Another Microdisc compatible.

[Silicebit.]

Hello to all!

Yes, another floppy controller for Oric.

Photos.

Controller1.

Controladora1.JPG (1.03 MiB) Viewed 19369 times

Controller2.

Controladora2.JPG (926.64 KiB) Viewed 19369 times

Controller3.

Controladora3.JPG (1.03 MiB) Viewed 19369 times

Controller working: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yamhTvf_wz8

[coolman66]

Is this board available to the ORIC enthousiast ,if so at what price ?

[coco.oric]

It's a very compact one.
Good work ; it will be nice to have an idea of the cost of it.

[Silicebit.]

Is this board available to the ORIC enthousiast ,if so at what price ?

Yes, there is five PCBs available for ORIC enthusiasts. Price for each PCB is six euro more shipping cost.

It's a very compact one.
Good work ; it will be nice to have an idea of the cost of it.

Yes, it's very compact, only 100 x 150 mm. Price for a complete controller is 55 euro more shipping cost.

You also might want this:

AmpliBus photos.

[jorodr]

It's real the year of ORIC drives!
Congratulations!!! It's look really professional! I want one!

[coolman66]

Is that a PCB board ready to go !built up ? And be course I am not technical do I have to have the amplebus unit ?

[coco.oric]

Ok, fine. I could be interested by one disk controller, but i need an amplebus ?

[Silicebit.]

Is that a PCB board ready to go !built up ? And be course I am not technical do I have to have the amplebus unit ?

No, sorry, the controller of photo is in hands of a happy owner now. I must build other.

Ok, fine. I could be interested by one disk controller, but i need an amplebus ?

I tested the controller on my three Atmos, in two of them, the controller worked well without AmpliBus. With remaining, the Amplibus was necessary (aleatory errors). I think the AmpliBus is recommendable, and, only for five euro, who don't have one?

Atmos with AmpliBus.

Controladora6.JPG (1.21 MiB) Viewed 19202 times

[Chema]

I have one of see controllers (thanks Slicebit!!!) and tried it today.

It worked immediately after plugging it in. I seems to me it is more stable than the Cumulus, at least on my Oric, but of course needs real disks.

Also soon as I find out how to create real disks, I will test with the games I had issues with.

I had some pictures ready, but they are too big. Will reduce their size and port them ASAP.

I am really happy so many years crying for a controller, and now I have two alternative systems....

Edit: I hate to write posts with my iPad

[Chema]

Okay, here are the pictures. First the controller. I am using a PC PSU for powering it as well as the disk drive. The controller can also power the Oric itself.

IMG_0247.png (220.81 KiB) Viewed 18875 times

It includes the Amplibus, as you can see in the following pic. The small button connected through a cable is the reset.

IMG_0249.png (237.95 KiB) Viewed 18875 times

Okay, you turn power on, the Oric shows the screen filled with bars, you press the RESET in the controller and it shows the "insert system disk" message.
The drive turns its light on, waiting for a disk. I put in a disk and...

IMG_0256.png (202.37 KiB) Viewed 18875 times

Everything works perfectly! No need for the smallest adjustment. No strange issues. So I am still some suspicious about the code inside the Cumulus...

Great, isn't it?

[iss]

Indeed! It's great to have reliable hardware.
After I recovered my cumulus still wondering how cumana, microdisc and bunch of native Pravetz-8D controllers are
working like charm with Pravetz-8D but cumulus doesn't.

[jorodr]

If it's just copied the Microdisc schematics it's normal to press Reset button to wake the system. There's a little mistake on it. Even the original Microdisc don't reset the system without pressing the Reset button. Must change the resistor and the cpacitor of the reset part of the controller. Then the system will reset right after switch on the controller.

[Godzil]

Everything works perfectly! No need for the smallest adjustment. No strange issues. So I am still some suspicious about the code inside the Cumulus...

The problem is that the Cumulus use modern part and even if it was made to be compatible it's not the same thing as a microdisc.

The board you test here is a clone of the microdisc, using original parts, that is really different as signal timings, ripple effect, or anything nasty, level problems, and anything nasty that can happen with the cumulus have low chance to happen here.

[JonB]

Hello Slicebit

When the reset bug is fixed, I would like to buy one of these controllers for my Atmos. Please PM me with availability. Can pay by PayPal. Postage to the UK, please.



Regards

JonB

[Chema]

In case you don't know Silicebit is preparing a new batch of his Microdisc clone and Amplibus cards. If you don't have a disk unit for your Oric this is a good opportunity! Also if you want an Amplibus you can order it alone.

Have a look here (in Spanish: Google translator would do a nice job, if not ask here and I'll help):
http://www.retrowiki.es/fororw/viewtopi ... 5435c862ef