Thanks, unfortunately that adapter wasn’t fully proven and the maker has gone dark… I noticed keyboard support mentioned as a future feature, hopeful it might help!

I'm on the same chase...
Grabbed m24 recently, but I have only the machine no keyboard or monitor.
I'm waiting parts from china to arrive so I can build adapter cable, I think rgbtohdmi has some olivetti modes. I also ordered some 27c64 roms, I think last rom allows you to disable onboard graphics so I could use vga/ega graphics card.
After I can test if the machine is working then I will tackle the keyboard issue... But since I didn't pay much of the computer I'm not going to spend hundreds of Euros to the keyboard 😕

Hi!

I recently bought the "PicoMEM - Audio Edition" version from Serdashop, but I seem to be having trouble getting it to work on my Olivetti PC1.

When I use it on one of the ISA slots, it halts the memory test with a "Fail:08:1000:43BC:43BC:43FC", followed by a clear screen, change in resolution and a message "I/O CHECK error on expansion board 00".
If I try it on the other ISA slot, I get the error "Low Memory Fail", even before going into the boot screen.

I have attached photos for reference.

Any idea of what I can do diferently?

Thanks

FreddyV wrote on 2025-01-14, 15:49:

Hi, […]
Show full quote

Hi,

Just saw that someone published the news on the latest Firmware.

I also published a new PM2000 Driver. (Wifi network packet driver)

It can now work for machines with a CPU > 80186

The problem was the "fix" I found here (Vogons) for 8bit card.
This fix was working for 8086/8088, but not for machines with 186 or more.

Also mtcp author did a fix in mtcp preventing the Wifi based network card to stop working after a timeout (Without trafic)
This new mTCP and pm2000 should solve some problems then.

I tried the new PM2000 Driver, but it still doesn't work on my system (Pentium 90).
I have updated to the Jan 1 firmware and the Jan 10 mTCP.

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, sorry if I did):

Which of the supported devices can the PicoMEM emulate at the same time?

I'm asking this, because it only wires up a single IRQ, if I understand the documentation correctly.

My use case is the following:

I have a Tandy 1000 EX with only 256MB on-board memory. I ordered an HX PLUS-ISA Riser Card for on Tindie (they were briefly in stock again), which should me to install 2 ISA cards in this system. Since I don't want to use the memory from the PicoMEM to max out the memory on the Tandy (4 waitstates, yikes!), my plan is to order a Lo-tech 1MB RAM Board to max out the RAM and add some upper memory to the machine, and then add a PicoMEM for additional functionality.

In this setup, I would like to be able to use the SD-based hard disk emulation together with USB mouse support and 4MB Expanded Memory (EMS). Can the PicoMEM offer this functionality simultaneously, even with just one IRQ? Mice usually need an IRQ, as well as hard drive controllers, right?

Having NE2000 support and USB joystick/gamepad support on top of the aforementioned functionality would be a bonus. But I'm just wondering which of these functionalities the card can combine and emulate at the same time.

I do remember reading somewhere that IRQs can be shared between multiple devices, as long as those devices are integrated on a single card with some kind of arbitration logic. But wouldn't that require modified drivers?

Thanks for clarifying! I hope this setup will be able to get the most out of my Tandy 1000 EX. 🙂

digger wrote on 2025-02-14, 10:28:

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, […]
Show full quote

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, sorry if I did):

Which of the supported devices can the PicoMEM emulate at the same time?

I'm asking this, because it only wires up a single IRQ, if I understand the documentation correctly.

My use case is the following:

I have a Tandy 1000 EX with only 256MB on-board memory. I ordered an HX PLUS-ISA Riser Card for on Tindie (they were briefly in stock again), which should me to install 2 ISA cards in this system. Since I don't want to use the memory from the PicoMEM to max out the memory on the Tandy (4 waitstates, yikes!), my plan is to order a Lo-tech 1MB RAM Board to max out the RAM and add some upper memory to the machine, and then add a PicoMEM for additional functionality.

In this setup, I would like to be able to use the SD-based hard disk emulation together with USB mouse support and 4MB Expanded Memory (EMS). Can the PicoMEM offer this functionality simultaneously, even with just one IRQ? Mice usually need an IRQ, as well as hard drive controllers, right?

Having NE2000 support and USB joystick/gamepad support on top of the aforementioned functionality would be a bonus. But I'm just wondering which of these functionalities the card can combine and emulate at the same time.

I do remember reading somewhere that IRQs can be shared between multiple devices, as long as those devices are integrated on a single card with some kind of arbitration logic. But wouldn't that require modified drivers?

Thanks for clarifying! I hope this setup will be able to get the most out of my Tandy 1000 EX. 🙂

You can run multiple things on 1 IRQ. At least HDD, floppy, EMS and Adlib which I am using. If you want NE2000 you can use another IRQ. But as WIFI is unstable with my PicoMEM I can't use it.

Regarding the USB mouse it should work as well but I have no need for it so I don't use it. Maybe it's a good idea to join the Discord for Tandy specific questions as there are people there that have Tandy's and know more about settings etc.

Yoghoo wrote on 2025-02-14, 11:13:

digger wrote on 2025-02-14, 10:28:

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, […]
Show full quote

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, sorry if I did):

Which of the supported devices can the PicoMEM emulate at the same time?

I'm asking this, because it only wires up a single IRQ, if I understand the documentation correctly.

My use case is the following:

I have a Tandy 1000 EX with only 256MB on-board memory. I ordered an HX PLUS-ISA Riser Card for on Tindie (they were briefly in stock again), which should me to install 2 ISA cards in this system. Since I don't want to use the memory from the PicoMEM to max out the memory on the Tandy (4 waitstates, yikes!), my plan is to order a Lo-tech 1MB RAM Board to max out the RAM and add some upper memory to the machine, and then add a PicoMEM for additional functionality.

In this setup, I would like to be able to use the SD-based hard disk emulation together with USB mouse support and 4MB Expanded Memory (EMS). Can the PicoMEM offer this functionality simultaneously, even with just one IRQ? Mice usually need an IRQ, as well as hard drive controllers, right?

Having NE2000 support and USB joystick/gamepad support on top of the aforementioned functionality would be a bonus. But I'm just wondering which of these functionalities the card can combine and emulate at the same time.

I do remember reading somewhere that IRQs can be shared between multiple devices, as long as those devices are integrated on a single card with some kind of arbitration logic. But wouldn't that require modified drivers?

Thanks for clarifying! I hope this setup will be able to get the most out of my Tandy 1000 EX. 🙂

You can run multiple things on 1 IRQ. At least HDD, floppy, EMS and Adlib which I am using. If you want NE2000 you can use another IRQ. But as WIFI is unstable with my PicoMEM I can't use it.

Regarding the USB mouse it should work as well but I have no need for it so I don't use it. Maybe it's a good idea to join the Discord for Tandy specific questions as there are people there that have Tandy's and know more about settings etc.

Thanks. Can you maybe provide a link to that Discord? Is it a Tandy-specific Discord, or a more general retrocomputing one with a Tandy-specific channel?

digger wrote on 2025-02-14, 13:33:

Yoghoo wrote on 2025-02-14, 11:13:

digger wrote on 2025-02-14, 10:28:

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, […]
Show full quote

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, sorry if I did):

Which of the supported devices can the PicoMEM emulate at the same time?

I'm asking this, because it only wires up a single IRQ, if I understand the documentation correctly.

My use case is the following:

I have a Tandy 1000 EX with only 256MB on-board memory. I ordered an HX PLUS-ISA Riser Card for on Tindie (they were briefly in stock again), which should me to install 2 ISA cards in this system. Since I don't want to use the memory from the PicoMEM to max out the memory on the Tandy (4 waitstates, yikes!), my plan is to order a Lo-tech 1MB RAM Board to max out the RAM and add some upper memory to the machine, and then add a PicoMEM for additional functionality.

In this setup, I would like to be able to use the SD-based hard disk emulation together with USB mouse support and 4MB Expanded Memory (EMS). Can the PicoMEM offer this functionality simultaneously, even with just one IRQ? Mice usually need an IRQ, as well as hard drive controllers, right?

Having NE2000 support and USB joystick/gamepad support on top of the aforementioned functionality would be a bonus. But I'm just wondering which of these functionalities the card can combine and emulate at the same time.

I do remember reading somewhere that IRQs can be shared between multiple devices, as long as those devices are integrated on a single card with some kind of arbitration logic. But wouldn't that require modified drivers?

Thanks for clarifying! I hope this setup will be able to get the most out of my Tandy 1000 EX. 🙂

You can run multiple things on 1 IRQ. At least HDD, floppy, EMS and Adlib which I am using. If you want NE2000 you can use another IRQ. But as WIFI is unstable with my PicoMEM I can't use it.

Regarding the USB mouse it should work as well but I have no need for it so I don't use it. Maybe it's a good idea to join the Discord for Tandy specific questions as there are people there that have Tandy's and know more about settings etc.

Thanks. Can you maybe provide a link to that Discord? Is it a Tandy-specific Discord, or a more general retrocomputing one with a Tandy-specific channel?

It's a specific Discord channel for the PicoMEM were Freddy also posts regularly. Link: https://discord.com/channels/1022977989979426 … 814563045777508.

Yoghoo wrote on 2025-02-14, 13:43:

It's a specific Discord channel for the PicoMEM were Freddy also posts regularly. Link: https://discord.com/channels/1022977989979426 … 814563045777508.

Thanks for sharing!

FreddyV,

PicoMEM is awesome. I got mine through TexElec a few weeks ago. It works very well in my IBM PS/2 Model 30. I primarily use it for A:, B:, and C: drives. I've used it mixed with physical Floppy drives as well. A: physical, B: PicoMEM and A: PicoMEM, B: physical. Super happy with this.
Sound is the next experiment.
Then Memory in my 5150's.

Thank you FreddyV and the rest of the contributors for the work you did on this.

- BBFlunkie

Re: Custom interposer module for TI486SXL2-66 PGA168 to PGA132 - HELP!

Think there is anyway to make this project work on 386 or 486 bus for more system ram or cache? little unsure how fast the picomem xfer rate is? is it on the order of these older cache busses? or is it too slow?

I recently got a PicoMEM, but it seems that BOOTSEL isn't working; when I press it an plug the Pico W into my machine, there's no response. Is there an alternative way to update the firmware? If not, perhaps a future hardware revision could address the possibility of BOOTSEL not working?

OPLx wrote on 2025-02-18, 11:50:

I recently got a PicoMEM, but it seems that BOOTSEL isn't working; when I press it an plug the Pico W into my machine, there's no response. Is there an alternative way to update the firmware? If not, perhaps a future hardware revision could address the possibility of BOOTSEL not working?

How exactly are you doing it? You need to remove the PicoMEM from the motherboard (can't stay in the computer even when powered down). Then attach the USB cable to the PicoMEM, press the BOOTSEL button and then attach the USB cable to your desktop. Keep the BOOTSEL button pressed the whole time btw until a drive pops up on your desktop else it will not work. After that you should be able to drag and drop the new firmware on that drive. When it's done it will automatically dismount the drive.

If the BOOTSEL button is broken somehow you need to solder some pins on the PICO and do it via serial or so.

Yoghoo wrote on 2025-02-18, 13:24:

How exactly are you doing it? You need to remove the PicoMEM from the motherboard (can't stay in the computer even when powered down). Then attach the USB cable to the PicoMEM, press the BOOTSEL button and then attach the USB cable to your desktop. Keep the BOOTSEL button pressed the whole time btw until a drive pops up on your desktop else it will not work. After that you should be able to drag and drop the new firmware on that drive. When it's done it will automatically dismount the drive.

If the BOOTSEL button is broken somehow you need to solder some pins on the PICO and do it via serial or so.

Sorry about that, I should have mentioned what I did. After the PicoMEM arrived, I took it out of the packaging, held down BOOTSEL and plugged the USB connector into my PC, but no response. I have a separate Pico, Pico W, and Pico2 and those worked without any BOOTSEL problems, so I'm not exactly sure what could be wrong. Since the PicoW is soldered directly onto the PicoMEM, it's not possible to access TP6 on the back to get around the issue.

OPLx wrote on 2025-02-18, 13:42:

Yoghoo wrote on 2025-02-18, 13:24:

How exactly are you doing it? You need to remove the PicoMEM from the motherboard (can't stay in the computer even when powered down). Then attach the USB cable to the PicoMEM, press the BOOTSEL button and then attach the USB cable to your desktop. Keep the BOOTSEL button pressed the whole time btw until a drive pops up on your desktop else it will not work. After that you should be able to drag and drop the new firmware on that drive. When it's done it will automatically dismount the drive.

If the BOOTSEL button is broken somehow you need to solder some pins on the PICO and do it via serial or so.

Sorry about that, I should have mentioned what I did. After the PicoMEM arrived, I took it out of the packaging, held down BOOTSEL and plugged the USB connector into my PC, but no response. I have a separate Pico, Pico W, and Pico2 and those worked without any BOOTSEL problems, so I'm not exactly sure what could be wrong. Since the PicoW is soldered directly onto the PicoMEM, it's not possible to access TP6 on the back to get around the issue.

Don't know how you got the PicoMEM but I would contact the seller for a replacement as it should work. If no warranty the easiest way is to desolder the PicoW and solder a new one. You also could try to replace the button but that is a bit harder and you need the right size button etc.

Yoghoo wrote on 2025-02-18, 14:00:

Don't know how you got the PicoMEM but I would contact the seller for a replacement as it should work. If no warranty the easiest way is to desolder the PicoW and solder a new one. You also could try to replace the button but that is a bit harder and you need the right size button etc.

I've contacted the seller, but thought there might be an alternate solution besides de-soldering the PicoW. Thanks for the information; I do appreciate it!

BBFlunkie wrote on 2025-02-15, 19:24:

FreddyV, […]
Show full quote

FreddyV,

PicoMEM is awesome. I got mine through TexElec a few weeks ago. It works very well in my IBM PS/2 Model 30. I primarily use it for A:, B:, and C: drives. I've used it mixed with physical Floppy drives as well. A: physical, B: PicoMEM and A: PicoMEM, B: physical. Super happy with this.
Sound is the next experiment.
Then Memory in my 5150's.

Thank you FreddyV and the rest of the contributors for the work you did on this.

- BBFlunkie

Hi,

I did not went here since lot of time, so I just saw the new messages.

Nice you like it 😀

Sphere478 wrote on 2025-02-18, 04:42:

Re: Custom interposer module for TI486SXL2-66 PGA168 to PGA132 - HELP!

Think there is anyway to make this project work on 386 or 486 bus for more system ram or cache? little unsure how fast the picomem xfer rate is? is it on the order of these older cache busses? or is it too slow?

Hi,

Use PicoMEM to extend RAM on a 386/486 is really nto an option, it is too slow (8Bit ISA)

digger wrote on 2025-02-14, 10:28:

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, […]
Show full quote

I have a question about the PicoMEM, which I couldn't find the answer to on GitHub or in this Vogons thread (maybe I missed it, sorry if I did):

Which of the supported devices can the PicoMEM emulate at the same time?

I'm asking this, because it only wires up a single IRQ, if I understand the documentation correctly.

My use case is the following:

I have a Tandy 1000 EX with only 256MB on-board memory. I ordered an HX PLUS-ISA Riser Card for on Tindie (they were briefly in stock again), which should me to install 2 ISA cards in this system. Since I don't want to use the memory from the PicoMEM to max out the memory on the Tandy (4 waitstates, yikes!), my plan is to order a Lo-tech 1MB RAM Board to max out the RAM and add some upper memory to the machine, and then add a PicoMEM for additional functionality.

In this setup, I would like to be able to use the SD-based hard disk emulation together with USB mouse support and 4MB Expanded Memory (EMS). Can the PicoMEM offer this functionality simultaneously, even with just one IRQ? Mice usually need an IRQ, as well as hard drive controllers, right?

Having NE2000 support and USB joystick/gamepad support on top of the aforementioned functionality would be a bonus. But I'm just wondering which of these functionalities the card can combine and emulate at the same time.

I do remember reading somewhere that IRQs can be shared between multiple devices, as long as those devices are integrated on a single card with some kind of arbitration logic. But wouldn't that require modified drivers?

Thanks for clarifying! I hope this setup will be able to get the most out of my Tandy 1000 EX. 🙂

Hi digger

There is a multiplexing code in the PicoMEM BIOS for the IRQ. So, you can setup the ne2000 IRQ that is different from the PicoMEM one.

For the moment, IRQ is needed for 2 devices only : Mouse and ne2000

FreddyV wrote on 2025-02-18, 15:21:

Sphere478 wrote on 2025-02-18, 04:42:

Re: Custom interposer module for TI486SXL2-66 PGA168 to PGA132 - HELP!

Think there is anyway to make this project work on 386 or 486 bus for more system ram or cache? little unsure how fast the picomem xfer rate is? is it on the order of these older cache busses? or is it too slow?

Hi,

Use PicoMEM to extend RAM on a 386/486 is really nto an option, it is too slow (8Bit ISA)

I was wondering about if the pi pico could interface with 386/486 cpu bus. Not isa (similar to vl bus)