Dragon DriveWire adapters

A forum for members to offer for sale any Dragon related items to other members. DO NOT POST LINKS TO AUCTIONS. I will use this forum in the future to offer all my spare games to members of this site before they go on e-bay.
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tormod
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Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by tormod »

dw-MkIIe.jpg
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I am offering DriveWire adapter kits for the Dragon. They have a male USB connector that fits into your computer (optionally via a USB extension cable) and a 20-pin IDC connector like the Dragon printer port. A 20 cm IDC cable (like on the below photos) is included.
dragondw-cables.jpg
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The flat cable to the right is included, while the USB extension cable on the left is not (but available on request).

Each unit is completely assembled and tested with DriveWire. Note that I sell it as "kit" because it has no enclosure. The price of a suitable box at these volumes and the added shipping price would make it less fun. I am mainly providing this as a service for those who can't or don't want to solder together their own solution (like KenH did), and/or want a compact and reliable unit with proper connectors.

The price is 18 USD + shipping (payable per PayPal or BitCoin) for the model on the (top) photo. An optional Dragon power indicator LED is 2 USD extra.

I am able to squeeze it into a 2 cm thick envelope, so shipping via normal letter mail will be just 4 USD world-wide. You can check other shipping options here (B5, up to 50g): http://www.post.ch/en/post-startseite/p ... ulator.htm If your local post system is not 100% reliable you may want to add the "registered mail" option (additional 6 USD).

The built-in serial UART is the CP2102. Windows driver can be downloaded from the chip manufacturer (no driver needed on Linux). I also tried out the PL2303 UART, but it seems less reliable.

UPDATE: June 8th 2014 in stock: 11 units

For a cased adapter, please see viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4854

Please send all inquiries and negotiations to:
My e-mail address
My e-mail address
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dragon (dot) tormod (at) gmail (dot) com
dragondw-friends.jpg
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Dragon 32 making friends with a Dockstar NAS running the Drivewire server
Last edited by tormod on Sun Jun 08, 2014 2:39 pm, edited 10 times in total.
retrocanada76
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by retrocanada76 »

Hey Tormod, what about a small cartridge with the DW EPROM on it ? That would the be perfect solution!
KenH
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:50 am

Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by KenH »

VERY nicely done, tormod :!:
This is a must have for every Dragon user, IMHO.
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tormod
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by tormod »

Thanks KenH, especially with DLOAD back in business, this is a must for every Dragon 32 user without floppy drives, at least :)
Rink
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by Rink »

retrocanada76 wrote:Hey Tormod, what about a small cartridge with the DW EPROM on it ? That would the be perfect solution!
Damn you. Someone always has my idea before I get around to building them. ;)
devo
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by devo »

Hi Tormod
I am a new member of World of Dragon forum and am interested in buying one of these Drivewire adpaters. I recently bought a Tano Dragon 64 from CA Digital USA. I will contact you by email.
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tormod
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by tormod »

Rink wrote:
retrocanada76 wrote:Hey Tormod, what about a small cartridge with the DW EPROM on it ? That would the be perfect solution!
Damn you. Someone always has my idea before I get around to building them. ;)
Well, I have no intention of building ROM cartridges, and hope somesome else can offer this. I see that Rolo offers multi cartridges for instance. Otherwise it is just a question of refitting an old cartridge with a socket, and burning HDB-DOS onto an EPROM. At some point I would like to get an SRAM cartridge like Rink's though, and emulate cartridges on it. That was originally something I wanted to make, but now I have gotten some DLOAD ideas to pursue instead...
Rink
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by Rink »

When I first saw this, I figured that a ROM cartridge with HDB-DOS on and a built-in connection for a cheap FTDI USB cable would work with just a little rewriting of the serial send and receive functions. It's pretty similar to a cart I've already built.

However, since that one is still not 100% at the minute and a recent change of circumstances prevents me from going crazy on circuit developments, I wouldn't cry if someone else jumps in there.

If not, I'll build one as soon as I can and you can see what you think.
jedie
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Re: Dragon DriveWire adapters

Post by jedie »

Are here interests for a case for the adapter?

Maybe i create one and put it on http://www.shapeways.com/ (Or other platform?)
... too many ideas and too little time ... Related stuff written in Python:
Dragon 32 emulator / PyDC - Python Dragon 32 converter: https://github.com/jedie/DragonPy
DWLOAD server / Dragon-Lib and other stuff: https://github.com/6809
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tormod
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DriveWire adapter with power LED

Post by tormod »

The DriveWire adapters can now be had with an optional Dragon power indicator, for 2 USD extra. It is a green LED on the adapter which is lit when the Dragon is powered on. If you ever missed a power-on indicator on your Dragon, the DriveWire adapter can be doubly useful :)
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DriveWire adapter with green power indicator LED
DriveWire adapter with green power indicator LED
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