Schneiderware

The Schneiderware series consists of several DIY projects which have been released in german magazine CPC Schneider International published by DMV. The name "Schneiderware" was probably choosen due to its double meaning ("CPC Hardware" in computer language, or "specially fitted clothing" in german language). Aside from building the hardware on one's own, one could also order printed circuit boards, either fully assembled, or plain PCBs without components.

The various boards are having special connectors, intended to be mounted on the "Basisplatine" (some kind of a motherboard with ECB Bus sockets) which allows to connect up to five Schneiderware boards to the CPCs Expansion Port; with some small modifications one could also connect the boards directly to the Expansion Port (the motherboard is merely an Y-cable-like adaptor without electrical components, so one doesn't really need it).

Schneiderware #1 Introduction (Theory) (6/1986 pages 62-67, plus preface from 5/1986 page 21)
Schneiderware #2a Basisplatine (Motherboard) (7/1986 pages 60-67)
Schneiderware #2b Centronics (Printer Port) (7/1986 pages 60-67, plus complaints from 10/1986 page 10, port B redefined on 12/1986 page 124 and 3/1987 pages 8-9)
Schneiderware #3 V/24 (RS232 Interface) (8/1986 pages 70-77, plus correction from 9/1986 page 80)
Schneiderware #4 Netzteil (Power Supply) (9/1986 pages 78-83, corrections on 10/1986 page 85, 5/1987 page 12)
Schneiderware #5 Echtzeituhr (Real Time Clock) (10/1986 pages 78-85, corrections on 12/1986 page 6 and 3/1987 page 9, 9/1987 page 9, ROM driver in 4/1987 pages XX-XX)
Schneiderware #6 Uni-PIO (48 I/O lines) (12/1986 pages 124-130, correction on 5/1987 page 12)
Schneiderware #7 A/D and D/A Converter (8 analog inputs, 2 analog outputs) (3/1987 pages 32-45)
Schneiderware #8 Pseudo ROM (SRAM and EPROM mapped as ROM) (4/1987 pages 26-34, plus corrections in 5/1987 pages 32-34)
Schneiderware #9 Eprommer (EPROM Burner) (6/1987 pages 122-131)
Schneiderware Nachlese (Notes) (11/1987 pages 97-99)

CPC Schneider International 02/1987, Page ??-??, 7 MIDI Interface (advertised together with the Schneiderware PCBs, but not part of the Schneiderware series)

Notes: The "Centronics" board is yet another 8bit Printer Port solution (but different than the joystick-signal based one that was released a few months earlier in the same magazine). The Real Time Clock is somewhat similar to the CPCI Real Time Clock released in a special issue of the same magazine, but not identical (the RTC chip has different pin-outs, and some of it's 4bit registers are working slightly different, the leap-year bits, for example).

Databoxes: UHR8000 RTC-RAM-driver in 10-1986 (hex listing, plus Hisoft Devpac source code) (caution this version uses incorrect I/O addresses FBE1-FBE3), UHRC000X RTC-ROM-driver in 4-1987 (this version uses correct I/O addresses FBE2-FBE4). Uni-PIO examples in 12-1986 (=only a few basic lines). There seem to be no Centronics and V/24 drivers included in databoxes.

I/O Ports

Address (default)	Address (alternate)	Usage
DFxxh	N/A	Schneiderware RAM/EPROM - Expansion ROM bank number (W) Battery-backed SRAM and/or EPROM are selected when the bank-number matches the jumper-selected values; the memory is then mapped to C000h..FFFFh (in case of READing one must also enable upper ROM via Gate Array). The bank number decoding is a bit strange: EPROM/Read bank: All 8 bits decoded (bank 00h..FFh) SRAM/Read bank: Only lower 4 bits decoded (bank X0h..XFh) SRAM/Write bank: Only lower 4 bits decoded (bank X0h..XFh) The SRAM/Write mode doesn't disable the internal RAM in the CPC, so writes are going both to SRAM and normal RAM at C000-FFFF, that no matter if upper ROM is enabled/disabled via Gate Array; the author recommended to map VRAM to 4000-7FFF via CRTC registers, in order to prevent video dirt during writing.
F8E0h	F8F0h (later redefined to F8E4h)	Schneiderware Centronics 8255 PPI Port A (data)
F8E1h	F8F1h (later redefined to F8E5h)	Schneiderware Centronics 8255 PPI Port B (unused)
F8E2h	F8F2h (later redefined to F8E6h)	Schneiderware Centronics 8255 PPI Port C (busy/strobe) (bit7=busy, bit6-1=unused, bit0=strobe; strobe is externally inverted) (autolf is wired to GND, all other control/status signals are not connected)
F8E3h	F8F3h (later redefined to F8E7h)	Schneiderware Centronics 8255 PPI Control
F8E8h	F8F0h,F8F8h	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #1 Port A (without pull-ups, with red LEDs)
F8E9h	F8F1h,F8F9h	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #1 Port B (with pull-ups and green LEDs)
F8EAh	F8F2h,F8FAh	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #1 Port C (lower 4bit without pull-ups and red LEDs, upper 4bit with pull-ups and green LEDs)
F8EBh	F8F3h,F8FBh	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #1 Control
F8ECh	F8F4h,F8FCh	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #2 Port A (without pull-ups or LEDs)
F8EDh	F8F5h,F8FDh	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #2 Port B (without pull-ups or LEDs)
F8EEh	F8F6h,F8FEh	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #2 Port C (without pull-ups or LEDs)
F8EFh	F8F7h,F8FFh	Schneiderware Uni-PIO 8255 PPI #2 Control
F9E0h	F9E2h	Schneiderware V/24 8251 USART Data
F9E1h	F9E3h	Schneiderware V/24 8251 USART Control
F9ECh	F9E8h	Schneiderware V/24 8253 Timer 0 (TX clock)
F9EDh	F9E9h	Schneiderware V/24 8253 Timer 1 (RX clock)
F9EEh	F9EAh	Schneiderware V/24 8253 Timer 2 (unused)
F9EFh	F9EBh	Schneiderware V/24 8253 Timer Control Note: Timer clock input is jumper select-able: 2MHz (default), or 1MHz
FAE0h	N/A	Schneiderware Analog Board ADC 0848 A/D Converter (R/W) Read: Get 8bit data from selected channel Write: Select channel & mode; bit0..2=channel (0..7), bit3..4=mode, bit5-7=unused Mode 0 (or 1) - Differential: Plus=Channel(N), Minus=Channel(N XOR 1) Mode 2 - Single-Ended: Plus=Channel(N) and Minus=AGND Mode 3 - Pseudo-Differential: Plus=Channel(N) and Minus=Channel(7)
FAE1h	N/A	Schneiderware Analog Board DAC 0832 D/A Converter #1 (W) Write: 8bit data
FAE2h	N/A	Schneiderware Analog Board DAC 0832 D/A Converter #2 (W) Write: 8bit data
FAF0h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #1 Port A (Data, 8bit)
FAF1h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #1 Port B (Address LSBs, 8bit)
FAF2h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #1 Port C (Address MSBs, 7bit; bit7=unused)
FAF3h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #1 Control
FAF4h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #2 Port A (bit0-7=unused)
FAF5h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #2 Port B (bit0-5=unused, bit6=Red LED, bit7=Green LED)
FAF6h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #2 Port C (programming signals, 8bit)
FAF7h	N/A	Schneiderware Eprom Burner 8255 PPI #2 Control
FBE2h	BUGGED:FBE1h	Schneiderware RTC index/control (W)
FBE3h	BUGGED:FBE2h	Schneiderware RTC data 4bit (W)
FBE4h	BUGGED:FBE3h	Schneiderware RTC data 4bit (R)