Thank you for your work @FreddyV. I really mean it. Project like yours are very important for the community even if it take time for the said community to understand it.
There are many interesting threads posted frequently here, and with little time, I read them when I can. And what a surprise reading this one 😁
I agree with @keropi on many points:
- The XT enthusiasts are not many but are a hard core.
- If CD-ROM with CD audio can be done, that would be great. But 600 KB/s (4X speed) would be preferable if feasible over the 300 KB/s.
Your BIOS UI is really awesome! Well done 😁
From the hardware side, however the lack of DMA support is really limiting what can be done and not being able to access at the same time the SD card and the data bus is also a quite annoying limitation for data efficient transfer even with a buffer of 1MB. But maybe I'm wrong on that point.
* Do you think in the future those two limitations can be surpassed?
What would be great is to have two versions, one 8-bit and one 16-bit. Mainly to have access to more IRQ and if (when) possible more DMA channels and also for 16-bit data transfer optionally for full AT support too. I think the RP2040 can do that.
One thing I spoke of frequently, is it would also be wonderful to have Wi-Fi support with an embedded web server to change the removable media on the fly. Because a text mode UI is really a great thing, but having an external access independent of the computer is what makes it really user friendly to use.
With all that included everybody will be happy I'm sure. Especially me as it would be a long lasting dream came true 😀
Floppy + HDD + CD-ROM (with analog audio even if it require the addition of DAC to get good CD-DA quality) all-in one solution, configurable by software or web server ♥
As it is for XT, I suppose your BIOS "just" act as a normal BIOS extension for FDD & IDE HDD drive controller. It cannot override an already present BIOS on the motherboard to replace it like XTIDE or ISA Promise controller do.
* Can you, please, confirm that ? Thank you 😀
ps. and I'm of course not saying «I want that, do it !» as some people here tends to react a little to fast. I'm just expressing what I would like to see, and as your project is a wonderful base about data storage for many passionate people to work on, improving it in the future, it would be possible for my will to become a reality one day. And that is something! Like the PicoGUS project is for the sound!
And, again, thank you very very much for your work!!!
Knowing things is great. Understanding things is better. Creating things is even better.