> But compact flash does not neccesary need to be hooked up as a IDE > device. As a mather of fact you can hook it up directly to the sam edge > connector(or drive connector) without any additional hardware other than > a CF and SAM connector with a couple of wires between them.
Very possible yes, I've used CF cards with PIC microcontrollers before in that way. > The only disadvantage with this scheme is that there is no software yet that > supports it That's it in a nutshell, by using the CF cards in the 'True IDE' mode it does mean it can be used straight away as a hard drive replacement, and therefore with BDOS. In some recent tinkerings I've tried an IBM Microdrive (340meg) with it... but despite the IBM/Hitachi datasheets claiming they can work in 'True IDE' mode, it seems that is not the case - they only operate in 'PC Card Memory Mode' and therefore no use with the Atom and CF Interface. (Searching newsgroups showed other people had tried them with other systems using CF/IDE interfaces and confirmed that they could not use the 'True IDE' mode... which is very dissappointing) Colin ==== Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Six of "Sam Revival" Magazine Out in 2 Days!
