xd to smc converter

[Squidge]

What is the BIOS limitation that limits SMC size to 128mb? I haven't programmed for the GP, but I would have presumed that file access would be through standard FAT access routines and therefore limited by the FAT type on the device, rather than some kind of in-built addressing system?

There are standard FAT access routines, but before you can use those, you need to find the size of the card you are dealing with. Each card has a unique identifier which contains the factory of origin & size of the card. The BIOS and SDK only knows the identifiers for cards upto sizes of 128mb, so cards above this size simply will not be recognised.

 

[MegatronUK]

Gotcha... so it's something similar to a BIOS call to find out the C/H/S of a disk; to see how many addressable sectors you've got to play with.

 

[Squidge]

Exactly.

 

[EvilDragon]

I think it would be possible exchange the mini USB port with a standard USB port.
Power could be used from the system itself, I guess.

 

[Squidge]

The only reason the gp doesn't provide power is that you need extra circuitry. Otherwise your accepting power from the host pc, and providing power to an external device - both of which are mutually exclusive. Gamepark simply decided to throw away all host control and just act as a slave device instead.