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2024-03-02: The wiki ran out of disk space, so things were not working. This has been resolved by adding another 5GB of quota ;-) Thanks to Tim Lindner for reporting the issues. 2020-05-17: If a page gives you an error about some revision not being found, just EDIT the page and the old page should appear in the editor. If it does, just SAVE that and the page should be restored. OS-9 Al (talk) 12:22, 17 May 2020 (CDT)

CoCoSDC: Difference between revisions

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(Added link to 3D design for SDC case)
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{{NavHardware}}
{{NavHardware}}
{{HardwareInfoBox |
{{HardwareInfoBox |
| name      =  
| name      = CoCo SDC
| photo      = cocosdc.jpg
| photo      = cocosdc.jpg
| caption    =  
| caption    =  
| date      =  
| date      =  
| year      =  
| year      = 2009
| interface  = Cartridge Port
| interface  = Cartridge Port
| notes      = Floppy drive replacement from Darren Atkinson.
| notes      = Current version (2021-03) : SDC-DOS 1.6, MCU (firmware) 121 (May 2020)
| infosource =  
| infosource = product user's guide
}}
}}


CoCo floppy disk replacement devices and software have one major shortcoming – the inability to use software in which the author wrote his or her own floppy disk access routines.
== Description ==


All versions Drivewire and the SuperIDE; CoCoNet and the Micro SD Pak, Bluetooth Pak and RS-232 Pak all suffer from this problem.
The CoCo SDC is a Color Computer Floppy Disk Emulator running [[SDC-DOS]] (effectively a floppy drive controller replacement), ready for [[Drivewire]] server communication. It was designed by [[Darren Atkinson]].


[[Darren Atkinson]] set out to alleviate the problem by designing a Color Computer Floppy Disk Emulator (effectively a floppy drive controller replacement), based on an Atmega micro-controller. The CoCo SDC also provides 8 banks of flash RAM so users can program their favorite ROM or alternative OS as well. SDC-DOS and DECB reside in banks 0 and 1, respectfully, when shipped. The SDC was designed to fit into a FD-501 or 502 case, as shown below.
Instead of hooking up old, hard to find floppy drives or cassette recorders, it gives direct access to floppy disk, cassette and ROMpak images stored on modern SDHC card storage. This is implemented by SDC-DOS additional commands to mount disk image files on the SD card, program the Flash and execute ROM images contained in the Flash. DriveWire disk support is also included in SDC-DOS.


[[File:cocosdc.jpg]]
Provided your system has a [[Multi-Pak]], you can connect a real floppy interface and the CoCo SDC at the same time, then backup physical floppies to disk images on an SD card. Copy protected disks can be backed up using tools like Carl England's [[Defeater]]. It is also useful to backup software loaded from cassettes.
 
The CoCo SDC also provides 128K of Flash memory which is divided into 8 banks of 16K so users can program their favorite ROM or alternative OS as well. SDC-DOS and DECB reside in banks 0 and 1, respectfully, when shipped.


Instead of hooking up old floppy drives, it gives direct access to floppy disk images stored on an SDHC card, as well as images on a Drivewire server.
Based on an Atmega micro-controller, the CoCo SDC emulates the Western Digital 1774 floppy controller chip and as such is basically 100% compatible with any CoCo software, including copy protected disks. CoCo floppy disk replacement devices and software have one major shortcoming – the inability to use software in which the author wrote his or her own floppy disk access routines. All versions Drivewire and the SuperIDE; CoCoNet and the Micro SD Pak, Bluetooth Pak and RS-232 Pak all suffer from this problem. The CoCo SDC aims at aleviating this problem.  


You can also connect a real floppy interface and the CoCoSDC at the same time using a [[Multi-Pak]], then backup physical floppies to disk images on an SD card. Copy protected disks can be backed up using tools like Carl England's [[Defeater]].
=== The CoCo SDC case ===


Since the CoCoSDC emulates the Western Digital 1774 floppy controller chip, it is basically 100% compatible with any CoCo software, including copy protected disks.  
The CoCo SDC was designed to fit into a FD-501 or 502 case, as shown below.


Ed "Zippster" Snider is now producing the CoCoSDC interfaces and sells them (as of 02/2021) for $50 as an assembled PCB or $70 including a 3d-printed case. They are designed to fit in an FD502 disk drive controller case, [[Tim Lindner]] also has been making plexiglass panels for $10. A [https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1492619 3D design is also available on Thingverse].
[[File:cocosdc.jpg]]


Boysontech also produces the CoCoSDC, see https://boysontech.com/boysontech-a-second-source-for-coco-sdc/.
Such cases are not easy to find, though. Other sources for SDC cases include:


Read more about CoCoSDC on the official site: http://cocosdc.blogspot.com/
* [[Tim Lindner]], maker of plexiglass panels for $10.
* 3D printing your own using the [https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1492619 CoCo SDC case 3D design] available on Thingverse
* Buying one from Ed Snider (see Vendors, below)


== Vendors ==
* [https://thezippsterzone.com/2020/06/25/the-coco-sdc/ Ed "Zippster" Snider is producing the CoCo SDC] and sells it (as of 02/2021) for $50 as an assembled PCB or $70 including a 3d-printed case.
* [https://boysontech.com/boysontech-a-second-source-for-coco-sdc/ Boysontech] also produces the CoCoSDC.


== Photos ==
== Files ==  
<gallery>
* Documentation : [https://goo.gl/bZ9ebS CoCoSDC User's Guide]
cocosdc.jpg|CoCoSDC interface.
* Latest firmware update : [https://goo.gl/ePgwe1 SDC-DOS 1.6, MCU 121 Firmware update]
</gallery>


== External Links ==
== External Links ==
* http://cocosdc.blogspot.com - Official website.
* http://cocosdc.blogspot.com - Official website.
* http://www.tandycoco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=99&t=246 - [https://colorcomputerarchive.com/repo/Documents/Manuals/Hardware/CoCo%20SDC%20User%20Guide%20(Darren%20Atkinson).pdf User manual] (PDF)
* http://www.tandycoco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=99&t=246 - [https://colorcomputerarchive.com/repo/Documents/Manuals/Hardware/CoCo%20SDC%20User%20Guide%20(Darren%20Atkinson).pdf User manual] (PDF)

Revision as of 03:38, 10 March 2021

WELCOME
Looking for CoCo help? If you are trying to do something with your old Color Computer, read this quick reference. Want to contribute to this wiki? Be sure to read this first. This CoCo wiki project was started on October 29, 2004. --OS-9 Al

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This page was last updated on 03/10/2021. Total Pages: 744. Total Files: 994.

Home / Hardware - CoCoSDC

CoCo SDC

Name CoCo SDC
Year 2009
Interface Cartridge Port
Notes Current version (2021-03) : SDC-DOS 1.6, MCU (firmware) 121 (May 2020)
Info Source product user's guide
About the Hardware Info Box


Description

The CoCo SDC is a Color Computer Floppy Disk Emulator running SDC-DOS (effectively a floppy drive controller replacement), ready for Drivewire server communication. It was designed by Darren Atkinson.

Instead of hooking up old, hard to find floppy drives or cassette recorders, it gives direct access to floppy disk, cassette and ROMpak images stored on modern SDHC card storage. This is implemented by SDC-DOS additional commands to mount disk image files on the SD card, program the Flash and execute ROM images contained in the Flash. DriveWire disk support is also included in SDC-DOS.

Provided your system has a Multi-Pak, you can connect a real floppy interface and the CoCo SDC at the same time, then backup physical floppies to disk images on an SD card. Copy protected disks can be backed up using tools like Carl England's Defeater. It is also useful to backup software loaded from cassettes.

The CoCo SDC also provides 128K of Flash memory which is divided into 8 banks of 16K so users can program their favorite ROM or alternative OS as well. SDC-DOS and DECB reside in banks 0 and 1, respectfully, when shipped.

Based on an Atmega micro-controller, the CoCo SDC emulates the Western Digital 1774 floppy controller chip and as such is basically 100% compatible with any CoCo software, including copy protected disks. CoCo floppy disk replacement devices and software have one major shortcoming – the inability to use software in which the author wrote his or her own floppy disk access routines. All versions Drivewire and the SuperIDE; CoCoNet and the Micro SD Pak, Bluetooth Pak and RS-232 Pak all suffer from this problem. The CoCo SDC aims at aleviating this problem.

The CoCo SDC case

The CoCo SDC was designed to fit into a FD-501 or 502 case, as shown below.

Such cases are not easy to find, though. Other sources for SDC cases include:

  • Tim Lindner, maker of plexiglass panels for $10.
  • 3D printing your own using the CoCo SDC case 3D design available on Thingverse
  • Buying one from Ed Snider (see Vendors, below)

Vendors

Files

External Links

Retrieved from "https://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=CoCoSDC&oldid=10022"