Is the RC2014 Compact Flash module compatible with the SC126 ?

[Tony C]

I was thinking about ordering 

https://www.tindie.com/products/semachthemonkey/compact-flash-module-for-cpm-rc2014-computer/?pt=ac_prod_search

instead of this

https://www.tindie.com/products/tindiescx/sc145-compact-flash-module-kit-for-rc2014/

to use with the SC126. 

Is the first CF module compatible with the SC126?

Which serial option should I select ? (I haven't ordered the SC126 yet).

"You need to select which Serial option you are using, either the standard 68B50 or the SIO/2 Dual Serial"

The SC 126 user guide doesn't quite elaborate (as far as I'm able to tell).

Thanks

• Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

  • Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

• Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

• Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

  • Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

• Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

  • Compact Flash 128MB or 64MB Compact Flash, pre formatted with CP/M installed and essential utilities already installed on Drive C:. You need to select which serial module you are using, either the standard 68B50 as supplied in the Full Monty kit, or SIO/2 Dual Serial

 

[Wayne Warthen]

Either module is compatible with SC126.  The SC145 has theoretically better CF Card compatibility, but would require an IDE-CF adapter.  The SC126 has two built-in serial ports -- you should not be getting any options about choosing a serial device.  Can you send a link referring to the exact page where you are seeing this?

Thanks,

Wayne

[Tony Cappellini]

Here is the link again, which talks about choosing the serial device.

https://www.tindie.com/products/semachthemonkey/compact-flash-module-for-cpm-rc2014-computer/

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[Tony Cappellini]

>>

https://www.tindie.com/products/tindiescx/sc145-compact-flash-module-kit-for-rc2014/

There are two PCBs in the picture for the SC 145, isn’t the upper PCB the IDE-CF adapter that you’re referring to?

Thanks

Tony

On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 8:14 PM Wayne Warthen <wwar...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Kande Laber]

The "upper" is factory assembled unit that comes with the kit. It saves you from doing non-through hole soldering.

[Tony Cappellini]

Yes. The question is, Why did Wayne say " The SC145 has theoretically better CF Card compatibility, but would require an IDE-CF adapter."

when the SC145 comes with the IDE-CF adapter?

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rc2014-z80/e6c80bf0-cd70-473c-93f8-1d0c02ef4b5dn%40googlegroups.com.

[Wayne Warthen]

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at 11:28:59 PM UTC-8 capp...@gmail.com wrote:

Here is the link again, which talks about choosing the serial device.

https://www.tindie.com/products/semachthemonkey/compact-flash-module-for-cpm-rc2014-computer/

Oh, sorry, now I understand.  The choices are to pick the "contents" of the CF Card media (if you include one).  I originally thought you were asking about choosing an actual serial module.

This choice is only relevant if the CF Module is being used in a standard RC2014 Z80 computer.  Since you are using an SC126, you would normally be using RomWBW and the built-in ASCI (not ACIA) serial ports.  So, none of the CF Card content choices would make sense for you.  The CP/M versions being referred to are the standard RC2014 Grant Searle CP/M images which will not run properly on the SC126 (because it is a Z180, not a Z80).

All this means that you could either choose "None" for the CF Card (and supply your own) or you could choose "Blank" and then write the RomWBW image on the card when you get it.

Oh, I should address the size of the CF Card.  You could choose either the 64MB Blank card or the 128MB Blank card.  For RomWBW, bigger is better since RomWBW can use up to 256 8MB slices which means it could theoretically make use of up to a 2GB CF Card although 256 slices is way more than you need for typical usage.  RomWBW can also support a DOS FAT filesystem on the card placed after the CP/M slices which means additional space needed on the card for that.  A 64MB card will be limited to 8 slices and the 128MB card will be limited to 16 slices.  RomWBW is fine with 8 slices, so there is no compatibility issue with RomWBW.  I just mention this in case you want to allow for more slices (or FAT filesystem) than the supplied CF Cards provide.  My typical RomWBW card setup is 64 slices (512MB) of CP/M followed by a 512MB DOS FAT filesystem which means I use media that is 1GB or greater.

Hope this helps,

-Wayne

[Wayne Warthen]

On Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 9:36:08 AM UTC-8 capp...@gmail.com wrote:

Yes. The question is, Why did Wayne say " The SC145 has theoretically better CF Card compatibility, but would require an IDE-CF adapter."

when the SC145 comes with the IDE-CF adapter?

In the case of the official RC2014 CF Card module, you plug the CF Card directly into the module.  The module has the CF Card socket right on it.

In the case of the SC145, the module has an IDE connector.  So, you cannot plug a CF Card into it directly.  Instead, you need to use one of the common CF-to-IDE adapter boards.  Oh, I just realized that the CF-to-IDE adapter is included in the SC145 purchase.  So, you would not need to get a separate one.

Thanks,

Wayne

[Tony Cappellini]

Yes, it's all clear now.

Regarding the actual CF cards, is there a recommendation for compatibility? I wouldn't be surprised if there are some flaky cards out there, so I would want to avoid those.

Do people just buy the CF cards from Amazon, or are there better (more reliable) sources?

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[Wayne Warthen]

On Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 10:55:44 AM UTC-8 capp...@gmail.com wrote:

Regarding the actual CF cards, is there a recommendation for compatibility? I wouldn't be surprised if there are some flaky cards out there, so I would want to avoid those.

Do people just buy the CF cards from Amazon, or are there better (more reliable) sources?

You will find many threads on this forum discussing CF Card compatibility.  I don't remember seeing any definitive research on specific brands.  There is a general belief that the modern/larger cards are more likely to be problematic because they tend to operate faster which exacerbates the compatibility issues.  However, this is not an absolute thing because I have a bunch of new larger cards that have no issues.  I have also encountered many older smaller cards that do have issues.

Of the modern larger cards, I have personally had very good luck with SanDisk.

-Wayne

[Tony Cappellini]

thanks again!

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