[HN Gopher] PicoIDE - An open IDE/ATAPI drive emulator
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PicoIDE - An open IDE/ATAPI drive emulator
Author : st_goliath
Score : 177 points
Date : 2025-11-16 23:19 UTC (23 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (picoide.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (picoide.com)
| trevithick wrote:
| This is really cool. I'm glad people are out there making this
| stuff even if I'll never have a use for it.
|
| What are the use cases for this? I'm guessing retro computing and
| possibly very old machines tied to very obsolete hardware that
| can't be virtualized (e.g. manufacturing controls).
| deaddodo wrote:
| This is most useful for retrocomputing, and that's gonna be the
| target demographic.
|
| While it's true that industrial and manufacturing sometimes
| have really old hardware, that's usually less due to them not
| having newer options and more due to preferring something tried
| and true (it "just works" for their workflow) or the sheer
| economics of upgrading; in most of those cases, there's already
| a flow for interfacing with newer technology (FTP or USB
| 1.0/2.0 commonly). So this device wouldn't offer much benefit,
| if any.
| actionfromafar wrote:
| I have seen EDM machines with floppy interfaces. A great
| upgrade for those is a floppy emulator.
| masfuerte wrote:
| I'd never heard of Electrical Discharge Machining. The
| video is less than two minutes and gives a quick
| introduction.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machinin
| g
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1D5DLWWMp8
| trevithick wrote:
| Interesting, thanks for posting. I never heard of this
| either and read EDM as
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_dance_music
|
| Which _kind of_ makes sense.
| polpo wrote:
| Fun seeing this posted - I'm the creator of the project. While
| it's meant to be a generic IDE/ATAPI emulator the two main use
| cases I envisioned for the project are in the area of retro
| computing: CD-ROM under MS-DOS and Windows 9x, where software-
| only virtual drive emulation options are lacking or nonexistent,
| and IDE hard drive emulation on early IDE machines where the
| drive geometries are fixed.
|
| Since the project has been announced, lots of people have come
| out of the woodwork with other fun potential use cases, such as
| CD-ROM replacement in arcade cabinets and the Dreamcast, and hard
| drive replacement in multitrack recorders and samplers.
| gryson wrote:
| How does the PicoIDE compare with the ZuluIDE? Are they direct
| competitors or are there different use cases?
|
| I've been on the fence about getting a ZuluIDE for a while
| because of the price and because I don't exactly need one...
| I'll wait and see how the PicoIDE is priced.
| polpo wrote:
| The price will definitely be lower, and another difference is
| that PicoIDE will be entirely open firmware and hardware,
| while ZuluIDE is not.
| gryson wrote:
| Good to hear. Thanks for replying.
| rasz wrote:
| ZuluIDE uses FPGA, PicoIDE is beautiful $1 rp2350 + buffers.
|
| rp2040/rp2350 are the best things that raspberry pi ever
| released. From bitbanging HDMI to 400Msps logic analyzers
| https://github.com/gusmanb/logicanalyzer?tab=readme-ov-
| file#...
| phaker wrote:
| <inconsequential webpage bug report> First few images link to
| the full size version of the _next one_ </inconsequential
| webpage bug report>
| polpo wrote:
| Thanks. Fixed!
| rasz wrote:
| You moved up to IDE while Im playing with RLL and investigating
| EDSI and SMD :) https://github.com/raszpl/sigrok-disk
|
| You know, with couple differential transceivers on a
| daughterboard you could support everything this
| https://www.drem.info does :)
| ranger_danger wrote:
| Is CD-ROM subchannel data accurately emulated for both audio and
| data modes?
| polpo wrote:
| Currently, it implements the ATAPI READ SUB-CHANNEL command and
| fully supports the current position data format code. Other
| format codes like ISRC and UPC currently return dummy data, but
| wiring that up would be pretty straightforward. Supporting
| image formats like CloneCD's .ccd/.img/.sub that store
| arbitrary subchannel data also seems doable, but would
| definitely be more work.
| easyThrowaway wrote:
| The annoying part of .ccd files is the lack of support in the
| specifications for DPM data. It was officially used just for
| some old Karaoke machines and VDJing mixers, but more
| importantly for retrogaming aficionados, it was used by
| SecuROM and Starforce copy protections.
|
| Can't think of an open format with support for that, IIRC not
| even CHD files store them.
| selfhoster11 wrote:
| MDF/MDS isn't open, but could possibly be reverse-
| engineered enough to read the DPMS data.
| mos87 wrote:
| CDEMU/libmirage support both CCD et al and MDF/MDS
| images. Mixed modes, etc - the whole shebang. How good
| the copyright protection emulation is I cannot say tho.
| easyThrowaway wrote:
| I could be utterly wrong on this, but AFAIK the
| "emulation" in tools like Daemon Tools or Alcohol was
| only required when the disc image was created with
| partial or missing DPMS/subchannel data; If the virtual
| drive provides transparently the required stream the copy
| protection should be none the wiser on the actual drive
| emulation.
| razingeden wrote:
| have you tried this on a pci-e ide adapter yet?
|
| i want one of these for my old 486
|
| but also just went "gee it would be nice to just scroll a
| menu and select different usb LiveCDs for a lab box" and not
| constantly switching or losing usb dongles for them
|
| ive done boot loader menus and sooner or later one OS
| clobbers or screws up the others. so im into the idea of
| segregating them and using your device to select imgs.
|
| yeah its something i could solve with a PXE environment but
| then i have external dependencies that change over the years
| as im moving around and getting different internet providers,
| home equipment , or using different solutions for dhcp and
| routing etc. this would work well on an airgapped system even
| if its been collecting dust on a shelf for a few years
| gregsadetsky wrote:
| Tangential question: does anyone know if there's a ~similar
| device to replace/upgrade a Toshiba T1100's floppy drive?
|
| A friend found a T1100 for me and I'm just trying to think of the
| best way to boot it. Alternatively... I could get a USB floppy
| disk drive and a fresh floppy, and write old-school DOS to it, at
| least to get started?
|
| Thanks!
| epakai wrote:
| There is a Gotek floppy emulator hardware, about $50 USD.
|
| A USB floppy drive will be cheaper, maybe $20.
|
| I _think_ the T1100 has standard 34-pin IDC connector, but Plus
| variant uses 26-pin so the Gotek will need an adapter (and
| probably doesn 't fit cleanly).
|
| https://archive.is/gFVNm (medium post, shows the adapter)
|
| https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/issues/549 (somebody had
| issue with high 5V rail causing Gotek to not work)
| gregsadetsky wrote:
| Thank you, I really appreciate it!
| actionfromafar wrote:
| You can also do stuff like
| https://github.com/acemielektron/fddEMU if you want a
| custom form factor.
| accrual wrote:
| This is really cool! I like the attention to detail on the front
| panel, it's something I'd be proud of showing on a carefully
| built retro PC. I could see using this over CF to IDE adapters
| which work well but this is a cleaner solution.
|
| Good luck with your launch, I'll be happy to order one!
| userbinator wrote:
| Personally I think the half-melted (literally) rough 3D-printed
| look is rather ugly, and would prefer a stamped steel plate ---
| like this (floppy emulator):
| https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=28
| polpo wrote:
| A stamped steel plate is not possible at my planned price
| point. But one thing I will note is that this 3D printed
| front panel is only a prototype.
| marcosscriven wrote:
| On the contrary, I think you've done a fantastic job with
| the enclosure. Far from looking "half melted", you've made
| good use of the bed texture, and the design is top notch.
| Palomides wrote:
| as an aside to anyone else reading this, laser cut and bent
| sheet metal has gotten pretty cheap and easy, I think you
| could have an okay (unpainted) tray/case like this made for
| maybe $5 to $10 at 100 units
| marcosscriven wrote:
| Where, out of interest?
| polpo wrote:
| BTW I'm pretty well versed in getting laser cut and bent
| sheet metal made, both in China and via US-based
| providers like SendCutSend - my PicoIDE project uses a
| metal bracket. In fact when so many other projects were
| using 3D printed brackets, I decided that was not good
| enough and dove in and did the work to get nice brackets
| made affordably. It really elevates the project to a
| higher level of professionalism.
|
| That being said, $5-$10 sounds about right (if maybe a
| little on the high side) for something the size of
| PicoIDE, but unfortunately that is too much for the price
| point I want to hit. Affordability is a major target for
| PicoIDE. And also, WiFi is a feature of the front panel
| and for that reason, metal is a no-go. The WiFi antenna
| is at the front of the device to give it the best chance
| of decent reception, so it needs to be plastic.
| Palomides wrote:
| totally reasonable, the cost tradeoffs on these types of
| products seems very challenging
| marcosscriven wrote:
| The one you linked looks ugly. Horrible seams, odd and too-
| long red buttons, unaligned slots.
| wasabinator wrote:
| Hopefully this can work on PS2-based Namco System 246 systems,
| would be amazing if it can.
| vardump wrote:
| Here's some more information: https://www.hackster.io/news/ian-
| scott-s-picoide-turns-a-ras...
|
| Based on RP2350. Perhaps because RP2350 provides more GPIO pins?
| leshokunin wrote:
| Oh my god this is like the ODE (optical drive emulators) that
| people use on retro consoles!
| CheeseFromLidl wrote:
| Where can I find the picoIDE schematics & code? All I find is
| picoGus.
| polpo wrote:
| The repo will be made public when the hardware is launched.
| Should be a few weeks.
| nebula8804 wrote:
| Well sounds like I may have jumped the gun yet again. I managed
| to nab a IDE Simulator v3 by Tattiebogle in Sept. Maybe I should
| have waited for this. This has happened to me before so I wonder
| if maybe word got out that this was coming so others got their
| products out asap?
| tracker1 wrote:
| I wouldn't worry too hard about it, if you need something, you
| don't need a potential something. Until something is released
| and being sold/distributed, it's not something you should
| necessarily consider a real option.
|
| Don't be too hard on yourself. We've all bought hardware that
| saw alternatives come out, or extreme price drops before we get
| around to using it. Right now, I'm just glad I bought a couple
| nvme drives before the recent pricing bumps. Similar for my
| desktop upgrade earlier in the year.
| nullsmack wrote:
| I've been waiting on something like this for years, I'm surprised
| it took so long for someone to do it since there's been those
| gotek floppy drive emulators and things like bluescsi for
| forever.
|
| This seriously just made my day.
| brulard wrote:
| Beautiful piece of hardware. Thanks
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