t Jan Vorlicek, but   
   the idea is older.  In that time on ftp.funet.fi there was available some   
   downloadable documentation for connecting MFM hard disk to C64, but this   
   technology was not modern at that time.  This needed an external MFM   
   controller while IDE bus was at first sight very similar to C64 internal   
   bus.  It looked that we would need only a few TTL gates, but it was more   
   complicated.  We needed new technology for programming CPLD chips,   
   designing PCBs, PC for this and it took a lot of time.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Has the project made you rich, beyond your dreams?   
      
   TP:  The most important thing is that I understood how the thing works and   
   that was very helpful for looking for my job.  For example:  to implement   
   IDE device to control system with 8-bit external bus was very simple   
   because I did it on IDE64.  Or ETH64 controller or PCkeyb project were   
   designed practically at the same time as similar projects in my job.  MP3   
   player was designed with my co-worker from the company when we did a stand   
   alone MP3 player and we used the experience from IDE64 project.  Our newest   
   project CPU64 uses experience with FPGA designs from looms or driving   
   linear motors.  In this context, I can say that IDE64 made me rich, because   
   gave me a lot of important experience and new friends.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  To your knowledge, was this the first ever IDE interface for the   
   Commodore 64, and would you say it's the best, and if so, why?   
      
   TP:  Direct connection on the C64 expansion bus gave us the speed.   
   Embedded memory management and RAM/PEROM memory makes the user opertaion   
   easy.  Short Bus makes C64 system more flexible.  IDE64 does not switch the   
   IRQ off during I/O operation.  Supports Hard Disk / CDROM / ZiP drive /   
   LS-120 (A-Drive) / Compact Flash.  You can see that IDE64 is the FASTEST   
   device for a stock C64 that's currently available (based on public   
   measurement at Forever 4 party SK).  The only real competitor at speed is   
   CMD RamLink.  We know about users in 21 countries in the world included   
   vèetnì Australia, Japan, Greece and Canary Islands.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Was the interface an easy development for you, or did you come across   
   any large problems?   
      
   TP:  It was many hours spent in public technical library, because in   
   1994-1996, the internet was unavailable for us and there was no information   
   useful for this project.  We did not have any experience with designing and   
   producing circuit boards or programmable logic.  First version IDE64 V1.1   
   which obtained first 15 users has a lot of restrictions which were removed   
   in later versions.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Do you plan a serial ATA interface for future developments?   
      
   TP:  Maybe later.  IDE64 users are now focused on Compact Flash.   
   Technically it should not be a problem to develop it, but it will take a   
   time.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  What hardware limitations does the device impose, for example could I   
   use any size of hard disk and a DVD reader?   
      
   TP:  IDE64 supports Hard Disk / CDROM / ZiP drive / LS-120 (A-Drive) /   
   Compact Flash and others.  DVD with ISO file system is supported.  Multi   
   session is supported.  Firmware V.8x has limit HDD 8GB, file size limited   
   by the capacity of HDD.  IDEDOS v9.x developed by Soci/Kajtár Zsolt has   
   it's own file system called CFS.  It allows disks up to 128 GB to be used,   
   with files up to 4GB with holes and fast seeking, relative files up to   
   16MB, 16 partitions, unlimited directories and files (only limited by the   
   capacity of disk), customizable file types, and new file permissions.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  I am still looking for something that would allow me to create actual   
   CDs using a Commodore 64.  Do you think this would be possible using your   
   hardware, assuming someone designs Commodore 64 disk burning software?   
      
   TP:  We thought about this, but there will be probably be a problem with   
   C64 speed and we did not have enough information about ATA CD-ROM burning,   
   only one detailed datasheet of Yamaha CD ROM.  With the experience with   
   compatibility of CDROM, we left this problem.  Maybe the compatibility is   
   better now, but this project can take a lot of time (CD disks during   
   developing and debugging software) and you can burn CD faster on PC anyway.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  How would someone start designing such projects as the IDE64?   
      
   TP:  It is important to know, that if you have a real job or you are   
   studying at school, that this kind of project can take up to 6 months or   
   even more.  It is a life cycle, and can not be done faster.  It is also   
   important to not lose motivation after a lot of hours spent on project   
   without any results.  Psychological support from other C64 users is also   
   very important.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Can you tell us how fast the IDE64 interface is compared to other disk   
   interfaces for the c64?   
      
   TP:  To load a file which is 200 blocks length takes (on standard C64   
   floppy 1541) more than 2 minutes, with common speeder it drops to about 30   
   seconds while from the IDE64 hard disk or CF it's only only 1 second !   
   Detailed comparisons can be found on our webpage ~   
   www.volny.cz/dundera/compar.html   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  The IDE64 interface has some form of 1541 disk turbo, can you give   
   details on this and what sort of speed increase could we see over a   
   standard 1541 disk drive?   
      
   TP:  IDE64 V.8x has speeder factor 6:1 compared to standard, IDE V9.x has   
   up to 9:1 on 1581 disk drive.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Does the 1541 disk turbo work on any other devices?   
      
   TP:  Yes, the most recent firmware (V.9x) supports 1541 and 1581 disk   
   drives.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  One of the biggest problems I faced was formatting my disk, not a   
   complex task but it took nearly 1 full day, why does it take so long to   
   format a new disk?   
      
   TP:  It was caused probably by formatting 'all data sectors', which is not   
   necessary.  This is optional and it is usually used only when you have a   
   disk with bad sectors.  On a normal disk it is recommended to skip this   
   optional part and formatting should take only few minutes.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  What do you hate about the industry?   
      
   TP:  Usually when I finally finish the project, it is out of date.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Do you Commodore machines as your main computer?   
      
   TP:  For my whole high school the c64 was my main computer and it was very   
   useful.  I have used it for computing and printing out homework.  After   
   high school I got my first PC, because I needed a computer for developing   
   my c64.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  What other Computer systems do you own?   
      
   TP:  Six C64's, one C128 and two PCs.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Are any plans underway to have the hardware work with GEOS as I   
   believe the hardware already works with Wheels?   
      
   TP:  IDE64 works with Wheels, Contiki (v1.2), LUnix (v0.21) and with GEOS.   
   GEOS drivers for IDE64 were created by Maciej Witkowiak (Ytm/Elysium) from   
   Poland.  Look at   
      
   members.elysium.pl/ytm/html/ciaide.html   
      
   you will need a separate hard disk drive specifically for GEOS as it   
   formats differently to the normal IDE64 standard.  In the future, there   
   will be GEOS partition support.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Whose idea was it to make the plug-in applications for the interface?   
   They seem to function well, adding to the hardware design.   
      
   TP:  We developed simple plug-in application interface, because we do not   
   have enough place in PEROM memory for all applications which we wanted to   
   implement.  Basic mechanism is implemented in manager and supported @#$   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Could you describe how the plug-ins work?   
      
   TP:  After starting manager, config file which contains file extensions and   
   associations is loaded to external memory.  When you press ENTER in manager   
   on any file, extension is checked and linked file is loaded to memory.   
   Plugin is started with filename pointer set on actual filename selected in   
   manager and   
      
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