Difference between revisions of "Vortex Winchester Drive"

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(Technical)
Line 31: Line 31:
 
Ports seem to be:
 
Ports seem to be:
  
  FBFA - write command to WD1010 (write) 1111101111111010
+
fbfa = -----011-----010  a2=1 a1=1 a0=1 (write)
  FBFB - read status register from WD1010 (read) 1111101111111011
+
fbfb = -----011-----011  a2=1 a1=1 a0=1 (read)
  F9F8 - WD1010 data register (read/write) 1111100111111000
+
f9f9 = -----001-----001  a2=1 a1=1 a0=0 (write)
 +
f9fa = -----001-----010  a2=0 a1=1 a0=0 (write)
 +
fafa = -----010-----010
 +
 
 +
  FBFA - write command to WD1010 (write)  
 +
  FBFB - read status register from WD1010 (read)
 +
  F9F8 - WD1010 data register (read/write)  
  
 
  FAF8 = cylinder low? 1111101011111000
 
  FAF8 = cylinder low? 1111101011111000
Line 39: Line 45:
 
  FAFA = ?
 
  FAFA = ?
  
  F9F9 = ?
+
  F9F9 = wd1010 sdh register (write)
  F9FA = ?
+
  F9FA = wd1010 sector count register (write)
 
  F9FB = ?  
 
  F9FB = ?  
  
WD1010 appears to be mapped to CPC's A0.
 
  
 +
 +
WD1010 appears to be mapped to CPC's A0.
  
 
== Links ==
 
== Links ==

Revision as of 13:18, 4 September 2015

A HardDiscDrive (HDD) solution for the CPC.

Actually the first for the CPC.

Produced by the German company Vortex


The Harddisc was build about 1986. It have the same cases like the F1-S and the F1-D. A big Power Supply which have about 1,5 Kilograms gives the power to the Harddrive. The Harddrive was shipped with the Powersupply The Harddrive itself, a built in 5,25" DD Diskdrive with 720KB and a Controller which was used for being the MFM Controller with two ports for two MFM Harddiscs, two DD Floppys and a ROM board which give place for 2 Roms, which held the VDOS 2.0 The Contoller get the Power from the Harddisc. You can connect up to two 60MB MFM Drives which are supported by the VDOS 2.0. But the normal setup was with a 20 MB MFM Drive.

A Software Package consists of a few helpful tools:

  • LowLevel Format
  • Partition tools
  • Format partitions
  • Patch for CPM 2.2 and 3.0 (Plus) to support the Drive
  • File/Disccopy Tools
  • Diskformat
  • Hexeditor
  • and a few more...

Technical

CPCAI magazine claims the device has a WD1010 Winchester controller inside. The ROM seems to imply this too although the WD1010's A2, A1,A0 are not mapped to A2,A1,A0 on CPC.

The WD1010 has different commands and communication method compared to the Dobbertin (which appears to use SASI) and modern IDE (which uses ATA).

Therefore the software is *not* compatible with the Dobbertin or modern IDE drives.

Ports seem to be:

fbfa = -----011-----010   a2=1 a1=1 a0=1 (write)
fbfb = -----011-----011   a2=1 a1=1 a0=1 (read)
f9f9 = -----001-----001   a2=1 a1=1 a0=0 (write)
f9fa = -----001-----010   a2=0 a1=1 a0=0 (write)
fafa = -----010-----010
FBFA - write command to WD1010 (write) 
FBFB - read status register from WD1010 (read)  
F9F8 - WD1010 data register (read/write) 
FAF8 = cylinder low? 1111101011111000
FAF9 = cylinder high? 1111101011111001
FAFA = ?
F9F9 = wd1010 sdh register (write)
F9FA = wd1010 sector count register (write)
F9FB = ? 


WD1010 appears to be mapped to CPC's A0.

Links