Interface 1 + vDriveZX - recommendations

[8BitSC]

Well, my Interface 1 and vDriveZX arrived (coincidentally, on the same day, from suppliers on opposite sides of the earth) and, a few “file not found” errors from clearly working MDR images aside, everything seems to work as expected.

However, I can’t help feeling I got carried away by the hype of finding the vDrive back in stock as I’m struggling to find a use for it.

I’ve put Ocean’s Laser Genius assembler on one vDrive and?..

…I can’t find anything else to make use of it.

I don’t have a multiface yet, so apart from using Z80onMDR, to make small games menus, I’m stuck, looking to validate my outlay.

I guess I’m just looking for suggestions for applications which were designed for the Microdrive.

Any suggestions?

[jpnz]

Sweevo's World Editor works with microdrives - extra info here

Some programs will backup themselves to microdrive, such as Superchess 3 and a few others

There are many extensions to BASIC via the Interface 1 with EXA-BASIC being a good example

And Max Desktop a superb utility for examining cartridges

[arkannoyed]

Art studio can make use of micro drives for LOAD and SAVE functionality

[PeterJ]

@8BitSC,

On the advanced search, select MDR in the file type box. Machine type as ZX Spectrum, then search.

[jpnz]

There's so much more you can do with the Interface 1 - the microdrive is just "storage" after all

With the built in serial port you can connect your Spectrum to another device, be it an 80 column line printer, your own PC or another Spectrum + IF1

With two Spectrums both fitted with an IF1 you can have your own network (prototype Skynet?) - the LAN [supposedly] supports 64 interconnected machines

IMHO It's a great bit of kit, just misunderstood and underrated

[1024MAK]

Careful now, if you link to many Speccies in a network and one of them has a µSpeech, they may form a collective and say…

[Redgatemodels]

Am I right that the best way to get Mdr files onto microdrive cartridges is to load them onto sd card and use a vdrive?

Of course once I have a vdrive what’s the point of the old tape carts?

[8BitSC]

I currently own real Microdrive units, Charlie's vDriveZX, @TomD's ZXPicoMD and a standalone OqtaDrive, designed and maintained by @xelalex.

vDrive and the ZXPicoMD use SD and MicroSD cards respectively.

OqtaDrive is Wi-Fi connected and allows transfer to and from Wi-Fi capable devices, directly to the OqtaDrive unit via a web-browser interface or webdav, with the seachable Repo (file library) stored on the internal Pi Zero's MicroSD.

In real-life timing comparisons, the vDriveZX is generally slightly slower in operation than a real Microdrive when using a reliable Microdrive unit and cartridge, and is noticeably slower than either the ZXPicoMD or OqtaDrive.

Both the ZXPicoMD and OqtaDrive have firmware which includes Tom Dalby's .Z80 loader. This makes direct loading of .Z80 files and converting them to fast-loading MDR images a possibility.

OqtaDrive also has an MDR optimisation feature which aligns the files on the virtual MDR image to make the programs load quickly (think of this like an advanced defragmenting tool, where the files are lined-up end-to-end in order, to optimize loading).

Typically from ZXPicoMD and OqtaDrive, loading a 48K or 128K game takes only a few seconds in my experience.

Both ZXPicoMD and OqtaDrive have seen recent firmware updates. vDriveZX firmware hasn't been updated in a few years and in my personal experience, it can't currently load some of the copy-protected MDR images (Romantic Robot's TransExpress being one example), which the others can handle without problems.

If you're looking for a way to transfer MDR files to and from another device, I'd personally choose either Tom Dalby's ZXPicoMD, which is regularly available directly from Tom himself via eBay for around £65 or [if you can stretch to it] one of @xelalex's OqtaDrives.

I can assist in getting hold of an OqtaDrive should you be interested.

Both options are (currently) quicker to obtain and cheaper than importing a vDriveZX, if you don't live on Charlie's side of the world.

I'm not knocking Charlie's vDrives, but living in the UK, it's quicker and much cheaper to grab a ZXPicoMD from eBay which loads faster, has .Z80 loading and conversion capabilities, along with higher compatibility for copy-protected MDR images and still sees regular firmware updates.

Being based on [and housing] both a Raspberry Pi ZeroW or Zero2W along with an Arduino Nano, the OqtaDrive is somewhere between ZXPicoMD and vDrive in terms of cost and offers all the features of Tom's ZXPicoMD, while fitting in a standard Microdrive housing, opting to use Wi-Fi connectivity instead of removable storage and has a searchable Repo of internally held images as well as direct loading from online sources via its web interface.

[Hedge1970]

IMHO they just look the part. Other stuff looks a bit meh to me, vDriveZX though is a proper MD but with updated internals. There’s a ton of ways to do stuff with speccy from emulators to recreated/clone HW to the Next… I’m currently working through Mastering Machine Code saving on my vDriveZX as I go, the perfect partner Why on earth would I not use an emulator well because I don’t feel like it….. today

Choices and availability are abound in this 40odd year old home computer market and I for one really like that.

[8BitSC]

IMHO they just look the part. Other stuff looks a bit meh to me

The reason ZXPicoMD won't fit into a real Microdrive case is due to the buttons and OLED screen, required to access the user-interface.

If you want one which fits into a real (or re-manufactured) Sinclair case, the OqtaDrive is designed to do exactly this.

Here's mine, built from one of Tom's excellent v1.2b boards.


However, when I bought my own vDriveZX a few months ago, Charlie include an SD Card carrier, which sits snugly into the SD Card slot and makes it look like a Microdrive cartridge is sitting in there. I love this additonal attention to detail from Charlie.

[8BitSC]

I’m currently working through Mastering Machine Code saving on my vDriveZX as I go

Coincidentally, the first thing I stuck on my vDrive was Ocean's Laser Genuis assembler, followed by Zeus assembler and then Champ; all of which I used back in the day.

[xelalex]

However, when I bought my own vDriveZX a few months ago, Charlie include an SD Card carrier, which sits snugly into the SD Card slot and makes it look like a Microdrive cartridge is sitting in there.

Interesting I did the same with one of my OqtaDrives, here in a replica case. The inserted (half of a ) cartridge serves as the lock for the case. So, remove the cartridge and you can remove the top half of the case.

[Hedge1970]

That’s a nice addition I like it. Back when I got mine he did not have anything like that. I was interested in the sound board for it but unfortunately at the time he published it parts where hard to get and I’ve kind of lost interest lol.

[8BitSC]

I’d call that a win.

The vDrive’s sound board just emits a shrill and ear-piercing squealing noise.
https://youtu.be/JwEAQimyPTI?t=934

With the correct slider adjustment, the Adafruit motor in the OqtaDrive sounds better.

Too low though, and you won’t hear it; too high and the Microdrive will vibrate itself across the desk…

[Redgatemodels]

Food for thought.

The main reason I was looking at the vdrive was it’s ability to fit in a standard case, or this……




My own work, second prototype, needs cleaning up and painting, but still, very happy with it as a Plus cased Speccy owner

I’ll look into the OqtaDrive as getting Trans Express onto cartridge (or md emulator) is really bugging me.

[Redgatemodels]

Here it is all glued together, there are 7 separate parts plus a template for positioning the feet bases. Just need to clean up the edges, satin black paint and then roller on the red to the ZX Microdrive +

[Hedge1970]

Looks good, just like a factory made peripheral.