µDrive - What is it?
#1
The µDrive (pronounced "micro-drive") is a low-level, cycle exact, disk drive emulator.  It can emulate a 1541 disk drive, and with future firmware it will also be able to emulate a 1571, 1581, CMD FD-2000/4000, CMD HD-40, Tandy Disk Drive 1/2, Atari 1050/XF551, C2N tape drive, Speccy tape drive, and much more!

The hardware is small, but uses a powerful dual core dsPIC33 processor with 512K of flash space and 64K of RAM.  It operates up to 190MIPS.  All of the code for the µDrive is written in 100% assembly language.  The 6502/6522/data separator emulation core for the 1541 uses about 2% of the CPU processing power, with the rest of the time left over for handling the optional OLED screen, push button inputs, and SD card reading/writing as needed.  Most of the time it is actually asleep to preserve power.  The µDrive (with OLED screen) needs a maximum of 80mA of current to run it.  This makes it ideal for being powered with a portable external 5v USB power source.  You can of course power the µDrive using the +5v from inside of your computer or any other +5v power source.

The µDrive connector port has 3 inputs for push buttons, 1 input for 5v, 1 output to supply 3.3v, 2 grounds, and 5 bi-directional I/O lines. There is also a 10 pin parallel port with 4 extra I/O ports for future expansion.  The board has an I2C interface (typically used for the OLED sceen), a dedicated high speed (up to 1Mbps) serial port, a micro-SD card socket, 2 LEDs, 128Mbits of FLASH ROM, and 2K of EEPROM, all on a board that is just 1.2" x 1.5" (30mm x 38mm).  This combination of hardware allows for many emulation options, including composite video output.

Firmware can be updated/changed through the SD card, or wirelessly through our server if you have the wireless add-on.

The µDrive will come as the main board itself which can be wired internally (like inside of your Commodore computer).   The µDrive can be used as an external miniature "disk drive" by using an OLED/button add-on board and 3D printed enclosure, and you can even add wireless capabilities.
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#2
So you are just working on the software that is in machine language now?

Guess in about a month from now you will show it ate the CRX on August 23-25, 2019 - Las Vegas, NV.

I am sure some one will do a video of you showing it there.

Thank you.

-Raymond Day
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#3
Yes, I am still tinkering with this. I have been side tracked a bit by the 65xxT project. That is a 6502 emulator that replaces a real 6502 chip. The CPU emulation comes from the µDrive project.
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