We here at Papaya Labs like to experiment with technology. Especially when this technology is connectable to a ZX Spectrum. After finding some ultra cheap 5GB 1″ hard drives (see this post for details of a 6GB version), we played with them and found them to be very sensitive to being pulled in and out of card readers, and CF->IDE adaptors.

So we managed to get the 5GB drives sent back and fully refunded. The next stage was to find something a little more robust and less sensitive. So we started looking at normal CF cards.

What did we find? Some uber cheap 4GB CF cards that DO NOT require power! They’re branded as DataWrite and come with a limited lifetime warranty. We found them cheapest at Burn-Media currently at £19.40. If you buy two you’ll qualify for the £10 discount when you buy through the Google Checkout. So either be greedy, or team up with a mate and get them even cheaper

We’ve now opened a new section to the Labs site, namely Hacks. It’s for hardware hacks that mainly relate to Speccy stuff, but we might throw in some extra stuff that may be of interest to others. At the minute we have just one hack, the PSOne LCD hack. But I’m sure this’ll grow over time…

Well, after a little wait we have some boards! So with Christmas fast approaching, we hope to get the production started early in the new year! Remember, the best things come to those who wait

It’s been a while since anything was updated on the labs website. This is due to me (laesq) getting a new job. It’s been eating up all of my spare time recently, and so this has had a knock-on effect to any development work and DivIDE board production.

I’m glad to say that things are settling down and I’m slowly starting to see the light at the end of tunnel. So I should soon have some spare time to concentrate on the labs and, more importantly, the current batch of DivIDE boards.

“So what about my order? When will I see it?” I hear you all cry. Well, at the minute production looks to be postponed until the new year.

So to all my patient customers I must apologise for the huge delay.

And to gasman, this post has nothing to do with british rail…

Sorry,
LaesQ

Here at the labs we do a lot of experimenting with the fantastic DivIDE interface. As we recently found out about the great 6GB CF card hidden within Lacie Carte Orange drives works with the DivIDE, and that some CF cards are unreliable or just plain don’t work with the DivIDE, we decided to make an online database of all this information.

The database is called the ‘DivIDE Compact Flash Compatiblity Database’ - DCFCD for short. Click the link above to access it. There’s also a user submission form so you can submit your own findings. We’ve also created a simple IDE detection program so you can retrieve some of your cards vital stats

We have now taken enough orders to fulfill our initial order of 50 divide boards. We are just awaiting confirmation from the customers of their orders and then we shall commence getting the boards ordered.

Also, not all customers may have responded to their confirmation email. If we do NOT get a response shortly, their order allocation will be lost and so their boards will then become available for others to purchase. As no money has actually been taken yet, we see this as the fairest way to do this.

Back in early August, I bought a Lacie Carte Orange 6GB USB drive off of Bogie due to it not working with his new stereo. So I decided I’d use it as a slightly larger portable backup drive. That is up until today.

This morning when I plugged the drive into my recently rebuilt XP laptop, I noticed it discover the drive afresh. It found a new device which was a Seagate ST660211CF. Now this got me thinking.. CF? Compact Flash?

A little bit of searching later told me that it actually contains a Seagate ST1 series drive. These are very small CFII style cards, very similar to IBM Microdrives.

So that was it, out came the screwdriver and I soon had it apart. Below is a pic of what I found.

Yup, a nice CF card sized 6GB hard drive. So of course, the next logical step was to plug the drive into my current DivIDE setup and check it works. And yes, that tiny strip of foam on the left hand side of the drive is all the shock absorbing material that the poor drive has.

Here’s a shot of ESXDOS v.0.5 detecting the drive - still non-public beta.

Just for extra info, the drive needed external power before it’d work. This also explains why the drive didn’t work with Bogie’s headunit. On the back of the drive interestingly enough it states ‘For Embedded Application Only’, I’d say Speccy qualifies as an Embedded Application

Yep, that’s right. The Papaya Labs shop is now open for pre-orders of DivIDE interfaces and other DivIDE goodies.

So either click the link above, or here.

Well the great english heatwave has finally cooled down a bit, so while it lasts we’ve been making the most of the cooler weather.

So how have we been spending our time? Well, we ordered up some GAL equivalents and we’ve been testing them.

Why? Because the GAL22V10D specified in the DivIDE specs is rather expensive for just for one, let alone 3(!). So we’ve been looking at getting some cheaper ones to see if they work just as well. This will also make the end DivIDE cost even cheaper still if tests go well.

Just for the geeky ones out there here’s the list of GAL equivalents we’re currently testing:

• ICT PEEL22CV10AP
• Atmel ATF 22V10C
• AMD PALCE22V10H

And for the ubergeeks reading, below is a pic of all three chips together.

Well, I’m very sad to say that the labz have gone into meltdown due to the current heat wave! So any developments have been put on hold until further notice.

We are still planning to make a second batch of DivIDE boards when the labz are back in action. We are also planning to open our shop which will help people see what services we offer, etc.

So for the time being we are gathering quotes and purchasing all the parts for the second batch of DivIDE boards.

Watch this space for more news…