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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA
YouTube

Posted Wed Sep 18, 2024 6:58 am

Some of you may have pondered the 3rd IEC port in COREi64's new board, where most Commodore/CMD devices have only two. One is usually "out" to the computer while the other is used as "in' for daisy-chaining multiple devices (or vice versa, you know what I mean).

I got some really interesting back-story on that 3rd port from C64OS creator and maintainer and long-time CMD user Greg Naçu.

Naçu:
The original CMD HD has that port too. It's a dedicated printer port. The original HD-DOS didn't have support for it. Maurice Randall attempted to update the HD-DOS to add the originally intended use for it, but I don't know if that was ever released.

The idea is that the CMD HD would emulate a printer on device 4 or 5. You'd send a print job to the CMD HD which would buffer the data very quickly and free up the computer. Then the CMD HD's own CPU would spool the data out to the printer (connected to that third port) whenever the drive wasn't being accessed for data.
Pretty wild!

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Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Wed Sep 18, 2024 10:17 am

Awesome work as always, Thomas!

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COREi64

Posted Wed Sep 18, 2024 11:09 am

I wonder if there's anyone that in our community that has the assembly/programming skills who'd be interested in adding this feature to the ROM. Sure would be cool.

The reason why I'm including that third IEC port on the board is because I have a hope that someone would take this on to enable this feature.

COREi64

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McTrinsic

Posted Sun Sep 22, 2024 4:33 am

While totally not interested for myself, I must say I am very impressed!

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COREi64

Posted Thu Sep 26, 2024 12:06 pm

Almost done.

Here you see an assembled reproduction CMD HD in it's newly recreated black anodized aluminum case. This is however not the "finished" drive, as the finished drive will sport a new HD-4000 label on the front, and a black label on the back that indicates what all the ports are.

COREi64
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COREi64

Posted Mon Sep 30, 2024 1:22 pm

So, the waiting list has now started. This is the information from the FB post (for those that don't do FB).
Waiting-List-Now-Open.640x.jpg
So, it's time for me to open the waiting list. I'll get you to send me an e-mail at info@corei64.com or send me a message with what you'd like, and I'll put you on the list.

For the time being, I'm not going to be putting them in the shop, but rather, I'll be filling orders/requests through a waiting list. There'll be no requirement to put up any cash to be on the list. Just your name, and what you'd want.

Drives all require a 1541-II/1581 power supply. Many of us have these kicking around. As an effort to control pricing (and inventory that I have to carry), I've decided to not include PS's with the drives. We can all source PS's easy enough, plus they would add a lot to the cost of shipping .

Prices in USD are as follows:

HD w/BlueSCSI v2 & 32g SDcard in FDM/PLA Plastic Case $770
HD w/BlueSCSI v2 & 32g SDcard in Metal Case $920
HD without SD2SCSI card in FDM/PLA Plastic Case $720
HD without SD2SCSI card in Metal Case $870

For those wanting a drive without the BlueSCSI board, but you have your own Zulu/SD2SCSI/AztecMonster, let me know so I can include to appropriate mount with your drive.

For those wanting to build their own to save on overall costs, blank boards with licensed GALS/DriveROM will also be available as follows:

HD PCB and button/LED PCB with GALS & Driverom $135
HD-4000 front & back drive labels will be available for $35 per set.

The cost of shipping to your location will be added to that total.

Hopefully the pricing isn't too much of a shock to you. Keep in mind that I'm a one man show, and hand build every drive. They're very labor intensive to build. On the assembled and tested drives, all of the chips are socketed, so from a future maintenance perspective, they'll be easy to service down the road.

For those planning on building their own. Both the 3D printable as well as metal cases will be uploaded to PCBWay shared projects, so you'll be able to order the case that you want, in the color you desire. BOM as well as assembled board reference photos will be provided in the same manner that I do with the FD-Series drive builds. That being a link that contains all of the information. I may move that to a github, we'll see... still a work in progress.

I don't have a fixed date as to when I'll start filling the list. Will probably start filling the requests for the "Build it yourself" option first.

All options contain licensing fees that will be paid to the CMD rights owner.
Attachments
Waiting-List-Now-Open.640x.jpg

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COREi64

Posted Wed Oct 02, 2024 4:30 pm

For those planning on building their own, I've decided to try Github for sharing the neccessary documentation related to the build process.

https://github.com/COREi64/CMD-HD-4000
2024-10-02_16h49_46.png
Build-it-yourself shop link will be posted soon.

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COREi64

Posted Thu Oct 03, 2024 7:45 pm

The build-it-yourself option is now available for the HD-4000 through the following link.

https://corei64.com/shop/index.php?rout ... uct_id=455
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Availability of assembled drives will follow.

COREi64

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COREi64

Posted Wed Oct 16, 2024 2:38 pm

I've settled on a battery solution for the drive board. Now it's on to building drives for people.
SRS_IMG_4127.IMG_4127.jpg
COREi64





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