onethirdxcubed wrote on 2026-10-13, 23:34:

Here's one interesting possible option for laptops: there is a RATOC CompactFlash to USB Host card which was intended to be used in Windows CE palmtops but it can be used in PCMCIA slots with a passive adapter. There is now a Win9x driver for it (AI made) see here: https://github.com/zikolas/cfu1-win9x

Then there's this chip ... The Epson S1R72U16 IDE-to-USB Host bridge

https://www.mouser.com/catalog/specsheets/Epson_S1R72U16.pdf

1Specification
21) USB
3- High Speed mode (480Mbps) and Full Speed mode (12Mbps)
4- Support Host termination function
5- USB Host Stack, USB Mass Storage Class, USB HUB Class on chip
6
72) IDE Interface
8- Share the pins the CPU interface block
9- Support ATA/ATAPI6 
10- PIO mode 0 to 4
11- Multi Word DMA mode 0 to 2 
12- UDMA mode 0 to 5
13
143) CPU Interface
15- Share the pins the IDE interface block
16- 16bit general CPU interf ace (Memory bus)
17- Support DMA
18- Little Endian

https://global.epson.com/products_and_drivers … df/id001750.pdf
S1R72U16 Connection Guide EPSON 3
For connecting to local 16-bit CPU bus (memory bus) (Rev. 1.10)

3. Changing the data transfer method
For data transfers with the S1R72U16 via DMA,

• Use a DMA controller capable of transferring data between the device connected to the CPU bus and memory. For information on DMA controller control methods, consult the CPU documentation or contact the CPU manufacturer.
• When the S1R72U16 is connected to the CPU bus, you cannot use Ultra DMA as defined in AT Attachment with Packet Interface-4 (ATA/ATAPI-4) or later specifications. Use multi-word DMA instead.