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THE BRAIN INNOVATIONS "MICRO IEC" --------------------------------- (AKA: uIEC) review by Larry Anderson http://www.portcommodore.com/ Updated 09/16/2008 SUMMARY WOW! If you've been kicking yourself for not getting a CMD HD - you will be kicking yourself if you don't get a uIEC (even if you have a CMD HD), its compact, energy efficient, stores a ton of stuff, silent, and cards / drives can be plugged into a PC to transfer files without special programs, and it is very affordable - just can't get much better than that. MY PAST & LEADING UP TO THE UIEC I have followed and/or bought the latest in C= storage, partly because I had ran a BBS for 15 of those years Each time a 'better' drive came out that I could afford, I had to get it. I remember the 1541 (big expense back in 1984 for me) later I had a pair of 1541s replaced by the MSD-SD2 (a dual drive, even had a PET IEEE-488 interface!) then I jumped to a 1571 with the extra storage capacity on one disk. One of the biggest jumps was to the 1581, a whole 800k on a disk! add into those RAM units such as the Commodore REU and RAMLink.Then finally I though I had reached the pinnacle with a CMD-HardDdrive (My CMD 20 megabyte drive cost a whopping $419 new back in'94) Problem with all those drives; was as I started using other systems for getting files; it was really hard to move data to and from those other systems to the 64 BBS. Usually this involved 'calling' the BBS or 64 w/terminal over modems or a null-modem connection from the Amiga, Mac or Linux computer and uploading the files, while it worked it was really darned slow and cumber- some and meant stringing extra wires here and there. A few years ago non-volatile solid state storage started to come out, notably the Micro MMC, which had promise in that you could put files on the card directly from a PC, but unlike all the other drives did not offer a 'DOS' for the Commodore-64 to easily access the files (just a specialized boot loader menu to launch game images 'ROMs') Not too useful if you have a BBS, or do other work requiring storage on the 64. A little after that Jim Brain had announced his work on the uIEC, a device to use solid state Compact Flash cards on the 64 like you did with a hard drive on the CMD HD - meaning no need for special programs in to the 64, plug-in to the IEC port and go. The big news was the possibi- lity to seamlessly access files on the card on a PC as well, using the popular FAT file systems so popular with these cards. Thanks to our patience, support and Jim Brain's diligence a new contender, the uIEC is now a reality.Though there are now other similar storage devices: 1541 - III, Ultimate 1541, etc. Unlike those this one is readily available in the US and the price is very reasonable, WHAT IS THE UIEC? Generally speaking, it is a very compact disk drive for the C64, C128, VIC-20, C16, Plus/4 with no moving parts and lots of storage capacity... but it is way more versatile. There are two versions of the uIEC, one with just a compact flash card slot, and a larger one that also includes an IDE drive connector, The uIEC CF/IDE is the one I am using.The smaller uIEC CF does not have traditional IEC connector as it is intended for mounting/wiring inside a commodore. HARDWARE FEATURES - Compact size - the large CF/IDE model is only a modest 3" x 2.5" - About 4" long w/CF card inserted, slightly larger than a C64 game cartridge! - Uses 5v DC power - which can be tapped from the C64 (this one was provided with a cassette port connector to get power) - Supports IDE Drives and Compact Flash cards (uIEC supports IDE/IDE, IDE/CF, or CF/CF if you have an IDE->CF adapter for the second card. uIEC/CF supports single CF card) - One IEC serial port (Commodore 64 style disk interface) interfacing for a 2nd port is provided, but not wired in. - 2 LEDs (power & activity) - 20 pin header for special switches or other interfacing - Supports FAT12/16/32 partitions of any legal size though support for >137GB drives needs more testing. SOFTWARE FEATURES - Uses SD2IEC DOS which is a popular DOS for a number of solid state drive for the Commodore (MMC2IEC, SD2IEC, and uIEC). - Stores data on the card using the popular FAT file system (no special format all CF cards are already formatted for this), this also means data on the CF is readily accessible on a PC without any special access software. - The uIEC DOS can access file on the card directly or through many popular disk/image formats (i.e. it can use a .d64 image as if it were converted to a disk) others include P00. - Support for some popular fast loaders Turbo Disk, Final Cartridge III,JiffyDOS) and at least plays well with many others like Action Replay and doesn't seem to crash when using Super Snapshot, but it doesn't speedload either) - Files / disk images can be stored into sub directories so you can organize your content if you have lots of stuff. - Pretty easy use and navigation when using a DOS wedge (like JiffyDOS' @ commands) - Supports FAT Long filenames - Transparent support for PRG/SEQ/USR file extensions, with REL support planned. - Supports partition-less cards/drives, or up to 4 primary partitions or 3 primary and 12 extended partitions. (Email Jim if you have more than 12 extended partitions on a drive.) - Supports read and write of D64 images. - Block level disk access supported on D64 images - Most CBM DOS commands (Scratch, Initialize, Rename, etc.) supported. - CBM general config commands (U0, U+ U-, UI, U9, U:, UJ) supported. - CBM block level commands (B-R, B-W, UA, U1, U2, UB) supported when in D64 image. - CMD-style partition ($=P) support - CMD-style subdirectory (MD,CD,RD) support. - CMD DOS Commands (G-P, G-shift-P) support. - Long form CMD directories ($=T:*, $=T:*=L) supported - 1581-style/CMD-FD/HD-style wildcard matching supported ($:JIM*RAIN) - JiffyDOS fast loader equipped (PAL and NTSC support). Can be enabled or disabled via DOS command. Transparent support for P00/S00/U00 files, with R00 support planned. Pricing for the unit are (shipping additional): uIEC :$75.00 - the CF/IDE model (unit reviewed here) plus shipping uIEC/CF: $50.00 - the CF only model (intended for internal C64 mounting) http://www.jbrain.com/vicug/ gallery/uIEC?page=1 see # 1882, 1880, & 1875 Production just starting so there may be a waiting list. From: Brain Innovations, in Iowa Email for availability/order details: brain at jbrain.com APPEARANCE & HOOKING UP The unit is a tidy little package, a PCB with just a few tiny circuits on it - very easy to handle (you can readily grasp the long edges of the board wile plugging and unplugging the card and cables. There are four screw mounting holes on the edges With the IEC connector it may be a tight fit in the 64, the standard(v1) model will not have the IDE connector which makes it quite smaller and is better suited for internal mounting in a 64. Being fresh connectors the fit is tight, so one must be careful plugging and unplugging the serial cable. Also the guides on the CF slot can lead you off when inserting the card (this is where making a case with a good CF guide could help. For starters I use my PC to put a few files on the CF card, some D64's, a couple zipped d64s, and some .prg files (straight to the file system - not inside an image), and a few folders as well. Plugging in the cassette connector was a tad tough it was just a cassette connector without housing (using a couple 6/32" machine screws made it easier to grip without bothering the wire.) My unit had a connector different then the final version Jim is going to produce so those should be easier to handle. If you have an SX64 or want to mount the uIEC inside a c64 case you could tap power from other points (like the joystick port) POWER ON At first I though something was wrong after I turned on the machine, the LEDs lit and it did nothing, commands didn't work - after a couple checks I discovered the boot process is a bit longer then I imagined, about 30 seconds,this is an issue with using a CF card, which Jim is working to resolve.Though during this time it is so eerily silent, and so small something you have to get used to no squeak of the 1541 or whine of the HD spinning. Software Updates Another part of the bootup is checking for a EEPROM update file, unlike many devices uIEC is flash- upgradable so if there are some bug fixes or improvements, the device can be updated without a trip back to the factory or buying a replacement. OPERATION Initially I discovered the unit was using device 10, so I at first was only able to play with single file programs or ones that were load device aware... After reading the documentation I found how to set the device number and save the settings in the uIEC so I could use it as device 8.(more on that later) Listing directories went as expected LOAD"$",8 (or @$ for DOS wedge users) displayed the contents of the card at the root level loading up one of the PRG files was quick, and JiffyDOS just works so far. Referring to the documentation enter sub directories or mounting.D64 files uses the CD command, i.e. (without a wedge) OPEN 15,8,15,"CD:GAMEDISK.D64":close 15 or for people using a wedge: @CD:GAMEDISK.D64 gets you into the GAMEDISK.64 image, there it then looks like you are in the 1541. To get back out of an image or back a directory(without resetting the 64 & the unit)is done by doing CD with a left-arrow symbol(<- Above the CONTROL key on the 64/128). @CD:<- (left arrow symbol) Resetting the computer returns the uIEC to power-on state which is normally the root directory of the card. You can also set up partitions on your CF or hard disk and use the CMD style partition commands (CP) to jump between partitions. Running single files works without a hitch, game disks without software fastloaders also work fine. programs with fastloaders (stereo sidplayer 10 for example) need to have the fastloader disabled or bypassed (this may be near impossible for some programs without acquiring a cracked version). note: this result is pretty much the norm on non-Commodore 1541 drives.Using some cracked single disk games was also rewarding. One program I usually have fits with loading, Editor Assembler, also worked fine with uiec. One note: when you are not in a d64 image, in the FAT file system, upper and lower case letters are treated as the same thing unlike Commodore DOS (My game, MYGAME, and my game, would all be thought of as the same file)which can be a convenience (to load files without having to deal with case issues) or an unexpected annoyance(if there is a need for similar file names with difference cases - though I dont think I've run into any myself In d64 mode the file case sensitivity operates as expected.