@agowa338 @rasteri @ActionRetro @TechTangents @fuchsiii So yeah, I did archive the findings for @OS1337 and the #tiny486 together...

@agowa338 @rasteri @ActionRetro @TechTangents As for #SATA drives on #IDE: I'd go with known working chips...

Like: #JM20330 & #JM20330 / #JM20330S

Which I intent to use for the #tiny486 as a means to just not having to use IDE drives...

@nina_kali_nina the wounders of #PCMCIA…

• Granted I do want a pair of #PCMCIA + #CardBus slots on the #tiny486 Mainboard...

https://github.com/os-1337/tiny486

@slaine np. Contributions & Feedback welcome.

• But basically the Idea of the #tiny486 is similar to the #NuXT¹, #ITXllama², #Wee86³ / #WeeCee⁴ & #PixelX86⁵...

@slaine Personally, I'm looking at #FrugalComputing with @OS1337 and decided to follow @rasteri 's lead and try some #PC104Plus board design (#tiny486) for #RetroHardware because old & dying machines are not a good reference solution for #i486...

https://github.com/os-1337/tiny486

@landley @krutonium which,I think is good longterm because it allows for cheaper low-end devices that sip less power for @OS1337 compared to #i486 (like #Vortex86 as used for the #tiny486 board among many more, like @rasteri 's #WeeCee)...

Just to be clear:

The #tiny486 is intended as a #devkit for #i486 (in theory even #i386, #i8086 or any other platform that does #ISA (& #PCI) or where one's willing to accept less functionality of a #PC104 compared to #PC104Plus.

As a #BareMetal reference platform for #OS1337 / @OS1337 because there is a demand for a "#BridgeMachine" with new parts even if it's just to do #Archival and #DataRecovery duties and help setup modern drop-in replacements.

• I'd not be surprised if @TechTangents got contacted by some agencies that still have to deal with 8" FDDs and has to basically deny it.

I still think that a #tiny486 would be cool...

https://github.com/OS-1337/tiny486/blob/main/documentation/internal/tiny486-diagram.pdf

#PC104 #PC104Plus #RetroComputing #EmbeddedSystems #IndustrialComputing

@timixretroplays yeah, I guess this shows @rasteri build this before businesses started upgrading tech.

I wished DM&P / ICOP would increase production or that there was an easier way to get other #ix86 SBCs from like #VIA (remember when they made #CUP|s?) or some #embedded variants from #Intel or #AMD.

• Cuz I was shure some #IntelAtom SoC's and #AMDGseries APUs do have #ISA support as they use quite older process nodes and microarchitectures.

• But for a #MSDOS #RetroGaming system, that is quite a bottleneck to work on when it comes to #BareMetal.

#DOSBOX or similar do work well, but they don't provide the necessary I/O for a lot of use-cases.

• I was looking at #PC104Plus (for my #tiny486 project) which just adds #PCI on the opposite side of the board to the ISA pins but otherwise retains #PC104 compatibility.

Maybe you can drop in a different #Vortex86 which also has #ISA?

• I know there are also Vortex86EX2 and others that may be an option...

@PaulaMaddox @polpo looks great.

• I guess this is built to conform to the PC/104-Plus spec that has #PCI pinouts on the opposing side of the #ISA (#PC104) pins...

Would be a cool addition for the #tiny486...

@rasteri @TechTangents speaking of #storage: A main annoyance I found is that whilst there are #IDE -> #SATA adaptors that can just be plonk'd directly onto the mainboard, they are always either single-port or these weird "bidirectional" ones which means instead of a jumper/switch to say what side is the drive have two SATA ports and can only use one at the time.

• There seems to be no IDE -> 2x SATA ports with like "master"/"slave" ports for SATA devices.

I know why these adaptors exist, so that there needs to be no manual printed (silkscreen explains everything) and only 1 part be made regardless if IDE-> SATA or SATA->IDE.

Still doesn't make it less annoying.

• Maybe someone wants to take a look at the "stupider" IDE->SATA Adaptors and consider designing an IDE -> Dual-SATA adaptor?

#VintageComputing #IndustrialComputing #EmbeddedComputing #tiny486

I guess @rasteri and other #PC104 users can now get the beloved #ISA-#USB #Flashdrive card with native PC104 pinout to stack on boards.

• Not that this is much of an engineering feat, as PC/104 is just a different form factor of ISA, but still nifty for #legacy / #industrial setups that may want to have more flexibility re: data storage.

I wounder if anyone got those ISA-USB controllers to work on #Linux distros tho.

• Obviously they're slow (according to @TechTangents in the realm of a 1x CD-ROM drive) and not bootable, but still useful for systems without native USB ports.

I sadly don't have any system with ISA or PC/104 at hand (gotta build one i.e. #tiny486) so I can't test it anyway, but maybe a future revision of the #WeeCee may benefit from such an option (which I think also has the potential to be a good "bridge machine" for people dealing with legacy / industrial systems...

#VintageComputing #IndustrialComputing #EmbeddedComputing

Given that I want to target i486 with @OS1337 but don't want to deal with obsolete hardware that is dying of old age, I think it's more fitting to consider a sort-of mainboard to shove some 486SX-SOM with PC/104-Plus on and have the few necessities hooked up to it. Maybe even put it inside a THINN #Pizzabox-style #case?

It would also make a new "bridge" machine to interface old PCI & ISA hardware and allow connecting i.e. a #QuadFlop and roll with that...

https://github.com/OS-1337/tiny486

Thoughts, @rasteri @polpo @TechTangents @lazygamereviews @foone ??

#Tiny486 #embedded #EmbeddedComputing #retro #RetroComputing #Linux #EmbeddedLinux #Development #DevKit #DevelopmentKit #ideas #concepts #Hardware #OpenSource #OpenSourceHardware #Mainboard #i486 #i386 #i487 #486SX #486DX #PCI #ISA #BridgeMachine #Bridge #PC104 #PC104Plus #OS1337