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My SD Card Hard Drive Emulator

Hmmm, wonder if this might work for my TeleVideo TS-802 that won't boot from floppy. Hadn't thought about trying to boot it from a 'hard drive'. It might need to work shimmed under the Z80. What a cool idea!
 
I see it has been almost exactly a year since the last post. This is a fascinating project. Have you got it to the point where boards might be available or enough info to build one?
 
Hi Ken

I was looking for a way to replace the WD1002-HD0 and disk for my home made CP/M machine, the disk itself is not working anymore. Then I saw Your project :-) it is exactly what I am looking for.

I know this thread is a bit old - just hope You still look at messages from the site. I would like to buy one of those converters - if You want to sell one ?


Best regards
Frank
 
Steve's being a bit modest here - he wrote the drivers for his machine, which you'll have to do if you use a device like uIDE. However, I thought you'd not struggle with this as you said your CP/M machine was home made.
 
Last edited:
codeman said:
My Adapter emulates the WD1002 but plugs into the 50 pin expansion header . Does not need the extra board like in the Kaypro 10.
Using only a STM32F4 MCU and a SD card .
Works with TurboROM and stock Kaypro ROM have to make a few fixes for KayPLUS ROM.
right now its running off a ST dev board going to do a full layout in the next few days .
some pics running on my Kaypro 1
View attachment 20099
View attachment 20098
ken
Click to expand...

What versions of the kaypro will this work in? Will it work in my kaypro 4/84 with 50 pin header?
 
Hello!

I am new to this forum but not new to vintage computers… I found this project through Google and it looks like what I am hoping could be a piece of a puzzle that I am trying to build for my Sage II 68000 system. Is this project still alive and well and is there a possibility that I could get the schematics to the PCB and the ST code?

Since I only have the Sage II (Dual Floppy) and not the Sage IV (Winchester HD) version, I’m also faced with trying to recreated the Winchester controller board as well. I’ve tried to find one of these old boards and at this point with this computer being so rare, I figure it’s probably easier to build it—the schematics are available. I am familiar and comfortable with the ST microcontroller. I am a career hardware engineer and have built many PCBs so this sounds like a fun challenge.

I do have the Sage II running from floppies and I have a bunch of the original disks working. I’m using CP/M 68K which I’m quite comfortable with and I’ve also set up a 68K cross-compiler environment on my Mac. What a beautiful old machine!!!

I’m also in the process of restoring my very first computer a SYM1 6502 computer that I learned to program in the late 70’s. Also lots of fun!

I hope this post finds someone still interested in the topic.

Best Regards,

Erich
 
I only just noticed this - I note the WD1002 interface has 40 pins, but the WD1002-SHD ( which I assume is used in a bunch of old CP/M machines ) is a 50 pin host interface.

Is the TRS-80 or Kaypro interface actually a WD1002-SHD Host Controller interface or did Kaypro's and TRS-80s use something different?

Kind Regards
David
 
This looks like it would be the perfect foundation to build a hard drive emulator for the Nabu. I think the Nabu mass storage unit used the WD1001 controller. The WD1002 seems to be compatible with the WD1001. I'd love to be able to get my Nabu running with internal storage and running the original Nabu CP/M software. Do you think this would be possible?
 
Note the original design was from 2018, the used STM32F4... has some 5 Volt (TTL level) tolerant pins. Check the current STM32F4 series if they still support that option. Otherwise you need to put some level converters between the TTL bus and the STM32F4.
Most of the new microcontrollers are 3.3V only (say a ESP32 or Raspberry Pi Pico)
 
codeman said:
My Adapter emulates the WD1002 but plugs into the 50 pin expansion header . Does not need the extra board like in the Kaypro 10.
Using only a STM32F4 MCU and a SD card .
Works with TurboROM and stock Kaypro ROM have to make a few fixes for KayPLUS ROM.
right now its running off a ST dev board going to do a full layout in the next few days .
some pics running on my Kaypro 1
View attachment 1050049
View attachment 1050048
ken
Click to expand...
I’ve been watching for a follow-up since I started down the Kaypro path this year. I have a Kaypro 2 with universal board that first led me to this thread. I’ve since obtained a Kaypro 10 (early rev). The Kaypro 10 has a Tandon drive with a failed head 2, so I’d like to move to something newer and not replace it with another 40 year old spinning drive. I’ve looked at the alternatives for emulating MFM, but I’d prefer to stay closer to the motherboard, with original ROM set, and eliminate the WD1002 also.

Have any of the design files or software been released or otherwise made available for the project? I’d rather not re-invent the work already completed.

Enjoy!
Bill
 
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