Sure, there isn’t much to the actual setup. Only three options and none of them that exciting… I suppose it is better than a kick in the teeth! Anyway, to sum it all up, hit F1 after dropping to DOS!
Sega TeraDrive
Well I’ll be moving up from a 28C64 to a roomy 28C256. Currently I have an Amtel AT28C648 installed. I’ll be bumping both cards from the 8KiB up to the larger 64KiB chips. Why the change? I discovered by XTIDE BIOS may have been custom configured at some point and was not as stock standard as I would have believed.
Thanks to Krille on the Vintage-Computer for the help on getting it to work. See this thread for the details. And there I was thinking I was doing something wrong! Turns out there was a bug in the XTIDE BIOS itself. I guess that’s why it is still (and probably always will be) considered beta software. Kudos for the help Krille and for the compiled copy of r505.
But I found that the BIOS I am using IDE_XTP.bin at the moment, but would really like that menu overlay back. It just makes it so much more presentable.
So many types of disk on modules, so little time. Found this here while searching.
Some CF cards and microdrives do not work properly with IBM 5150/5160 when using XTIDE rev 1 or rev 2. Some of the symptoms are improperly displayed drive name on boot menu or the drive appears to work on some occasions and sometimes not. This is a hardware related problem and cannot be fixed by software.
So far I’ve gone through three types / brands of disk on modules. I was after one that was powered on pin 20 for 5V and preferably 2GB in size since FAT16 likes 2GB sized partitions. It’s plenty of room for a 286-class machine as well.
Transcend 4GB
5V on Pin 20: YES
Recognised with XTIDE: NO
KingSpec 2GB
5V on Pin 20: NO
Recognised with XTIDE: YES
TopSSD 4GB
5V on Pin 20: YES
Recognised with XTIDE: YES
Unfortunately, I can’t track down these TopSSD drives anywhere. I was hoping the Transcend ones world work best, but they didn’t. They had voltage, but weren’t recognised correctly with the XTIDE software. Limitations or issues with the Transcends sure is harsh. But at least I have now seen all three possible scenarios these DoMs provide.
Scanlines make the world go round. This was a good test as I got a chance to test out my new VGA scanliner from here. Not only did I get to test that though, for the very first time I got to see Mega Drive mode on the Sega TeraDrives. I’ve never been bothered to connect the Amstrad CRT (15KHz / 31KHz) to the TeraDrive. Clearly it is working well though, which is great news for all!
This is a quick video wrapping up on all the other TeraDrive XTIDE videos so you don’t have to sit through eight hours of videos. Mission accomplished! If you enjoy the video don’t forget to log in to YouTube and like / comment / subscribe. Everyone is welcome!
