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Re: Apple2 USB Stick interface with Vinculum chip
To: bieling
bieling wrote:
Hi RedSkull,
I would do this:
1.- Use FAT -of course- in the pendrive, because a FAT-formatted
pendrive can be used too in almost any other computer/OS in the world.
It would also allows direct use from emulators which would be nice.
2.- Put just the minimum bootstrapping code in the cN/c8 Apple II ROM,
just enough to access, load and execute a certain (name predefined, a2
code) file to be found in the root level of the FAT filesystem. That's
conceptually similar to what the Disk II does.
This file can be a driver, a utility, a DOS loader or a menu driven
image selector. This way the bootcode, driver, and utilities can be
upgraded/updated or even completely rethinked easily later on and
won't require any further hardware modifications.
I think a combination of your suggestion and regular $C800 support for a
ROM resident block driver (of some description ;-) would be the best
bet.. Kind of what Alex Freed did for the Pseudo Disk but with added
$C800 support because your going to need the space :)
If the thing is well documented, this will allow others to contribute
on the software side of things, long after the hardware is finished,
and the hardware can be completely finished long before the software
even gets to beta.
I didn't even know about this Vinculum chip. Nice find, and great
idea. Seems to fit very well for this project. Good Luck !
--Jorge.
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