candle Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 no need to appologise i just would like to see this becoming something more than vapourware, especially when we have all these IDE interfaces around, and still no other way than sio, to get some files on them a ftp client would be really nice - can't say if it would be any faster than sio, but i want to belive it would Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twh/f2 Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) no need to appologise i just would like to see this becoming something more than vapourware, especially when we have all these IDE interfaces around, and still no other way than sio, to get some files on them a ftp client would be really nice - can't say if it would be any faster than sio, but i want to belive it would if not faster, it would be certainly more comfortable. I don't care so much about internet connectivity - obviously the file transfer in a network is what it makes really interesting. Especially in combination with IDE harddisks it becomes useful on the A8. The IDE plus 2.0 and it's free cartridge slot would be a perfect fit with this ethernet-cart! Something I missed badly with my old MyIDE cart. grtx, \twh Edited June 26, 2011 by twh/f2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) MY problem is that I and a mate wanted to build your "home-made"-approach with the Dragon-board. However, we couldn't source it. AND I would prefer a one-PCB solution instead of a the 2PCB + Dragon-board. I would send invector an e-mail and ask about the availability of the IP Dragon II boards. He has been a good guy to deal withso far. http://www.invector.se/contact.asp I think he has some now, but If not, send me a PM and I will see what I can do. As far as a single sided board, that might not be possible because the Cart needs signals from BOTH sides of the cartridge slot, so you need to etch the card edge on both sides. I suppose it might be possible to just etch the card edge and use jumpers for the rest of the connections on the bottom side of the board, but for all that work, IMHO, you might as well just etch both sides. Making a two sided board is not as hard as it might seem. I have done it several times. this is very similar to the method I use: http://myweb.cableone.net/wheedal/pcb.htm A clothes iron can work in place of the laminator for smaller boards, such as the ethernet cart, but sometimes takes a few tries till the toner doesn't smear. The only other issue is soldering the header pins on both sides of the board because home etching doesn't give you plated through holes. I just keep the headers raised a little above the board so I can get solder under the plastic that holds the pins. I also just use some bits of bare wire if I need to make a via to complete a path from the bottom to top layer. There are a couple of those on my board design. If you do decide to build one, let me know how it goes and feel free to e-mail or PM me for help. What I want to say is: I buy one (or two) when somebody builds these (It goes without saying, when the price is reasonable) I think the price will be quite reasonable. At this point I don't think the price will excede $70.00 for a finished cart in a machined case with a professional label. Edited June 26, 2011 by puppetmark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) I don't get why two of your team are making layouts fro the same product, but that's your problem MY problem is that I and a mate wanted to build your "home-made"-approach with the Dragon-board. However, we couldn't source it. AND I would prefer a one-PCB solution instead of a the 2PCB + Dragon-board. Candle did his design more or less on his own, quite some time after Mark and I got ours started. I had contacted him early on but he didn't seem too interested at the time and seemed to be really busy doing other things. So, after several months, Mark and I moved forward. At any rate, the way things stand now, candle has done his own design and if someone wants to build it out I think that's great. Maybe it could get its own thread though. considering amount of work i put into this project statement as "puppetmark is now finalizing the adapter design" looks kinda paleespecially if design is ready for months - all you guys had to do was/is to use it Candle, when I was talking to you about it, our last communication was April 29th, 2010. I didn't hear anything else from you until Feb 27, 2011, when you suddenly announced you could work on it now, and a few days later said you had done a design. At that point, though, we had already moved forward and committed time and money to Mark's design. The very first thing I told you in that thread after your reply in Feb 2011 was that Mark and I had moved on, and I described it to you. You decided to do a design anyway, which is great, but you can't expect that we would just drop all that we had done. I would stand to lose several thousand dollars in IP Dragon II modules at that point, and Mark the time he had put in. Mark and I were pretty public about what was going on, so I assumed you were aware that we had moved forward. Mark has put a lot of work into this project, and I don't think you should be dismissive of it. He is not a professional board designer, as you are, so it was relatively difficult for him but it seems to work very well. i just would like to see this becoming something more than vapourware I don't know why anyone would call ours vaporware, as we have the units and the board and test software running. We should be selling them this Fall for around 50-60. Edited June 26, 2011 by danwinslow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Also, I perhaps shouldn't have said 'finalizing the design', he is just adding a means of setting the base address. The design itself has been finalized for quite a while now and we have a handful of functioning prototype boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Hello guys Will the software run with any DOS or is it SD(X) only? sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) My software should run with any dos. I'm writing it now in C (CC65), and I hope to add a ML driver later for RealDOS and probably it would work with any of the SDX's and Sparta too. Really the software I write will be just open-source examples of how to talk to the cs8900a chip, its totally standard access and any number of examples are already around the net, notably IP65,uIP, and the Contiki stuff. Actually one of the Contiki guys has already tested with it and it works fine. Accessing the card is really easy, basically just writing packet bytes back and forth and a few setup commands, the IP Dragon II module does all the Ethernet stuff on its own. You do have to poll the card, as interrupts are not supported in 8 bit mode, but it should be easy to do that at vblank or maybe a timer interrupt. I will release the source to all the programs that come with the cart. Right now in my code ARP, ICMP, DHCP, and general UDP are supported. I'm working on a TCP stack. I plan to have a ping, telnet, and ftp programs of some sort functional by the Fall. It should be relativly easy to write software for the cart in Forth or Action as well. Basic I'm not so sure about, but with an appropriate driver loaded then it should be possible. Edited June 26, 2011 by danwinslow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Sounds awesome, and considering we have half a dozen SIO2PC solutions, and probably the same # of IDE devices, there is certainly room for 2 ethernet devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I just updated the site with some new and important design information. I also added Candle's design as well as a PCB pattern for the original design with non-changeable address set to D500 to the downloads section. I will add the new schematic and PCB board patterns for the new design with changeable address as soon as they are complete. The new schematic is almost done and the board should be complete in a week or two. http://www.atari8ethernet.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Update : testing on the switchable address change is complete. The boards, shells and other components are being ordered. A DNS client capability has been added to the software stack. The stack now also comes in a banked and a non-banked version. Still on track for sales to begin in early Fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w1k Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Sounds good! Thanks for the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creature XL Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Update : testing on the switchable address change is complete. The boards, shells and other components are being ordered. A DNS client capability has been added to the software stack. The stack now also comes in a banked and a non-banked version. Still on track for sales to begin in early Fall. i am about to build my Ethernet-carts today - I hope. Got the PCBs made and the Dragons ordered. We have "build" the fixed-address-thingies (I guess). So I hope you continue to support those. Will experiment a bit with your code when the boards are really working Concerning the topic of the thread. I do not think I will use them for Contiki or other "normal" Internet stuff. I just hope they can be used or some online-gaming. But lets first wait if they work at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I bet yours will work. Mark would be glad to help I'm sure if you run into issues. On the address range, if its between D500 and D5F0 the software should find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Update : testing on the switchable address change is complete. The boards, shells and other components are being ordered. A DNS client capability has been added to the software stack. The stack now also comes in a banked and a non-banked version. Still on track for sales to begin in early Fall. i am about to build my Ethernet-carts today - I hope. Got the PCBs made and the Dragons ordered. We have "build" the fixed-address-thingies (I guess). So I hope you continue to support those. Will experiment a bit with your code when the boards are really working Concerning the topic of the thread. I do not think I will use them for Contiki or other "normal" Internet stuff. I just hope they can be used or some online-gaming. But lets first wait if they work at all I will be happy to help. I built a fixed address cart from my patterns by etching a board at home and it works great. We will continue to support the fixed address cart. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creature XL Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Turns out the boards I had made are wrong. The guys who mades them scaled teh PDF so, the board is too small Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Turns out the boards I had made are wrong. The guys who mades them scaled teh PDF so, the board is too small Oh no - I hope they will correct this at no charge to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Turns out the boards I had made are wrong. The guys who mades them scaled teh PDF so, the board is too small That sucks!! yea, the PDFs are to scale already. I guess I better add that info to the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) Good news! I just updated the site with some new info and I updated the downloads to now include Schematics, PCB patterns, and instructions for both versions of the cartridge. Also, I wanted to let everyone know that the official name of the cartridge is now the Dragon Cart. It seems appropriate as the main component is the IP Dragon II board. Parts and PCBs have now been ordered for the first batch of carts and the only missing component is a really cool label. I am going to start another thread to see if we can get a label contest started. There are some real talented people here that are really great at that sort of thing, and I think it would be cool to see what they come up with. The winning label designer will get a free Dragon Cart. Here's a link the thread: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/186089-atari-8-bit-ethernet-cartridge-label-contest/ http://www.atari8ethernet.com Edited August 9, 2011 by puppetmark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Can't wait to try this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creature XL Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Good news! I just updated the site with some new info and I updated the downloads to now include Schematics, PCB patterns, and instructions for both versions of the cartridge. Also, I wanted to let everyone know that the official name of the cartridge is now the Dragon Cart. It seems appropriate as the main component is the IP Dragon II board. Parts and PCBs have now been ordered for the first batch of carts and the only missing component is a really cool label. I am going to start another thread to see if we can get a label contest started. There are some real talented people here that are really great at that sort of thing, and I think it would be cool to see what they come up with. The winning label designer will get a free Dragon Cart. Here's a link the thread: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/186089-atari-8-bit-ethernet-cartridge-label-contest/ http://www.atari8ethernet.com Now, as we almost manage to build our own carts with the layouts from your site you start to sell them? When will they be ready? Would if it be possible to safe us some money and get a cart without the dragon? And we put the ones we ordered already in those carts? On the other hand i think you can't have enuff of those carts for testing stuff Looking really forward. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) Good news! I just updated the site with some new info and I updated the downloads to now include Schematics, PCB patterns, and instructions for both versions of the cartridge. Also, I wanted to let everyone know that the official name of the cartridge is now the Dragon Cart. It seems appropriate as the main component is the IP Dragon II board. Parts and PCBs have now been ordered for the first batch of carts and the only missing component is a really cool label. I am going to start another thread to see if we can get a label contest started. There are some real talented people here that are really great at that sort of thing, and I think it would be cool to see what they come up with. The winning label designer will get a free Dragon Cart. Here's a link the thread: http://www.atariage....-label-contest/ http://www.atari8ethernet.com Now, as we almost manage to build our own carts with the layouts from your site you start to sell them? When will they be ready? Would if it be possible to safe us some money and get a cart without the dragon? And we put the ones we ordered already in those carts? On the other hand i think you can't have enuff of those carts for testing stuff Looking really forward. Keep it up! Sorry about the bad timing. Late September is the goal to start selling them. We should have a few extra boards, I think we could sell a couple for your IP Dragon Boards. Edited August 11, 2011 by puppetmark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Any idea on the cost of these yet? I'm thinking of getting two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Any idea on the cost of these yet? I'm thinking of getting two. I don't have an exact price yet, but they will be under $75.00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Any idea on the cost of these yet? I'm thinking of getting two. I don't have an exact price yet, but they will be under $75.00 Please, put me down for two and send a PM with payment details as soon as they are available. DId you decide on a label design yet? I have someone who can do nice work, Are these going to be available as carts only or can I buy a couple kits as well as two completed units? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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