Hi Fans -
today is the "official" launch day for the 'IWMless' beta test phase.
More info in post #25 of this thread:
https://www.applefritter.com/content/announcing-iwmless-iwm-substitution-call-beta-testers
Please note that all available beta test units have been already reserved for those volunteers who spoke up in that "call for beta testers", but if any of them drops out, you still may have a chance to get one.
Before you post any questions about the 'IWMless' and what it is, please consult the above thread, and this one:
https://www.applefritter.com/content/iwm-reverse-engineering
... and only ask questions here if they are not already addressed in these two threads, so as to avoid clutter.
You may want to look at the current thread and the two threads mentioned above to keep track of the project and what comes out of the beta test phase.
I hope that the outcome is positive, but before the beta testers have spoken, "the jury is still out".
I intend to soon post more information about the reverse engineering results and the many flaws, incompatibilities and bugs I have found in the original IWM in the 'iwm-reverse-engineering' thread, so if you are interested in this topic (the "technicalities"), please look and comment there.
For me it's very exciting that this long project finally came to fruition, despite of the numerous obstacles and setbacks I have encountered. All these stories (like the "Serpentine" affair) can be found via the above mentioned threads.
What's your take on this project ?
Comments invited !
- Uncle Bernie
I've written to bradleyb to see if I can get the Gerbers for his Liron clone card or at least maybe buy a board or two. I don't have a //c and my real LiRON card has the IWM soldered on of course so I don't really have any way of helping with testing unless I can get a board to put an IWMless on.
Hi Fans -
So far only two of the beta test volunteers have responded to my personal messages (on the Applefritter message system).
A VERY LAME RESPONSE, THAT !
This is quite lame and endangers the whole 'IWMless' project - if we don't find enough beta testers, then not enough feedback is generated to decide whether it should be turned into a product the general Apple II community could buy.
I sent the non-responders a new PM with a cutoff date of Sunday, the 15th of June - whoever did not respond until midnight that day (Monday 16th coming in) will be dropped from the beta tester list forever - unresponsive, overloaded or dead people are useless as beta testers. For any product.
MORE VOLUNTEERS WANTED !
In the meanwhile, if you have an Apple IIc with a dead IWM and want to become beta tester for the 'IWMless', just comment here in this thread or send me a PM (the "send PM" button under my nick which appears only if you are signed in).
VERY FEW SKILLS REQUIRED - DON'T BE AFRAID !
You require some soldering skills and must have some household items like the ubiquitous duct tape (baling wire and spit not required) some leaded solder (Sn60PbCu2 is good, unleaded solder is problematic here, due to the Apple IIc having been manufactured with leaded solder) and some desoldering braid, or a professional grade desoldering station with an electrical vaccuum pump and a hollow soldering tip. You also need a #2 Phillipps schrewdriver and a fine nosed wire clipper such as this one:
https://anchor-electronics.com/product/eclipse-tools-200-083-clean-cut-micro-nipper/
... which when lacking a professional grade desoldering station can be used to snip off all the leads of the dead IWM close to the IC package body. This sounds brutal but is the safest way to remove a dead IWM without undue risk of damaging the PCB.
For an experienced electronics hobbyist it is a fairly easy task, but it's not for absolute beginners.
MORE 'IWMless' MAY COME !
This said, almost anyone having an Apple IIc with a dead IWM can volunteer and get on the beta tester list by just contacting me (by "Send PM") or posting in this thread. Since the 1st batch of beta test units is small, you might not get one at this time, and it's a selection process with some reasonable washout criteria (inexperience, having only good Apple IIc, having no Floppy Emu, ...) but unless the 1st beta test round is a total disaster and the project ends right there, I intend to make a 2nd batch of 'IWMless' in August this year, which will be available to those who volunteered but did not get one in the 1st round.
LET'S MAKE APPLE II HISTORY !
So, if you want to make history (in the Apple II world), don't be shy and volunteer to become a beta tester for the 'IWMless' !
- Uncle Bernie
So if you have a bricked Apple IIc or Liron card with a dead IWM, don't be shy, volunteer to become a beta tester !
You can send me a PM or comment here in the thread !
Beta test units will be sent out late next week, so there is not much time left to sign up.
- Uncle Bernie
These 25 page pdfs have been sent out to the beta testers today.
They are available for anyone who wants one. But as they contain my email address, and a pdf is easy to scan by "AI", you can get them only if you send me your email address by Applefritter message - or tell me how I could send you a pdf over the Applefritter message system, then I don't need your email address.
I'm still needing two more beta testers. Even if you are in the EU gulag with their preposterous customs regulations, which stopped the flow my Apple-1 kits to the EU, you can have an 'IWMless' beta test kit with no such hassle. Just ask me. I'd really love to have a few European beta testers with PAL versions of the Apple IIe or Apple IIc.
- Uncle Bernie
Hi Fans -
thanks to my previous post, another beta test volunteer showed up.
But I still need one beta tester more, preferable with a PAL Apple IIc with a dead IWM.
(EU customs will be avoided, so it's not impossible even when you live in the EU).
Are there no Apple IIc with dead IWM in the whole of Europe (PAL) ?
The population numbers are approx. the same as for the USA.
So I wonder why Europeans don't blow up IWMs like the Americans do.
I really would need some feedback if the IWMless works in a PAL Apple IIc ... I have no doubt the floppy disk drive would work again but 'SmartPort' is timing critical so it might be sensitive to PAL Apple IIc having a slightly different clock frequency.
- Uncle Bernie
Apple wasn't nearly as popular in Europe as the US so I think the production of PAL models was a small fraction that of NTSC. That alone probably accounts for the numbers.
Hi fans -
although my posts woke up a few laggards, they did not follow up and so tomorrow the beta test units will be sent out to only four beta testers instead of the planned seven.
I've already sent out the beta test manual to all the "active" beta testers and incited them to post in this thread about their experiences !
There will be no censorship and no filtering !
You will get the honest truth about the 'IWMless' user experience !
So, stay tuned on this channel ("thread") and look for news !
- Uncle Bernie
P.S.: Inmates of the EU gulag still can get beta test units, those left over from the laggards, just send me a PM until end of the month.
Insulting your beta testers is just straight up ASPD.
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I was referring to calling the EU a "gulag", while trying to find beta testers from the EU. This type of hate speech has no place in this forum.
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So... beyond political dogma, gulags, the orange jesus, how is the testing going of this very important project?
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Hopefully we can get this thread back on topic and get the testing of IWMless going again. I'd still love to help but I need a way to do so, like a bare LiRON type board to put one in or maybe a //c with a bad IWM chip.
So.. this thread is quite old but it turns out I've been messing with my Apple //c to connect an Arduino Nano to simulate a Disk II system. I had it working perfectly for read only operation. I was able to boot most DOS and ProDOS disks without a problem. I was about ready to move from protoboard to something a bit more permanent and all of a sudden my IWM refuses to read a single byte! It doesn't appear to be completely dead since it powers correctly the phase motors to move the head, turns the drive on / off correctly. My guess is that I accidently shorted RDDATA (or sent it to VCC) and now it is not reading anything. So I would loooove to be able to get a //c again with a IWM. If you still need a beta tester I would be more than happy to try it. It is a slight problem I live in Argentina :-) but I guess we can come up with something ....
Here are a couple of my entries about my project and blog:
My 2c showing a double res image
In post #30, 'hypr0' wrote:
" I would loooove to be able to get a //c again with a IWM. If you still need a beta tester I would be more than happy to try it. "
Uncle Bernie answers:
You are welcome ! As long as Argentina does not have preposterous customs regulations as the EU does have, I could send you one of the remaining 'IWMless' beta test kits. You need to check (and then tell me) what the customs regulations of Argentina are. If the kit would clear Argentinan customs smoothly, no problem !
I've sent you a PM so we can discuss the details in private.
I'm very exited that you would run the 'IWMless' with your floppy emu, which from the photo seems to be different from the BMOW Floppy Emu I did use. This is a great opportunity to see if my proprietary design for the 'SmartPort' functions works with other Floppy Emus than the BMOW, too.
- Uncle Bernie