SYMBiFACE II
SYMBiFACE II is a multi-function expansion, developed by Dr.Zed, with financial and initial software support from Prodatron. Portions of the design are based on the CPC-IDE prototype.
Detailed documentation can be found here: SYMBiFACE II documents
Contents
[hide]Availability
About 200 units of the SYMBiFACE II have been built and shipped between 2006 and 2012. Today it is only available in the second-hand market. The RAM/ROM and the IDE feature of the SYMBiFACE II can be replaced by the X-MEM and the X-Mass hardware created by TotO, which is still available today (2016).
Features
CPC SYMBiFACE II provides one solution for connecting a CPC with an IDE hard disc. You can use a master and a slave device.
IDE Features
- Supports IDE hard discs with up to 128 GB.
- Bigger HDD or CD/DVD drive support possible with drivers.
- Simultaneous operation of two hard discs (master and slave) for a total of up to 256 GB on your CPC!
- Transfer speed of 162 KByte/s. That's as fast as copying memory inside the CPC with LDIR. In practice (loading FAT16/32 files) the speed is still about 130 KB/s (SymbOS-FAT-driver).
- External power supply provided: no extra load for the CPC's internal PSU.
- No timing problems: Interrupts don't need to be disabled during the data transfer with the hard disc. The hard disc can operate while you play sound or doing other things with your CPC (multitasking etc.).
- Traffic activity display via a LED on the board.
Additional Features
- 512 KB RAM extension, which is fully compatible with the CPC 6128 and the dk'tronics RAM extension
- 512 KB rewriteable ROM. You can upload up to 32 ROMs, which are persistent. You can also use the ROM space as an additional RAM extension. ROMs can be switched on or off via switches or via software.
- PS/2 mouse connector. This makes it possible to connect wireless and optical mice (PC compatible, therefore inexpensive) to your CPC.
- Real time clock, which is fully PC compatible and (as seen on the photo) provides additional 128 byte persistent RAM, which can be used to store config data.
ROM-Manager
- Under BASIC you can use ROManager BASIC to manage all 32 ROMs of the SYMBiFACE II. It can load/save all 32 or one 16 KB ROM. Further you can copy, move, erase, park, unpark or check ROMs.
- The simulated ROMs of the SYMBiFACE II can also be handled by a ROM manager which runs under SymbOS. This tool allows displaying, loading, saving and deleting the 32 x 16K ROMs.
- The most comprehensive application for the SYMBiFACE II ROM management "ROManager" runs under FutureOS. It allows you to display the existing ROMs, load or save one or all ROMs, test a ROM, adapt the checksum, copy, paste and delete ROMs etc.
Background ROMs
HDCPM or UniDOS are excellent complements to the Symbiface II.
Cyboard
Cyboard is a Symbiface II clone with embedded Ethernet controller for the Amstrad CPC range of computers.
Its Ethernet controller is supported by SymbOS and by KCNet utilities for CP/M.
The Ethernet controller uses 4 I/O ports:
- #FD20: MR - Common Register
- #FD21: IDM_ARH - Upper 8 bits Offset Address Register
- #FD22: IDM_ARL - Lower 8 bits Offset Address Register
- #FD23: IDM_DR - 8 Bits Data Register
Symbiface II Mouse Interface
Dr. Zed, the creator of the Symbiface 2, also built a standalone Interface of the PS2-Mouse part of the SF2.
It is compatible with all software which is compatible with the original SF2-Interface. (Patched Arkanoid from Nilquader for example, or SymbOS or FutureOS).
Every PS2 Compatible Mouse Devices (like trackballs, spinners) can be used. When using a USB Mouse, you need a passive adapter usb to ps2.
Build your own or make a batch of devices for others
See also
