tashtari
PIC Whisperer
Sméagol said it was impossible... Sméagol lied!
Introducing... the Integrated Tashtari Machine!
Elevator Pitch
It's a floppy drive emulator, made using a PIC16F1708 and a standard SPLD. Instead of an aging mechanical component with brittle plastic gears trying to get data off aging save icons, it takes disk images off of a memory card and pretends to the Macintosh that it's a floppy drive.
Project Status
Very nascent. I've been working on this a while and I just got it to boot successfully, so I figured it was time for a forum thread. Currently supports a single read-only 800 KB disk image, that's it.
Caveats
A project claiming to be a floppy drive emulator is bound to draw comparisons to BMOW's Floppy Emu, so I'm going to get out in front of that right now. The Floppy Emu is an excellent and compelling product, I own one myself, and even if I achieve everything I set out to achieve with this project, the Floppy Emu is going to come out ahead by every measure except cost, openness, and ability to be integrated.
ITM will never emulate the HD20 (if you're interested in that, check out another of my projects, TashTwenty) or be compatible with Apple II disk controllers (except maybe the IIgs). ITM will probably never be able to write to 1.44 MB floppy images (though I do intend to make it able to emulate read-only ones.) ITM will not have a user interface controlled with buttons and displays and able to read FAT-formatted memory cards (though it will be possible to connect such an interface to it.)
What's Next
In the immediate future, support for 400 KB floppies, for writing 400/800 KB floppies, and for reading 1.44 MB floppies, and support for connection to a less primitive control interface.
In the less immediate future, an interface for a modern computer to control ITM over USB and select and upload/download images.
In the distant future, an integrated system using ITM that you'll want to install in your old Macs. Notice that I said install in rather than use with - this is intentional. ITM is not a self-contained product like the Floppy Emu, it's meant to be a component of a larger system, and that system can be better integrated with a Mac rather than a "brick on a leash." One idea I have for such a system is a user interface for ITM that can be installed in a Mac's floppy drive bay and be controlled by sticking a circuit board 'disk' through the slot with buttons and a display and a card slot, and thus completely disappear within the machine it's installed in.
Picture
A screenshot would just look like a Mac booted up from an ordinary floppy disk, so have instead a picture of the mess that is my bench setup...
Introducing... the Integrated Tashtari Machine!
Elevator Pitch
It's a floppy drive emulator, made using a PIC16F1708 and a standard SPLD. Instead of an aging mechanical component with brittle plastic gears trying to get data off aging save icons, it takes disk images off of a memory card and pretends to the Macintosh that it's a floppy drive.
Project Status
Very nascent. I've been working on this a while and I just got it to boot successfully, so I figured it was time for a forum thread. Currently supports a single read-only 800 KB disk image, that's it.
Caveats
A project claiming to be a floppy drive emulator is bound to draw comparisons to BMOW's Floppy Emu, so I'm going to get out in front of that right now. The Floppy Emu is an excellent and compelling product, I own one myself, and even if I achieve everything I set out to achieve with this project, the Floppy Emu is going to come out ahead by every measure except cost, openness, and ability to be integrated.
ITM will never emulate the HD20 (if you're interested in that, check out another of my projects, TashTwenty) or be compatible with Apple II disk controllers (except maybe the IIgs). ITM will probably never be able to write to 1.44 MB floppy images (though I do intend to make it able to emulate read-only ones.) ITM will not have a user interface controlled with buttons and displays and able to read FAT-formatted memory cards (though it will be possible to connect such an interface to it.)
What's Next
In the immediate future, support for 400 KB floppies, for writing 400/800 KB floppies, and for reading 1.44 MB floppies, and support for connection to a less primitive control interface.
In the less immediate future, an interface for a modern computer to control ITM over USB and select and upload/download images.
In the distant future, an integrated system using ITM that you'll want to install in your old Macs. Notice that I said install in rather than use with - this is intentional. ITM is not a self-contained product like the Floppy Emu, it's meant to be a component of a larger system, and that system can be better integrated with a Mac rather than a "brick on a leash." One idea I have for such a system is a user interface for ITM that can be installed in a Mac's floppy drive bay and be controlled by sticking a circuit board 'disk' through the slot with buttons and a display and a card slot, and thus completely disappear within the machine it's installed in.
Picture
A screenshot would just look like a Mac booted up from an ordinary floppy disk, so have instead a picture of the mess that is my bench setup...