megabytes. This is the maximum for the TRS-80 IDE and intentionally limited to the FreHD.
This space can be divided into up to eight partitions. This is more than enough, I think it fits all the available software for the TRS80 5 to 10 times in this space .
The hard disk can be used for LS-DOS 6; LDOS 5 and CP/M.
After this general information I would like to mention the advantages and disadvantages of the two interfaces.
The pro’s in green the against in red.
The FreHD
Pro:
Very small PCB that is rather easy to build.
Really FAT32 file system, so that the images can be edited and saved on an SD-Card, which can be modified on a PC. The images can be managed and used with
Most popular emulators for building and maintenance.
No need for modified drives, just use the default TRS 80 drivers.
The software sees the FreHD as an ordinary TRS 80 hard drive.
Extremely useful support software for file transfer between the hard disk and the PC,
TRS80 and floppies .
A built-in clock chip for date and time with battery backup, which can be fully integrated into the software.
By using different SD-cards you can easily switch between the various operating systems.
If you use the modified TRS80 bootrom, you get a menu to select one of the operating systems which exist on the SD.
Automatically boot without a floppy in the drive.
Very active development of supporting software.
Against:
Data storage is only possible on a SD card. (No real hard disk or CF-card supported).
Due to the technical expensive components and advanced file system and the RTC is the FreHD considerably more expensive than the TRS-80 IDE.
Think also about the transport from Australia and customs clearance fees at customs.
Due to extra build in security checking the response and transfer time is a little bit longer than the with the TRS80-IDE controller.
The TRS-80 IDE
Pro:
The ability to choose between a hard disk , CF or SD makes the system attractive
With a real harddrive is the system super fast.
With multiple partitions and smart boot floppies you have way to build a powerful system that supports more operating systems on one storing device.
Built-in in a computer is certainly possible, but requires some ingenuity.
If you build it yourself, you have a real cheap harddisk for your TRS-80.
Against:
Besides the small PCB with the controller there is need for a real harddisk, CF to IDE or SD to IDE adapter.
The system depends on modified drivers for every operating system, so you are
dependent of the good will of the developer.
The supporting software is minimal and you will need to make use of
utilities that are available in various libraries on the internet.
Auto Boot is not available, but seems to be solved by modifing the
existing software and the system rom.
The development of supporting software is at a low level or has completely stopped.
The data on the CF or SD card can not be maintained on the PC, but needs through
floppies happen.
Conclusion
Both interfaces do well where they are made for. They provide your TRS 80 with an extremely powerful hard disk system.
It makes working with the elderly computers again a pleasure.
Are you going for a cheap solution then the TRS-80 IDE is a good choice.
If you want more comfort and support, and you are willing to pay a reasonable, but justified price, then go for the FreHD.
A final point to consider is the availability and support in the future.
Both projects rely entirely on highly motivated volunteers, but for how long
they can and will continue to do so.
But whatever you chose, just do it, you won't regret it.
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