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