A440 flash based disk options with RISC OS 2

[MattGrum]

I recently acquired an Archimedes A440, which was the computer I had growing up. It still has a working HDD but I have no way of getting files to and from a modern PC and I'm not sure how long it will hold out so I'm looking for an alternative. I read somewhere that IDE based Compact Flash interfaces wont work with RISC OS 2, is there any sensible alternative since I'd rather not have to solder anything which I gather is necessary to upgrade the OS.

[a1exh]

Is that true? I would imagine that a 40-pin CF->IDE adapter with a small CF card (say 1GB) should be indistinguishable from IDE HDD.

They are very cheap, under £10 so why not have a go?

Which IDE controller do you have?

[SKS1]

Which IDE controller do you have?

Remember that the on-board controller interface on the A440 is ST-506, not IDE. I recall that one of the IDE podules *may* have an option to be re-flashed back to RISC OS 2 compatible firmware.

Is that true? I would imagine that a 40-pin CF->IDE adapter with a small CF card (say 1GB) should be indistinguishable from IDE HDD.

And that RISC OS systems do seem quite picky about which CF cards do work.

[TimoHartong]

That is true if you have the IDE interface form Ian Stocks one can flash it back to a version which works with RO2. Or alternatively choose to upgrade to RO3 for the A440 one needs a board to do that.
Another option is SCSI and than a SCSI2SD solution. I have bad experience with CF card solutions.

[a1exh]

Remember that the on-board controller interface on the A440 is ST-506, not IDE.

I didn't know that

[IanS]

ZIDEFS podules don't work on RISC OS 2 - viewtopic.php?p=233356#p233356 other IDE podules might.

But as the ZIDEFS podules are based on an original ICS design, ther is a ROM available that will work with RISC OS 2 - viewtopic.php?p=206429#p206429. There is no partition support in the ICS sw.

Rom carrier boards only require 3 wires soldering, where are you based, you may find someone local who could do it for you.

RISC OS 3 is a useful upgrade, not very much still runs on RISC OS 2.

[baz4096]

There is no partition support in the ICS sw.

I have an ICS mini podule that doesn't do things the RO3 way (free and verify pop up a command windows, for example, rather than nice GUIs) but it does support partitions. I think it was designed for A3000s with RO2 which would explain why my parents picked it up cheap for our A3010. I might have the partitioning software for it somewhere, and I can dump the eprom if it's any use to someone.

[IanS]

I have an ICS mini podule that doesn't do things the RO3 way (free and verify pop up a command windows, for example, rather than nice GUIs) but it does support partitions. I think it was designed for A3000s with RO2 which would explain why my parents picked it up cheap for our A3010. I might have the partitioning software for it somewhere, and I can dump the eprom if it's any use to someone.

It would be interesting to see pictures, software and rom dumps, but my ZIDEFS 8-bit hardware design is not based on any existing desgn (afaik), so any existing software is unliekly to work on it.

The hardware the 16-bit ZIDEFS podule is based on is one of the first (if not the first) IDE podule I haven't seen rom sw that supports partitions, but it may still be out there to be found.

[Wobblestone]

Hi,
I had a similar problem with my A310. It also came with RO2 and without a hd.
As mentioned here, I upgraded to RO3 and use a ZIDEFS podule as HD, which works great.
viewtopic.php?p=424595#p424595
I can also use it to interchange software between my RiscPCs and the A310, since I can easily put it into the RiscPCs.

Also a SCSI podule + BlueSCSI would be a good way to go. But even that works after I upgraded to RO3.