Advantech PCA-6148, User Manual

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66 PCA-6148 /6148L User's Manual
The PCA-6148/6148L features an internal Flash/RAM/ROM disk
drive. This drive emulates a floppy disk drive by using solid-state
memory chips (Flash, RAM or ROM) to store programs and data
instead of the magnetic particles on the mechanical drive’s disk.
The Flash/RAM/ROM disk offers much faster access times than a
floppy or hard disk and greatly increases reliability in harsh
environments.
The Flash/RAM/ROM disk works by modifying the BIOS INT-13
disk I/O routine on boot-up. The operating system must be DOS v.
5.0 or greater. The routine then translates read and write com-
mands to the disk so that they will correctly access the memory
chips. You don’t need any special drivers. You simply set the drive
to act as a DOS drive (e. g. A:, B:, C: or D: - 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th
floppy disks) and use standard DOS commands (COPY, DIR, etc.)
to manipulate your data.
Before you use the Flash/RAM/ROM disk, you will need to enable
it with the BIOS Advanced Setup Program, discussed in Chapter 3.
Memory devices
The Flash/RAM/ROM disk supports the following memory
devices, or their equivalents:
• 28F010 128 KB x 8 (+12 V) Flash Memory (AMD/INTEL)
• CXK581000P 128K x 8 SRAM (Sony)
• CXK584000P 512K x 8 SRAM (Sony)
• 27C010 128 KB x 8 EPROM
• 27C040 512 KB x 8 EPROM
• AT29C010/A 128 KB x 8 (+ 5 V) Flash Memory (ATMEL only)
• AT29C040/A 512 KB x 8 (+ 5 V) Flash Memory (ATMEL only)
If you use EPROM, files on the disk are read only. You will need
an "external programmer" to load your program and data files on
the EPROMs.
If you use +5 V Flash memories (AT29C010/A or AT29C040/A)
for the solid state disk, you can read or write data just like a floppy