(background derived from Wikipedia)
Parallel ATA (PATA), previously AT Attachment (ATA) and originally Integrated
Drive Electronics (IDE), is an interface standard for the connection of
storage devices such as hard disks, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in
computers. The standard is maintained by X3/INCITS committee.
The IDE standard was first used in 1986 in the Compaq Deskpro 396 with
integrated Western Digital hard disk drive controller. IDE was based on the
IBM PC Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) 16-bit bus standard.
ATAPI is the standard protocol allowing the ATA interface to carry SCSI
commands and responses. Common ATAPI devices include CD-ROM drives, DVD-ROM
drives, and Zip drives.
CompactFlash (CF) is essentially a mass storage device format with a
miniaturized ATA interface, normally using flash memory. The format was first
specified and produced by SanDisk in 1994.
The following hardware interfaces were designed to allow PATA devices to be
used with the 8-bit Atari:
==> KMK/JZ IDE (1996) and KMK/JZ/IDEa (2004)
- Allows you to attach an ATA (IDE) hard drive, a CF (Compact Flash) card or
an ATAPI device (e.g. a CD-ROM drive) to your Atari XE computer. Drive must
be ATA-1 or later; at least ATA-2 is recommended. Dual drives supported.
- KMK/JZ IDE Interface
- Hardware design by Jacek Zuk (Simius), 1995-2006
- XL OS Rev.1+ New Device, connects to Cartridge+ECI
- Available: http://8bit.yarek.pl/interface/atari.kmk/
- KMK/JZ IDEa Interface
- Hardware design by Jacek Zuk (Simius) and Michal 'Pasiu' Pasiecznik,
2005-2006
- XL OS Rev.1+ New Device, connects to Cartridge+ECI
- Can also be mounted inside any XL/XE
- Available: http://atarifanstore.info/idea.htm
- Software by Konrad Kokoszkiewicz. Firmware characteristics (10.11.2009):
- Maximum drive capacity: 16777215 physical blocks on each device (8 GiB)
- Maximum number of partitions: 16
- Maximum capacity of a partition: 16777215 logical sectors (8 GiB)
- Logical sector length: 512 bytes (native, same as physical block) or
256 bytes (emulation) or (as of BIOS v.1.8) 128 bytes (emulation)
- Average speed (depends on the drive and DOS used):
50-80 kB/s (native mode, R/W), or
20-45 kB/s (emulation mode, reading), or
7-12 kB/s (emulation mode, writing)
- 16-bit data transfers
- Fully Atari OS compliant (no Atari OS patches are needed)
- Bus ID for the Atari OS configurable with a jumper
- Can boot from any partition (of a hard drive or CF card)
- Independent partitions can be write-protected
- ATAPI support not provided by the BIOS
- Utilities, tools and the system software: http://drac030.krap.pl/
==> SmartIDE, project by Bob Woolley (1996)
- Project for the 1200XL
- Published as a series of articles in Atari Classics magazine;
Web pages by Clarence Dyson
- "SmartOS" Sept/Oct 1995, pp. 25-29
http://www.wolfpup.net/atarimods/smartos-1.html
- "Dallas 'ROMs'" Fall 1996, p. 16
http://www.wolfpup.net/atarimods/smartos-2.html
- "Smart IDE" Fall 1996, pp. 17-19
http://www.wolfpup.net/atarimods/smartide-1.html
- "The IDEal Hard Drive" Fall 1996, pp. 20-22
http://www.wolfpup.net/atarimods/smartide-2.html
- "IDE Driver Software" Fall 1996, pp. 23-27
http://www.wolfpup.net/atarimods/smartide-3.html
Software (IDE38.ASM) download: http://www.wolfpup.net/atarimods/idecode.zip
- IDE (IDE_NKH.ASM 12/09/00; based on IDE38.ASM by Bob Woolley) by Nathan
Hartwell adds the SIO command GET_CONFIG to the IDE Driver Software
http://www.magelair.com/atari_8bit_stuff.html
- Extensions of the SmartIDE project:
==> 16-bit IDE, project by Nathan Hartwell (MageX)(2000)
- Based on the schematic for SmartIDE by Bob Woolley
- SmartIDE Code (IDE_NKH.ASM 12/19/00) is based on IDE38.ASM by Bob
Woolley
- Project home: http://www.magelair.com/atari_8bit_stuff.html
==> PBI 16-bit IDE, project by Nathan Hartwell (MageX)(2000?)
- Heavily modified from the SmartIDE schematic by Bob Woolley
- Like SmartIDE, this is still an internal design that plugs into the MPU
socket for most of the signals needed.
- No PAL/GAL logic is used.
- No code has yet been developed.
- Project home: http://www.magelair.com/atari_8bit_stuff.html
==> msc IDE, by Stefan Birmanns and Matthias Belitz (1996)
- XL OS Rev.1+ New Device, connects to PBI
- A Cartridge+ECI adapter can also be used
- Up to 240 partitions per hard disk supported
- Emulates D1: until D9: of disk devices (access to 9 partitions at one time)
- Full bootable from any partition (with standard XL-OS)
- Write protection capability
- Supports up to two hard drives (master/slave)
- Transfer rate > 30 kB/s file access with SPARTA-DOS 3.2 gx (reading)
- Transfer rate > 10 kB/s file access with SPARTA-DOS 3.2 gx (writing)
- Software partially supports CD-ROM and ZIP drives.
- Partially software compatible with the KMK/JZ IDE interface
- No longer in production
- More information:
https://web.archive.org/web/20111117071126/http://www.birmanns.de/atari/
==> BadSector "A", project by Gary Morton (2001)
- Control an IDE hard disk drive using the Atmel AT89S53 processor (or 8031
compatible processor).
- Compatible with all models of Atari due to the use of the SIO (serial bus)
- Project home: http://www.alma.demon.co.uk/Atari/AtariHwSw.html
==> SIO2IDE, project by Marek Mikolajewski (MMSoft)(2001-2005)
Attach any IDE Disk Drive or CF Card (using CF2IDE adapter) to your 8-bit
Atari computer.
ATARI side:
- Uses standard Atari SIO at a speed of 19200 baud
- Works with Atari High Speed SIO (US and Happy) at a speed of 52000 baud
- Emulates Atari disks D1: to D8: disk D1: can be swapped with Common disk D1:
(HD1_ZW jumper, drive D9: in config file)
- Can be used with any Atari DOS and OS
- Can be used without any problems with other SIO devices
- Can be easy installed inside your Atari with 2.5' laptop HD or CF card
- Is easy to configure via special fdisk.com utility software (changing
disks sequence and active directory)
- It uses ATR files to emulate real floppy disk or hard drive
IDE device side:
- All IDE ATA/ATAPI devices can be used: Disk Drives (2.5" and 3.5"),
Compact Flash cards etc.
- Supports PC file systems, FAT16 and FAT32
- Supports CD file system, ISO9660
- Supports ATR disk images (SD, DD up to 16MiB)
- Supports directory change (multiconfig)
- Is easy to configure, many text configuration files (sio2ide.cfg) can be
stored in different directories
- Disk configuration can be checked by special checkfs.exe PC utility
NOTE: checkfs.exe does NOT work with HDD connected via USB port
- Standard system disk utilities can be used (defrag.exe, scandisk.exe etc)
- Long File Name (LFN) support for HDD
- TEST mode for checking HDD initializations
- Supports Master/Slave IDE devices
- Disk defragmentation is not required
USB port side (SIO2IDE Versions 4.x option):
- Interface allows the attached ATA drive to work as USB Mass Storage Class
device (removable drive) on a Windows PC
- No drivers are needed for Windows 2K, ME, XP. Windows 98 driver available.
- SIO2IDE in USB mode is not working with Linux
Available, Version 3.3:
http://www.mega-hz.de/Angebote/SIO2IDE33/SIO2IDE33.html
Available, latest version: http://afs.atari.org/sio2ide.htm
- Options: USB controller, SIO plug
SIO2IDE project home: http://www.atariarea.krap.pl/sio2ide/
==> MyIDE, by Mr.Atari (Sijmen Schouten)(2002) / Atarimax (Steven Tucker)
- Originally released as plans, as a cartridge, or as a kit that could either
be installed into a cartridge case or inside the computer.
Software also included: MyBIOS, the IDE based OS by Mr.Atari
- Version 3.1 is an internal or external IDE interface for all Atari
8-bit XL/XE computers (2006)
- Atarimax implementations by Steven Tucker:
- MyIDE+Flash Cartridge Interface (XL/XE)
- MyIDE Internal Interface (XL/XE)
- MyIDE project home: http://www.mr-atari.com/myidehome.htm
==> IDE Plus 2.0 (2011)
- Allows you to attach an ATA (IDE) hard drive, a CF (Compact Flash) card or
an ATAPI device (e.g. a CD-ROM drive) to your Atari XL/XE computer. Drive
must be ATA-3 or later. Dual drives supported.
- Hardware design by Jacek Zuk (Simius), 1995-2011
- XL OS Rev.1+ New Device, with both PBI and Cartridge+ECI connectors
- Provides pass-through Cartridge port
- Addresses well known problems with the PHI2 signal not being generated
the same across various Atari XL and XE motherboard revisions, and across
computers with different hardware extensions installed.
- Does not require an external power-supply
- Contains 96KiB ISP Flash ROM and 32KiB RAM available to the internal
PBI BIOS and flashable from the Atari
- Contains 512KiB or 1024KiB ISP Flash ROM for SpartaDOS X (or any other
cartridge of such type), flashable from the Atari. This ROM can be
physically disabled using a dedicated switch.
- Contains a real time clock circuitry to be used with SpartaDOS X.
- Contains a LED flashing during the I/O
- AtariAge preorder thread: http://preview.tinyurl.com/nc7msfb
- Software by Konrad Kokoszkiewicz. Firmware characteristics (29.10.2011):
- Maximum drive capacity: 268435456 sectors on either device (128 GiB)
- Maximum number of partitions: 16
- Maximum capacity of a partition: no practical limit
- Logical sector length: 128 bytes (emulation), 256 bytes (emulation) or
512 bytes (native)
- Average speed (depends on the drive and DOS used):
50-80 kB/s (native mode, R/W), or
30-45 kB/s (emulation mode, R/W)
- 16-bit data transfers
- Fully Atari OS compliant (no Atari OS patches are needed)
- Independent partitions can be write-protected
- ATAPI support not provided by the BIOS
- Documentation, utilities, tools, system software: http://drac030.krap.pl/
==> SIDE, by Sebastian Bartkowicz (Candle), 2011
- Allows the use of a CF card on the Atari, via the cartridge port
- Features:
- SpartaDOS X cartridge (SDX)
- On Board Real Time Clock with appropriate driver inside SDX
- CF Card slot capable of handling 3.3V CF cards (that excludes
microdrives, but everything else, regardless of capacity should work)
- Developer web page: http://spiflash.org/block/16.html
==> SIDE 2, by Przemyslaw Krawczyk (Lotharek), 2012
- Builds on the original SIDE concept by adding CF card hot-swap
functionality and enhanced ROM banking capabilities.
- Available: http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=68
==> MyIDE-II, by Atarimax (Steven Tucker) / Mr.Atari (Sijmen Schouten), 2012
MyIDE-II CompactFlash Cartridge for Atari XL/XE computers includes:
- Compact Flash Hardware Interface (by Atarimax)
- Full Software Power Control
- Hardware Media Change Detection
- Upgradable Hardware Core via Card Edge JTAG Interface
- 512KiB On-Board User Customizable Flash Memory
- Atarimax Maxflash Studio & USB Programmer Integration
- Menu Customizability using Maxflash Studio Workbooks
- 512KiB On-Board Application SRAM
- Develop advanced applications without requiring internal RAM upgrades
- Mr-Atari's MyBIOS Included
- New MyIDE-II MyBIOS with Full "Hot Swap" Media Change Support
- Upgrade/Change MyBIOS by updating your Maxflash Studio Workbook
More features:
- Available Atarimax MyIDE-II FAT32 Loader, to access *.XEX and *.COM files
directly from FAT32 partitions
- Disk mode, to load .ATR files inside MyIDE mode
- MyIDE mode, works the same as earlier MyIDE Interface
- LED access, and card on/off
- Compatible with SD cards with adaptors
http://www.atarimax.com/myide/documentation/
==> Incognito, by Sebastian Bartkowicz (Candle'O'Sin), 2012
- Built-in, configurable CF card storage
(works as PBI in XL/XE mode, and through SDX driver in Colleen mode)
- Built-in FAT32 loader (SIDE) with both ATR and XEX file handling
- Device detailed elsewhere in this FAQ list (800 personality boards)
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