APDL fast IDE Interfaces

We have now discontinued the popular ARCIN interface (though we do have a few left - see below), but don't despair, we have slashed the price of the ultra-fast Blitz interface, so you can now afford the fastest interface available for your RiscPC, and it's even cheaper if you purchase it with a hard drive!

We can also now supply the STD UniPod. This combines a USB interface, NET 100 and fast IDE inteface in a single podule. The UniPod is normally supplied with only one of these three functions enabled and you have to pay £25 for each additional function. We supply it with all 3 functions enabled for just £129 plus £4 carriage (UK) or £7 elsewhere. The UniPod is not quite as fast as the Blitz (around 4.2 Mb/sec compared with about 6.8 Mb/sec) but it's still pretty quick, and you get USB and networking as well.
For more information on the UniPod see the STD web site.

If you have an ARCIN interface and want to take advantage of the new low cost of the Blitz we can arrange a part-exchange upgrade.

• Upgrade to Blitz from ARCIN V6 with flash ROM - £59
• Upgrade to Blitz from ARCIN V6 with EPROM - £69

We still have a limited number of ARCIN interfaces. These are functionally identical to the Blitz but are only 16 bit and so speed is limited to around 3.6 Mb/sec. This is not as fast as the Blitz but it's still about twice the speed of ADFS. These cost just £48 including UK carriage while stocks last.

RISC OS 4 Compatibility - all our IDE interfaces are fully RO4 compatible. Even if you bought yours years ago it will work with new format drives using long filenames. If you purchased your interface after about February '99 you should already have IDEFormat 3.52 which supports the new E+ format, if not you can download IDEFormat 3.53. with all the other software updates for the APDL IDE cards.

You need a backplane to use an IDE interface on the RiscPC. Most models already have one (it's the vertical PCB behind the floppy drive and plugs into the motherboard at the bottom) but if you don't we can supply 2 slot backplanes for £30 or £25 when ordered with an interface. Please check availability before ordering.

The main features of all models are -

• Hard discs and CD ROMs supported with CDFS and ATAPI CD drivers in ROM.
• Four devices can be connected, either four internal or two internal and two external except the A3IN where you can fit an internal 2.5" hard drive to the card and have two external drives. Any combination of CDs and hard discs can be used.
• ARCIN and Blitz use DMA when fitted to the RiscPC or A7000 so it's fast.
• Drive partitioning is supported with up to eight partitions. With pre RO 3.6 machines this means you can fit drives up to 4Gb. You don't have to partition a large drive with RO 3.6+ but you can do so to avoid the LFAU problem which can devour huge chunks of hard disc without RISC OS 4.
• Partitions can be password protected, either Read Only or No Access. This guards confidential data, and schools will see the advantages of having programs and fixed data on a Read Only partition where it can be Loaded or Run but not deleted 'by accident'.

With most modern drives the ARCIN can achieve around 3.6 Mb/sec sustained or up to 4.5 Mb/sec burst when fitted to a RiscPC or A7000 (the Blitz is much faster). This is real, unlike some figures you'll see in adverts. Most 'fast' SCSI interfaces I've tested aren't much quicker than this, and they're around three times the price!

Prices are -

• Blitz - New low price, just £79. Simply the best. Price includes 1 data cable.
• A3IN - Only £45. including cable and mounting screws for a 2.5" drive.
• Accessories
  

External adaptor plates, cables and terminators are available for the ARCIN and Blitz to special order. A version of the A3IN is available with a User Port instead of the external drive socket. This is now available on Special Offer for just £24.

The APDL Blitz IDE interface is the fastest thing you can put in your machine. Lightning fast, nearly 7 Mb/sec (I've actually tested a drive at a read speed of 8.2 Mb/sec and write speed of 7.3 Mb/sec).

Blitz works on any RiscPC or A7000 with a backplane. It has All the features of our highly acclaimed ARCIN interface but it's 32 bit so it's capable of much higher speeds. Now you can fit low cost EIDE drives and get superior speed to a 'fast' SCSI setup costing much more.

Although the Blitz is fastest with DMA it's capable of higher speeds than any other interface without it, too. In fact, it's faster without DMA, 4.2 to 4.4 Mb/sec, than some 'fast' SCSI interfaces with DMA. This makes it the ideal companion for a machine fitted with a Kinetic, which disables DMA.

Upgrades from the older ideA interface are available.

Unlike some companies we don't think you should have to pay an annual fee for bug fixes so the latest versions of support software and firmware are available here.

In case you've lost your printed User Guide a HTML version is available for download. (39K ArcFS archive).

  IDE Format 3.53.

  ARCIN Flash upgrade.

  Blitz Flash upgrade.

  ATAPI driver 0.26.

  ATAPI driver 0.24.

  ATAPI driver 0.26.

  RO4 height fix