Update Log

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25 October 2007
The Stack180 is ready for production.  We've finally received and assembled the first mainboard PCB.  Measuring approximately 6.5" wide by 9.5" tall, it easily fits into the Micro ATX case.  Testing revealed a single mis-route on a trace, which has been corrected for production PCBs.  The mainboard contains an Epson 72421 RTC, battery, 16C754 Quad UART, 2 PC-Style AT expansion connectors supporting 16-bit I/O, 2 Stack expansion connectors, a 16-level interrupt system, HEX LED display, 4-bit switch port, ATX 20-pin power connector, the Saelig USBWiz for USB and SD Card I/O with the FAT file system, and the Lantronix XPORT AR for 10/100BaseT support.  One of the AT-style expansion connector slots is hosting a PC-style multifunction adapter that provides Floppy, Parallel, IDE, and 2xSerial ports.  The Floppy and Parallel ports are fully integrated into the CP/M Banked BIOS.
 
Photos are available here.

20 July 2007
The CPU board has undergone a couple of changes prior to production.  The CPU clock has been upped to 29.4912MHz, and the RAM sockets have been removed in favor of two 512Kx8-15 SMD RAM chips.  The 15nSec speed is more than sufficient for zero wait state operation at 29MHz.  The 18.432MHz clock option is being removed from the ROM code.  The only reason it was being maintained was in case a user needed more than 256K of RAM (fast static RAM was only available in 128Kx8 chips.  Since a source for 5128Kx8 RAMs in the 15nSec access range has been arranged, the low speed option using 70nSec RAM is no longer needed.  The RAM chips will be pre-installed before shipping.  The standard configuration will include a single 512K RAM; a second RAM can be added to your order if desired.

22 April 07
The CPU and Dual GIDE boards are finished and ready for production.  The final specs for the individual components are:
 
CPU: Z8S180-33 CPU with an 18.432MHz or 24.576MHz clock.  Terminal I/O, RAM, Clock, and Reset circuitry are on-board.  External expansion connections are handled by two, 30-pin headers.  In a stand-alone configuration, the CPU provides a fast, stable, Z80-compatible platform that can be adapted to virtually any use.  Memory consists of either 128Kx8 or 512Kx8 chips (the 32K chip option was discarded.)  The 32K Monitor EEPROM can be switched out of context under software control, leaving the flat 64K memory space required by CP/M.
 
D-GIDE: Handles 4 IDE devices and buffers all necessary CPU signals for further expansion. The CPU board plugs in the the D-GIDE via two, 30-pin headers, arranged on .1" centers.  The two D-GIDE expansion connectors use a 26-pin and a 34-pin header arranged on .1" centers, so expansion can be either by 'plug-in' to a motherboard, or via ribbon cables.  A 4-pin power connection, identical to that used on a 3.5" floppy, provides power to both the D-GIDE and the CPU.
 
Motherboard: Still in the late design stages, the motherboard is nearing completion.  Roughly 6.5" wide x 9.5" tall, the mainboard was designed to fit directly into a Micro-ATX case.  It contains the standard 20-pin power socket used by the ATX power supply, Real Time Clock, 4-port Serial controller, 25-level interrupt system, port decoding, rear-of-the-case I/O connections, four 8-bit (62 pin, PC-XT type) expansion connectors, and mounts for LAN and dual USB host adapters.
 
LAN: The LAN adapter mounts directly to the motherboard and uses one of the four serial ports for I/O.  It has been tested and works well for Terminal I/O via the LAN connected to a Windows XP machine.  The BIOS still needs to be adapted for this use of the LAN adapter.
 
USB: The USB adapter also mounts directly to the motherboard, and also uses one of the four serial ports for I/O.  It contains dual Type-A USB connectors and an SD memory card connector.  It can directly handle SD card and USB Thumb Drives with the FAT (-12, -16, or -32) file system installed.  All file system I/O is handled by the adapter.  It can also support mouse, printer, and keyboard devices via the USB ports, although these applications require additional software drivers.  The USB adapter is a recent addition to the motherboard, so the full capability is still under investigation.
 
Final system costs are still being investigated and will be determined by pre-orders.  The major cost factor will be the production PCBs, and a larger bulk purchase will bring the cost down considerably.  Pre-order can be placed via e-mail here.
 
Two prototype CPU and D-GIDE kits are available now.  Inquire here for costs.

7 August 06
Nothing new on the P112/GIDE front.  I've been working on a new system that I might be able to offer as a complete or partial kit.  It features a Z8S180-33 CPU running at either 18.432MHz or 24.576MHz - the 18MHz system is up and running with 70nSec RAM.  The 24MHz system with 55nSec RAM will begin testing later this week.  The RAM system consists to two chips and can be 32K, 128K, or 512K for each chip.  Terminal I/O is baud-selectable, from 2400-115.2K baud.  Also imbedded on the CPU is a Memory Management Unit, dual Programmable Timers, and dual DMA units.  The embedded CSI/O and second serial port are unused.  The CPU PCB is roughly the size of a 3x5 card.  Intended as a 'daughterboard', it mounts to a 'motherboard' with 60 contacts on standard, .1" spacing.
 
The 'motherboard' is still under design, but it will have dual GIDE adapters, parallel and 2 serial ports, a LAN port, RTC, and at least four 98-pin expansion slots similar to what is found on the PC-AT.  One of the expansion slots will be wired specifically to accommodate a Floppy Disk Controller taken directly from the PC-AT.  The remaining expansion slots will carry all necessary I/O signals for future expansion using PC-XT or PC-AT prototype expansion boards.  The interrupt system decodes 16 levels of interrupts, with 8 interrupt levels unassigned and available to the user for experimenting.
 
The 'motherboard' will install directly into an ATX case, and will use the existing 20-pin ATX power connector.  Expansion boards will mount to the 'motherboard' and case in the same manner as they do with an ATX motherboard.
 
CPU photos will be available soon.  Interested parties should contact me here for questions or comments.

7 July 06
It took a while to figure out the details, but Rich Camarda has identified a problem with some of the .COM files in User 15: of the 4 June 06 System Disk.  Several - or more - of the files were corrupted during the copy processing from my P112 to the downloadable image.  One file in User 4: was also corrupt.  The problem is corrected with the 7 July 06 System Disk image available for download.

4 June 06
An updated System Disk and Source Disk #1 have been posted.  These modifications are primarily for enabling the DTR RS-232 signal in both the Boot and Bank images.

30 May 06
The FAQ has been updated with 22DISK diskdef and Baud Rate information.  If you use 22DISK or want to run higher baud rates, see the FAQ.  The B/P BIOS does not correctly drive the DTR line from the P112.  A new BIOS is being generated that corrects this and should be posted in the next day or two.  All future System Disks will have this bug corrected.

20 May 06
The 20May06 System Disk and Source Code Disk #2 are posted for download.  The System Disk update merely reflects some changes to the configuration of Banked OS images.  The Source Code Disk #2 contains the source code updates to BRS and IDEINIT mentioned on 18 May.  Both programs are now fully integrated with drivers for the secondary GIDE adapter.

18 May 06
I posted a new OS System Disk image.  It contains updates to BRS (Backup/Restore), IDEINIT, and the CDROM reader programs.  All Banked images were modified to reflect larger IDE partitions, requiring a 128MB drive, minimum.  Source Code Disk #2 - Utilities was also updated with the changes to the same programs.  The second wave of P112 kits has shipped, so I've been keeping busy with new orders.  Keep them coming!

9 May 06
This update has been a long time coming.  The 64MB CF cards have been replaced with 128MB units for the same price.  Overseas shipping is now via USPS Global Express, resulting in a significant increase in shipping cost.  Secondary GIDE adapter testing is complete and there are no known issues.  Significant changes to BRS and IDEINIT have been completed, and will be included on the next Update Disk on the Download page, but won't be available for about a week.  The P112-GIDE schematic (BMP format) is now available for download.  New, lower prices are posted on the Services page.  CDZSWP can fully handle primary or secondary GIDE adapters in either Master or Slave configurations.  As option is also available that should allow nearly all CDROM drives to be used.

11 Mar 06
I've added a 'Secondary GIDE Adapter' kit to the price list.  It includes the cable to connect to the primary GIDE and the standoffs necessary to mount it to the existing P112/GIDE board stack.  See the photos page.

17 Feb 06
All source code updates have been incorporated into the main download images, dated 14Feb06.

13 Feb 06
A new Update disk (#3) is available for download, providing several fixes.

8 Feb 06
The photos page has been cleaned up and updated with a photo of the dual-GIDE adapter configuration.

6 Feb 1006
I now have a dual-GIDE adapter system running, with two 128MB CF-IDE drives on the primary GIDE, and an IDE HD (Master) and CDROM (Slave) drives on the secondary GIDE.  The CDZSWP program has been modified to use the secondary GIDE port at 40H; the modified program is called CDZ40.COM.  CDZSWP still uses the primary port @ 50H with the CDROM drive as the Slave.

3 Feb 2006
All current orders have been filled and shipped, except for two that are awaiting the next batch of P112 kits.
  The Download page now has downloads available for the System, Source, and Help files.  Update Image 2 is also available for download.

1 Feb 2006
The production PCBs have arrived and a photo has been placed on the Photos page.  I'll build one up and test it tonight.  Unless there's a problem with the board, shipping is firm for Friday, 3 Feb.

30 January 2006
I received an e-mail stating that the GIDE PCBs have shipped - I should receive them late Wednesday afternoon.  I'll build one up for a test run and ship all current orders immediately after testing.  The ATX Mount Plate has been enlarged a bit.  It will fit in a standard ATX case; design documents show the MicroATX case has the exact same mounting pattern, so it will fit one of those, too; it will not fit an ITX case, however.  I enlarged the Plate to accommodate a future expansion I'm working on: a (roughly) 9.5" x 6.5" PCB that will mount directly to the ATX Plate.  The P112 and GIDE will mount to the new expansion board.  Currently, the expansion board carries a second GIDE controller and a 4-port RS-232 controller, with two DTE ports and two DCE ports.  I'd like to add a USB Host controller and 4-port hub, but saying it is far easier than doing it.
  I've added a photo of the 1MB RAM module here.

24 January 2006
I've added an item to my Services page that makes installing the P112 into a case just a little bit easier for you.  Referred to as ATX Mount Plate, it is a base plate, pre-drilled to mount a P112 and two CF-IDE adapters.  This assembly is also pre-drilled to fit in any ATX-style case in place of the motherboard.  It also includes the 5-pin connector the P112 uses for power, ground, and the reset wire.  The power and ground wires are connected to a  'Y'-style power connector that uses a standard 5.25" drive power plug.  The third leg of the 'Y' adapter includes a 3.5" drive power connector.
   In order to get an ATX power supply to come ON when it's turned on, you need to cut and ground one wire of the 20-wire main power bundle: Pin 14, the green wire, when grounded, allows the rear panel switch to control the power supply.

23 Jan 2006
Hal Bower's CDZSWP program is now up and running on the P112.  CDZSWP allows you to use an ATAPI CDROM drive with your P112, allowing you to navigate the CD directories and copy files from the CD to the P112.  Moving programs and data from the Internet to the P112 has never been easier.  Simply download it, burn it to CD, and copy from the CD to the P112's hard drive.  The CDZSWP program and source code is included with the GIDE adapter kit.

22 Jan 2006
Jay Maynard has completed his installation of the final P112-GIDE prototype.  He documents his chosen mounting method here.  Jay has also done some experimenting with maximum drive size and partition size, and has discovered that the BIOS can only address a 512MB drive.  Larger drives can be used but any capacity in excess of 512MB will go unused.  In a similar manner, he has also determined that the maximum partition size is somewhere around 90MB.

20 Jan 2006
I'm in the process of switching from DIP-32 RAM to a completely different setup.  Currently, I supply 512K DIP-32 RAM chips.  The new setup will be a single module that spans both RAM sockets and contains two SOP-style SMD RAMs, for 1MB of memory.  Same speed (70nSec), same capacity, lower price.  Once the changeover is complete, I will no longer be supplying the 512K DIP-32 RAMs, and the memory upgrade option will be 1MB only.  This change is already reflected on the Services page.

16 Jan 2006
The bulk PCB fabrication order was placed this morning.  Shipping is expected to begin on 1 February 2006.  David Griffith and I are making arrangements for overseas customers to be able to order both kits and have them shipped overseas together, saving an extra shipping charge.

13 Jan 2006
The final prototype boards arrived today and work as expected.  The bulk PCB order will be placed on Monday.   The next test is to add a secondary GIDE controller to the stack, and see how it works with CDROM and ZIP-100 drives attached.

12 Jan 2006
David Griffith just announced a second round of P112 kit orders.  You can find details on his website here.  You can have David ship the P112 kit to me for assembly, testing, and integration with the GIDE adapter.  See the Services page for details and pricing.

9 Jan 2006
The modifications are complete and a new prototype has been ordered.  Delivery should take place in about three days.  Testing will take another day or two, and if all is well, the final PCB design will be ordered on Monday, 16 January 2006.

8 Jan 2006
I'm thinking about doing a modification to the PCB before ordering the batch.  One of the issues I have with the current version of the P112-GIDE is that further expansion is difficult.  I have of method planned, but I really don't care for it.  I've made a slight modification to the GIDE PCB that hangs a 50-pin header off to one side, allowing a standard, 50-conductor ribbon cable to connect to a (future) expansion board.  I'm ordering a prototype board to check the PCB routing, and expect to test the result by the end of this week.  This will cause a delay of maybe a week before ordering the bulk PCB fabrication.  Bear with me.

5 Jan 2006
The Services and ordering page is open for business.  Orders can be placed as described on that page.  Shipping will commence in late January.  The prices shown are firm.  Shipping will vary with the chosen method and the delivery address.  You will be charged the actual shipping charge.  Payment can be made via PayPal for all orders, or personal check/Money Order for US shipments only.  Orders will be shipped in the order received.  A new photo has been posted: the P112, with external battery and two Compact Flash IDE adapters.  This is my main setup now.  The CF drives seem a little faster, much quieter, and much cooler than the IDE HD.

4 Jan 2006
This page will be used to post progress and information updates.  At least initially, it should be updated weekly, and more often if necessary.
 
The P112 first batch has been shipped!  The GIDE PCB fabrication order is ready to be placed, but I'm holding off for a few more days to see if the interest would justify a larger initial order.  Current plans are to place the order on Monday, 9 January.  Fabrication and delivery will take two weeks, so initial GIDE deliveries should begin the last week of January.  The price list on the Services page is now firm.
 
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