Le 30/05/2013 00:20, Steven Hirsch a �crit :
On 05/29/2013 04:55 PM, Sean Fahey wrote:On Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6:54:56 AM UTC-5, Steven Hirsch wrote:I haven't heard from Cedric in a number of months. I hope he's ok. Antoine, have you been in contact with him recently?It appears this project is in limbo for the foreseeable future.I hope it's because of Cedric being busy rather than having health issues.
Hello all, Sorry for my lack of communications, and thanks for your interets :-)My health give me some good days and some bad days, but now I know where I'm going. There is also a lot of problems related to family, but you all know what the life is ;-)
About the SmartportVHD, I felt something was missing, so I silently delayed deliveries (sorry again) to add this final touch to the project, and I'm proud to say the hardware reached the point where no more changes are needed. Firmware don't provide all the features for now but this isn't really a problem to start deliveries, as the firmware can be updated by owners.
In the mean time I finished the CNC and it's a great multifunction tool allowing all the things I wanted for the project, some videos will be posted on the web site, if someone is wondering how the spvhd is made.
And now, some quick words about the final touch to the project: two capacitives probes was added to the front of the case. These probes allow users to select disk image for amovible virtual drive, on the fly. This is especially required for games on multiples 5.25 disks when the 5.25 disk emulation will be ready, and I guess owners will find more usages for this feature.
But this would be incomplete without some sort of feedback to let the user know which drive or image is selected. After evaluating LCD, OLED, and custom LED displays, I finally integrated a simple audio circuit that did the trick. So, with the help of additionnal wav files stored on the usb stick, the spvhd is able to tell you which virtual drive or disk image is presented to the Apple II.
This final touch preserve the look of the enclosure, the only visible change are the two small front probes made of polished and engraved aluminium.
I know how long is it to wait, but I would avoid to provide something not mature enough, For those who don't care about the look or are looking to something a bit cheaper, I'm going to provide the spvhd within a smaller industrial enclosure, which reduce manufacturing time and costs.
Regards, Cedric