Horizon RAMdisk ROS and CFG Development

[+InsaneMultitasker]

1 hour ago, rgjt said:

Does anybody have the QS-Ramdisk software that allows the creation of a ramdisk for the 96k memory portion above the 32k?

That software was sold by Quality 99 Software.

Toss the question into the general forum, might be someone that has the files and/or information.  The ROS/CFG developed in this thread isn't compatible with the Foundation card, as it is much different from a hardware perspective.  If you are interested in a true ramdisk, the horizon ramdisk 4000B is the way to go. 

 

38 minutes ago, Ksarul said:

I believe a lot of their programs had the protection routines removed by others long after Quality 99 was no more, although I'm not sure if anyone applied that procedure to QS-Ramdisk.

I know that Gazoo made a disk long ago with most (all?) of the Quality Soft software with protection removed.  I looked for that disk now and couldn't find it but someone in the main forum may have better luck. 

[rgjt]

8 minutes ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

Toss the question into the general forum, might be someone that has the files and/or information.  The ROS/CFG developed in this thread isn't compatible with the Foundation card, as it is much different from a hardware perspective.  If you are interested in a true ramdisk, the horizon ramdisk 4000B is the way to go. 

 

I know that Gazoo made a disk long ago with most (all?) of the Quality Soft software with protection removed.  I looked for that disk now and couldn't find it but someone in the main forum may have better luck. 

I have the HRD4000B on order.

The Foundation 128k card is from a friend that was trying to make full use of it.

[+dhe]

I'm pretty sure the Foundation in un-modified form would be worth a lot of $$$ on ebay.

Probably enough to buy a nice HRD4000B.

As far the Quality Soft EPROM, I'd be surprised of Atrax of HummingBird software doesn't have it.

[atrax27407]

I've got it!

[+Ksarul]

1 hour ago, dhe said:

I'm pretty sure the Foundation in un-modified form would be worth a lot of $$$ on ebay.

Probably enough to buy a nice HRD4000B.

As far the Quality Soft EPROM, I'd be surprised of Atrax of HummingBird software doesn't have it.

The QS-Ramdisk program was a disk-based program. The only alternate EPROM I've seen for the Foundation card was the one that lets you treat it as a Myarc card (and run Myarc XB-II with it). There is also a proceure out there to upgrade it to 512K when using the Myarc-compatible EPROM.

 

Foundation cards generally run in the $100 to $150 range, depending on how many people are looking for them at any given moment, so definitely not enough to buy an HRD 4000B with the windfall, unfortunately.

[rgjt]

51 minutes ago, atrax27407 said:

I've got it!

You have what, the QS-Ramdisk software for the Foundation 128k?

[RickyDean]

The foundation 128k can easily be converted to the 512k version, then modified to use as a Myarc 512k.

Edited June 8, 2021 by RickyDean
hate this auto correct stuff, always changing my spelling.

[atrax27407]

The EPROM.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Does someone have a copy of the CHART file that is required to interpret the TST program results?  I've been asked to incorporate it into the distribution.  In the meantime, I had a few free clock cycles today:

• Post #1 has been cleaned up to show only the most recent release files
• CFG now prohibits the user from selecting the "transparent color" for foreground/background
• When loading/saving ROS, the file IO routine error trap now informs the user there was a disk/file error

[Brufnus]

Hi folks!

 

I've had an inherited 90K Horizon RAMdisk lying for some time, which I'm trying to salvage. Hopefully I'll succeed and also upgrade it to at least 184 K.

 

However, it has been modified or repaired at some point, so it doesn't fit the schematics anymore. Also, I've never used the ROS before, since my other RAMdisks have had their operating systems all the time. Initially the MEMTEST didn't even recognize the disk, but after some resoldering I finally managed to make it see it - it does, however, report errors on every single 6264.

 

If any of you have a suggestion as to what the reason could be, I'd be very grateful. My personal theory is that the 74LS154 multiplexer - which has lost a leg (I made a temporary fix) and also has been subject to some of the beforementioned mods - is the reason, or at least, the primary reason.

 

I don't have much experience with the technical side of the RAMdisks, but I find it worth the while to get to know some more about it, and of course, salvage any card that might be salvageable. I'm sure you'll agree with me. c",)

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Brufnus

[+Ksarul]

I would try to get a replacement 74LS154, just because of the leg, but the memory errors may also be caused by an iffy buffer chip (the 74LS244s on the address lines or the 74LS245 on the data lines).

[Brufnus]

Yes, that broken leg warrants a replacement in itself. Thanks for the tip; I'll have a look at these as well and see if that solves the problem. c",)

Edited September 21, 2021 by Brufnus

[+dhe]

There are some really smart folks here. They might be able to help more, if you upload a photo.

[Brufnus]

Thanks stomper, yes I've had that in mind, too.

 

It turns out that the card isn't even recognized by CFG, GENCFG, etc... absolutely nothing is shown except for my HFDC. What complicates things even more is the fact it's been modified that much; buffer IC's stacked in 3 layers, wires all over the place, etc.

The LED does light up when I power on the PEB, but that's about it...

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Brufnus

[+Ksarul]

It hasn't been modified to put the Hoddie EPROM on it in place of the DSR RAM chip, has it?

[Brufnus]

I'm not sure, but I can compare with the other RAMdisk I have. I don't think so, though... and the U11 is an ordinary 6264.

[+Ksarul]

18 minutes ago, Brufnus said:

I'm not sure, but I can compare with the other RAMdisk I have. I don't think so, though... and the U11 is an ordinary 6264.

You're safe then--the Hoddie EPROM used a completely different RAM Disk DSR, based on the Myarc 512K card RAM Disk.

 

Can you read the serial number on your board? That will tell me the basic type you're using--and I can hunt down any standard modification documentation I have for that board revision. The serial numbers are usually near the heatsink on most of the earlier board types.

[Brufnus]

Okay, I'll take a look and let you know... thanks!

 

I've ordered a new 154, two 244's and a 245; in the meantime I'll have a look at the pcb itself and make some measurements on some of the components, such as the 7805.

[Brufnus]

Unfortunately I'm not able to locate any serial number on the Horizon. Anyway, I think I'll make some preparations while I'm waiting for the new IC's, then take a few pictures and upload them here.

 

The 74LS138 near the edge connector and the 74LS259 are, for some reason, piggy backed (3 on each), and there are several wires from the 138 to the 254. Also, all 6264's have resistors (pin 20) to the board on the back of the card; something I also find pretty weird, since this is not part of a std. Horizon, either... AFAIK, anyway.

Edited September 27, 2021 by Brufnus

[+Ksarul]

Yeah, pictures would definitely be helpful, as this board sounds a bit weird. That makes it an interesting problem though.

[Brufnus]

So, now I've taken a couple of pictures of that infamous RAM disk.  I've received the 244's and 245's a few days ago and swapped these, but still no joy. Today I received a bunch of 154's, too, so I'm good to go with these IC's.

Anyway, here are the photos - bear with me; the battery wires are temporary and should be shortened of course, and I also lack the resistor at the minus side; this will be installed as well, once I have one at hand.

[GDMike]

On 9/27/2021 at 12:54 PM, Brufnus said:

Unfortunately I'm not able to locate any serial number on the Horizon. Anyway, I think I'll make some preparations while I'm waiting for the new IC's, then take a few pictures and upload them here.

 

The 74LS138 near the edge connector and the 74LS259 are, for some reason, piggy backed (3 on each), and there are several wires from the 138 to the 254. Also, all 6264's have resistors (pin 20) to the board on the back of the card; something I also find pretty weird, since this is not part of a std. Horizon, either... AFAIK, anyway.

My card also had 3 ea 138s piggybacked prior to me pulling everything or almost everything out. I found that most if not all the 6264s we're bad on mine. How do I know. Well, I wrote a program for my supercart that initializes and reads back the data from my plugged in SRAM. 

And it showed most of those SRAMs were just fine except the first byte failed, not all were like that but a few were found to have that first byte issue. 

Edited October 7, 2021 by GDMike

[+Ksarul]

The pictures tell me much about this board. I understand now why it doesn't seem to match any of the existing documentation--it isn't really a Horizon product. It is an unauthorized copy of the Horizon board that I've seen once or twice before in Germany. I suspect the only way you will ever get this board working is to check every single trace on the board for continuity. Just looking at the pictures I saw several potentially broken or shorted traces. Note also that every single via on the board has solder and a bit of wire in it to connect the top of the board to the bottom, indicating that this board is completely hand made using copper-plated FR4 and an acid tank to dissolve the portions of the copper that weren't needed. An interesting artifact, but getting this to work will be a somewhat major labor-of-love project. You'd be somewhat better served buying a bare HRD4000B board from me and building a new, high-capacity RAM Disk.

 

I also seem to remember that these copy boards were very temperamental, even when they were new. . .definitely a labor-of-love project, although getting it to work again would be a major accomplishment. You might also carefully check every single one of those long resistor leads on the back for contact with your memory traces. That would really mess up memory access, as it would force the voltage level on the shorted trace to a single value all the time--across multiple chips. Also note that every hole on this board was drilled by hand, so there will be a bit of a tolerance issue when getting pins to fit--it will work, but it requires some really careful work to get all of them to work without bending something.

 

I think the one I saw was made in Hamburg, but I seem to remember that the origin of the mask to prepare the FR4 for the design was from a user in East Germany. It was really hard to get TI stuff in East Germany at that point in time, so a lot of interesting copies came from the small number of dedicated TI users there.

[GDMike]

1 minute ago, Ksarul said:

You'd be somewhat better served buying a bare HRD4000B board from me and building a new, high-capacity RAM Disk.

I have to also add, as I'm watching this, that's why I haven't rebuilt or attempted to rebuild my card. I'm just waiting on funds so I can get my hands on a brand spanking new better than ever ram disk from the boss.

[Brufnus]

1 hour ago, Ksarul said:

The pictures tell me much about this board. I understand now why it doesn't seem to match any of the existing documentation--it isn't really a Horizon product. It is an unauthorized copy of the Horizon board that I've seen once or twice before in Germany. I suspect the only way you will ever get this board working is to check every single trace on the board for continuity. Just looking at the pictures I saw several potentially broken or shorted traces. Note also that every single via on the board has solder and a bit of wire in it to connect the top of the board to the bottom, indicating that this board is completely hand made using copper-plated FR4 and an acid tank to dissolve the portions of the copper that weren't needed. An interesting artifact, but getting this to work will be a somewhat major labor-of-love project. You'd be somewhat better served buying a bare HRD4000B board from me and building a new, high-capacity RAM Disk.

 

I also seem to remember that these copy boards were very temperamental, even when they were new. . .definitely a labor-of-love project, although getting it to work again would be a major accomplishment. You might also carefully check every single one of those long resistor leads on the back for contact with your memory traces. That would really mess up memory access, as it would force the voltage level on the shorted trace to a single value all the time--across multiple chips. Also note that every hole on this board was drilled by hand, so there will be a bit of a tolerance issue when getting pins to fit--it will work, but it requires some really careful work to get all of them to work without bending something.

 

I think the one I saw was made in Hamburg, but I seem to remember that the origin of the mask to prepare the FR4 for the design was from a user in East Germany. It was really hard to get TI stuff in East Germany at that point in time, so a lot of interesting copies came from the small number of dedicated TI users there.

Ah, that explains a lot. Yes, you're right about the traces; I haven't taken my time to check these yet, but they definitely need some attention. Perhaps I should just let it go... I do have a couple of flawlessly working RAM disks, two HFDC's and several MFM drives in good shape, so it's not really needed... but it could be fun making it working again, though. c",)