
Using an IDE Hard Drive with a 8051 Board and 82C55 Chip (2005) - peter_d_sherman
https://www.pjrc.com/tech/8051/ide/index.html
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kinard
Yup, I too wanted to see the offering from US Software, it looks like they
have diversified somewhat :)

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duskwuff
Nowadays, there's elm-chan's FatFs: [http://elm-
chan.org/fsw/ff/00index_e.html](http://elm-chan.org/fsw/ff/00index_e.html)

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fb03
I love this guy. I have bought countless Teensy-ies from this website and his
stuff is so solid.

~~~
analog31
A true 100x engineer and a really nice guy.

~~~
mordechai9000
I bought a teensy on impulse to mess around with LED strips, and this library
he wrote is awesome:

[https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_OctoWS2811.html#tech](https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_OctoWS2811.html#tech)

It takes care of all the low-level details and offloads almost all of the work
onto the DMA controller, leaving the CPU free to service interrupts or run
other code. It reduces controlling individual LEDs to something as simple as a
putPixel.

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jonah-archive
Hah, this takes me back -- I own the 8051 dev board he made and at one point
built the original MP3 player design (though I don't think mine ever worked
quite right):
[https://www.pjrc.com/tech/mp3/old_player.html](https://www.pjrc.com/tech/mp3/old_player.html)

I should dig that up and get it running again.

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microcolonel
Funnily enough, even then there was likely a more powerful general purpose
microcontroller inside the drive.

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pkaye
Kind of useless with the present day SATA serial interface. The parallel
interface is so simple that you can essentially bit bang it but with for the
serial interface you really need a controller due to the strict timing.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
CompactFlash cards still support PATA so not entirely useless.

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devy
Other than the link mishap, I would really like to see more DIY guides like
this on HN to extend and hack old hardwares that otherwise would have been
ending up in junk yard.

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mkoryak
Somewhat related question:

Is there an easy way to power an IDE drive so that the motor does not
eventually spin down?

(I don't care about reading/writing, only spinning)

~~~
mkoryak
Answering my own question:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY3BFewPYB8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY3BFewPYB8)

Last time I had this problem was before youtube :)

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no_protocol
(2005)

Also, warning:

The link to "US Software" now leads to an adults-only website. I recommend not
clicking this link, it has nothing to do with software.

~~~
sspiff
Actually, it is (1999):

> This code is an original work by Paul Stoffregen, written in December 1999

The 2005 update just applied minor changes for a new board revision:

> Status: This page is complete, code updated for rev 5 board, January 2005

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FidelCashflow
Bullshit. This should be removed from HN. That first link about "US Software"
is NSFW to say the least.

~~~
rlonstein
Really? Have you not been around long enough to witness bitrot and squatting
of domain names? There were sixty-eight anchors in that page and one is no
longer valid.

I've sent an email to Paul because you're too indignant to be helpful.

