OricSD

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This includes generic Oric talkings and things that are totaly unrelated but want to share with people here :)
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iss
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OricSD

Post by iss »

Hi all,
When I saw the two new projects for Oric extensions:
StratoCumulus and New Oric Phoenix or Pravetz 9D
I got motivated to start my long postponed project to interface Oric with SD/MMC card.

This idea isn't new and even isn't mine: OricSD by Dbug is already defined. So, I forked 'OricSD' project to 'Oric8D' (names are graphically very close and the final design I foresee will be very similar too :wink: ).

The goals for Oric8D are:
- totally external - no internal hardware changes and no box opening required;
- emulate regular tape player to allow 'CLOAD'-ing stored *.tap files (support slow/fast mode);
- provide high speed file transfer through parallel port;
- provide compatibility with ALL Oric DOSes (with patched versions on sector level);
- RGB to S-Video/Composite output;
- VSync and Speech-synthesizer loopback hacks (possible command controlled on/off);
- easy doable;
- very cheep (!).

I planed to integrate more things but probably will drop them:
- VGA output - the expenses will be significant higher;
- USB/PS2 keyboard replacement - requires box opening;
Actually there is good chance to find solution, will see ...

Also what about:
- joystick interface(s) (?);
- serial interface (?);
- ethernet - (It's like but not joke) (?).

I have already ideas how to meet all above requirements but any help, more ideas and proposals are always welcome! Definitely I will need help to patch Oric DOSes!

As first step I will modify and improve my own emulator (emul8D) to support above imaginary (yet) Oric8D hardware, so everyone can test it virtually. The emulator will run on Linux (32/64 bit) and Windows (32/64 bit). It will be free as always. If there is interest for Mac support - it can be done. Depending on interest I can provide the same hardware emulation for Oricutron too.
(@Xeron: btw, I already implemented Pravetz Dos 8D support for Oricutron - it works perfectly and changes in sources follow your coding style. Please, contact me if you like to merge it in svn).

Additionally I have few questions:
- Do all real Oric's have relay for tape control soldered? Because in Pravetz-8D it was never included. It's important to know - I have interesting idea how to use it.
- If parallel port is used for fast transfer with SDCard, is it worth to add one more connector for real printer and make SDCard functionality 'transparent' allowing printing?
- Any ideas or recommendations about joysticks, serial interface, ethernet - what is worth to be integrated?
Last edited by iss on Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Xeron
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Re: Oric8D

Post by Xeron »

iss wrote:@Xeron: btw, I already implemented Pravetz Dos 8D support for Oricutron - it works perfectly and changes in sources follow your coding style. Please, contact me if you like to merge it in svn).
Thats awesome! I'm very interested in your patches. But even better.. do you have a google account? I'm happy to give you direct commit access.
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Dbug
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Re: OricSD

Post by Dbug »

iss wrote:Additionally I have few questions:
- Do all real Oric's have relay for tape control soldered? Because in Pravetz-8D it was never included. It's important to know - I have interesting idea how to use it.
- If parallel port is used for fast transfer with SDCard, is it worth to add one more connector for real printer and make SDCard functionality 'transparent' allowing printing?
- Any ideas or recommendations about joysticks, serial interface, ethernet - what is worth to be integrated?
I did not know the Pravetz did not have the relay. As far as I know, all genuine Orics have it.

For the parallel port, honestly I would not bother having a real one added because well... Most printers these days are only USB or Ethernet, and finding consumables for older printers is very costly/difficult. I would rather have MIDI connectors, at least that could be used to put an Oric in a music system (as a controller or as a music playing system), and could even be used to make simple networking between Oric (we had MidiMaze on the Atari ST, brillant game!)

If you plan to use the parallel port for control, just make sure it does not impact the sound control: A number of joystick interfaces are fucking up sound during gameplay, which is very not nice at all :)
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ibisum
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Re: OricSD

Post by ibisum »

I concur with DBug - pass-through would be nice, but MIDI support would be amazing. I've got 6 Atmos machines, an Oric and a Telestrat - if I could MIDI them all up, I'd be very, very happy.. as I'd use them to compose music, of course! :)
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