PCI floppy interface

[Chuck Guzis]

On 16 Oct 2007 at 10:11, David Griffith wrote:

> 
> Is anyone here qualified to design PCI cards?  This morning I got the
> bright idea that since PCI floppy interfaces don't seem to exist, one of
> us ought to make one.  I'm aware of the Catweasel, but it doesn't appear
> to behave as a bog-standard floppy interface.  This wouldn't be a
> replacement for the Catweasel, more of a compliment, especially for
> machines that lack a floppy interface entirely or can't handle
> double-density 5.25" media.

While I can support your idea, one might as well make the floppy 
controller a standalone device, given the availability of 
microprocessor cores.  In either case, new software drivers weill be 
needed, as the legacy floppy depends on the old ISA-style DMA (does 
that exist for any other reason in modern systems without ISA 
slots?).  One could supply local RAM instead, but what with the PCI 
interface logic, the drivers and the board cost, it might as well be 
a USB, Firewire or ethernet device that could hook to darned near 
anything, not just PeeCee boxes. 

My two inflation-prone cents worth, at any rate.

Cheers,
Chuck