Date   : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:11:40 +0200
From   : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: Box assorted floppies

On 25/07/2010 06:51, Mike Tomlinson wrote:

>>        1. Uses a REAL clock, not the FileStore's built in one.
>>        2. Uses REAL termination.
> indeed.  But that applies to all Econets, of course.

Well... You can run a 2-3v station network directly off the FileStore, 
if you're lazy. :-)


It sucks, however, that the FileStore runs a 65C102 and can clock up the 
RAM as there's no CRTC accesses to worry about... yet it runs at 
Beeb-speed.


> A good idea, but this means disassembling the FileSnore.  They were a
> nightmare to take apart and never seemed to go back together quite right
> afterwards.

Piece o'cake.

Prise off the back panel with the two tabs at the bottom. Once this is 
away, the two side tabs will fall off. Flip it over and undo the six 
screws, three a side. Now, unit upside down, loosen the two tabs for the 
front panel. Hold the front panel in place, flip the unit over, the top 
just slides away backwards. Then you can reach in and disconnect the 
front panel.
Powered screwdriver, 90 seconds... :-)


> And don't get me started on that stupid front flap with the optical
> switch whose tab broke off if you so much as breathed on it,

Yeah... I've got so damn much tape holding my front panel on that I 
unclip it to change floppies!


 > and the catches that also broke off.

Given the solidity of the Beeb, the FileStore was something of a design 
fail. The front panel looked good but it was waaaaaay too fragile.

I might make an easter egg in my emulator where the front panel can be 
displayed all taped up. ;-)


> The power supply was also a weak point, suffering bad caps after
> extended use,

Eek!


> which was a daring step, as up to then Acorn had done everything
 > with 6502 variants.

Given the SJ Bridge (65C02/ADLC) can keep up with Arcs, I wonder why the 
FileStore is sooooo slow? Granted, a Bridge will be simpler internally 
than a server, but it does show the response time is there... if only 
Acorn knew where to find it!


> Their async mark/space clock boxes could be tweaked to improve data rates,

The SJ bridge took this a step further by making it almost 
pointy-clicky. You could either select a set of timings, or you could 
just select machine types, like "MDFS" or "BBC".


> (Beebs being the lowest common denominator

Well, they're effectively the slowest of the family. Just be glad the 
Electron didn't have Econet!


Best wishes,

Rick.

-- 
Rick Murray, eeePC901 & ADSL WiFI'd into it, all ETLAs!
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...