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                               XT-IDE controller
                                 User's Manual








                                     -1/12-


                                Table of Contents:

   3. Credits
   4. Background
   5. Description
   6. Installation
   7. Utilities - SETUP.COM
   8. Utilities - FLASH.COM
   9. Utilities - SETCARD.COM
  10. Utilities - FINDCCARD.COM
  11. Card settings
  12. Contact









                                    -2/12-


                                    Credits:

  Hargle - Main idea and Head software developer and beta tester
  Lynchaj - Hardware developer and beta tester
  Per - Assisting software developer, beta tester and Readme.txt
  Lutiana - Beta tester
  Mbbrutman - Beta tester
  Terry Yager - Beta tester
  Mike Chambers - Beta tester
  Druid6900 - Troubleshooting on the hardware design
  Bobwatts - Providing an Acculogic sIDE 1/16 card for closer examination
  Eric - For hosting such a great forum
  Everybody else - Great support and troubleshooting on ideas








                                    -3/12-


                                  Background:

  The XT-IDE project began in september 2008. A user asked the simple question 
  of if anybody knew of where he could get an IDE controller for an 8-bit bus.
  Those cards does already exist, but they're not common and usually heavily
  overpriced. The user that posted the topic didn't want an overpriced one, so
  that was the main reason why the topic was posted. Anyways, ten hours and
  thirty two minutes later, the user Hargle posted a reply where he stated the
  idea about making a own card based on contribution from the forum users.

  A month later, Druid6900 and Hargle was heavily discussing how to solve the
  16-bit drive versus 8-bit bus problem. In the following months, the project
  kept moving on, and the bus-width problem was solved using the "latch" 
  method (16-bit data from the drive is latched on reads, and read using two
  8-bit inputs, likewise, writes consists of two 8-bit outputs, the last one
  triggering the input mechanics of the drive). The user Lynchaj then made
  shcematics, and the method turned out to work rather well. After some 
  debugging and modifications, a small run of 10 cards was made and sent out
  to a group of users for testing. Meanwhile, some minor changes where made.
  The product was ready in the summer of 2009, and 100 cards was made for sale.

                                    -4/12-


                                  Description:

  The XT-IDE adapter is a card designed in order to use 16-bit IDE drives in
  the 8-bit BUS of the PC/XT. It is also designed to be as simple as possible,
  to reduce the price-tag. The card itself is designed by Lynchaj, and the
  BIOS Extension is mainly written by Hargle. The hardware supports Block Mode
  and PIO Mode, the BIOS currently supports drives up to 137Gb, but DOS can't
  see more than 8Gb per drive, and FAT 16 can't handle more than 2Gb/partion.

  The software included is four utilities. The core functions of "Flash" and 
  "SetCard" is mainly written by Hargle, and everything else is written by Per.
  The four utilities are:

  SETUP.COM - Used to set up a card for the first time.

  FLASH.COM - Used to update the EEPROM on the card.

  SETCARD.COM - Used to change the settings of the card.

  FINDCARD.COM - Used to search for other cards and display the settings.

                                    -5/12-


                                 Installation:

  To install the card is easy. The first thing you do is to run "SETUP.COM".
  Setup will scan through the system for suitable settings for the switches on
  the card. When it is complete, you will get the ability to choose from the
  availble resources (unless none where found). To scroll; use the up and down
  arrow key, to select; press enter. When you have selected I/O port base and
  the base segment for the EEPROM, you will be provided how you should set the
  switch pack "SW1". You will also be provided with a setp-by-step guide in
  what you should do to complete the installation.

  When running "SETCARD.COM", you will also find another kind of menu. Instead
  of scrolling, you get all the options printed at the same time, and all you
  need to do is to press the key typed to the left of the option.

  The third kind of input the utilities uses, is Yes/No or "Press any key"
  options.  To reply to therse, just type the corresponding key, or any key.

  The last kind of input the, is typing. this is only used by the flasher, and
  you will have to type in a filename and press enter to confirm.

                                    -6/12-


                             Utilities - SETUP.COM

  This program basically scans your system for suitable settings for a new card
  and let you choose whitch of them you would like. After you have choosen, you
  will be provided future instructions in how to install the card properly.


  Syntax:
    SETUP [/H|/?]

  Description:
    /H or /? = Display the help screen, not really needed since it's basically
               the same as you read here.




  If no suitable settings was found, you will get an error message telling so.



                                    -7/12-


                             Utilities - FLASH.COM

  This utility is used to update the BIOS Extension in the EEPROM on the card.
  To use this program, make sure the write-enable and ROM-enable jumpers are
  installed and that there is a ROM-image of the update in the same directory.
  The ROM-image can have any filename, but the default name is "OPROM.BIN".

  Syntax:
FLASH [[/I:<filename.ext>][[/S]|[/S/O:<bseg>]][/B:<iopt>][/M|/P|/F|/A]]|[/H|/?]

  Description:
    /I:<filename.ext> = Specify custom input file with the name <filename.ext>
    /S                = Disable autoscan for base address, settings will reset
    /S/O:<bseg>       = Specify custom base adr/seg of BIOS Extension
    /B:<iopt>         = Specify custom Base I/O port, Default is 0300h
    /M                = Med.Write mode (1mS per ByteWrite)
    /P                = PageWrite mode (10mS per 32 byte PageWrite)
    /F                = FastWrite mode (200uS per ByteWrite)
    /A                = AtmelWrite mode (200uS per 64 byte PageWrite + Protect)
    /H or /?          = Display the help screen.

                                    -8/12-


                             Utilities - SETCARD.COM
  
  SetCard is used to change the settings for a card. By default, it will search
  for installed cards and use the first it finds. This is usually the best
  option if you got one card, but if you got more than one, you should specify
  an address with the /O parameter. You can also force it to change only the
  boot settings by using the /B switch. Note that the settings about the boot
  procedure will only be valid for the card highest in the memory map.

  Syntax:
    SETCARD [/O:basesegment][/B][/M|/P|/F|/A]]|[/H|/?]

  Description:
    /O:<basesegment>  = Specify custom base adr/seg of BIOS Extension
    /B                = Only change settings regarding the boot procedure
    /M                = Med.Write mode (1mS per ByteWrite)
    /P                = PageWrite mode (10mS per 32 byte PageWrite)
    /F                = FastWrite mode (200uS per ByteWrite)
    /A                = AtmelWrite mode (200uS per 64 byte PageWrite + Protect)
    /H or /?          = Display the help screen.

                                    -9/12-


                             Utilities - FINDCARD.COM

  This utility will search through your system for existing cards. When a card
  is found, information about it will be printed on the screen, in addition,
  you will also be able to see the boot settings.


  Syntax:
    FINDCARD [/H|/?]

  Explanation:
    /H or /? = Display the help screen.


  If on card is found, you will get a message telling so. And if there is a
  card installed but no card is found, you have to run the flasher with the /S
  switch (and maybe the /B parameter) in order to set it up. For the exact
  syntax, run SETUP.COM without the card installed. I recomend that you run
  SETUP.COM every time before installing a new card.


                                    -10/12-


                                 Card Settings:

  +----------------------------------------------+
  | ++                                           |    P1   = IDE connector
  | ||                     P5                    |    P4   = Jumper block
  | ||                     ++                    |      J1 = ROM enable
  | ||                     ++                    |      J2 = Write enable
  | ||                                           |      3  = IRQ 3
  | ||                                           |      4  = IRQ 4
  | ||                    P4                     |      5  = IRQ 5
  | ++                    +++----+               |      7  = IRQ 7
  | P1                    +++----+               |      2  = IRQ 2
  |    +-------+          JJ 34572               |    P5   = External LED
  |    +-------+          12                     |    Sw1  = Switch block
  |    Sw1                                       |
  |                                              |    Run "SETUP.COM" for
  |                                              |    information on how to
  +--------+                              +--+   |    set Sw1.
           ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||  +---+
           +------------------------------+

                                    -11/12-


                              Contact information:








     If you have any questions, please feel free to ask it in this thread:

        http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?t=12359









                                    -12/12-
