Note: Recently I picked up an HxC Slim for my A600, and there was multiple people that were interested in hearing more about it since it's a cost reduced, simpler version of the regular SD card HxC floppy emulator. Well, I thought I would not only post up my impressions, I would also share some photos of the install as it's a bit different than the the full size HxC and it requires some fabrication and/or mods. This ISN'T a full end to end review of the HxC capabilities as it's basic compatibly and feature set is almost identical to the original board. And there are dozens of reviews and Youtube videos covering it. If you are interested in the Slim, you are probably already familiar with the original.
Intro:
Recently Lotharek and Jeff (the HxC designer) announced a simpler and reduced cost version of the SD card HxC floppy emulator. This version removes the LCD display and only has one button. Due to this fact, this version is only suitable to be used with computers capable of running the HxC Floppy Emulator Manager onscreen display software. So, pretty much Amiga, Atari ST and Amstrad CPC only. However Jeff has indicated in the official HxC forum that in the future you will be able to add a LCD display and possibly switches to the Slim via the J3 connector (which isn't installed).
The board:
As you can see from the photo below the board design is overall very simple in design. The original jumper block on the original SD board have been replaced with a proper dip switch array marked as SW2. By default it's shipped with dip 1 ON and all the others are off. This is perfect for the Amiga with a twisted floppy drive cable out of the box. If the red HxC Slim drive light stays constantly lit, that means you probably need to flip the floppy drive cable over. Sadly I have yet to find proper documentation for the switch settings as I believe the documentation is still being written for it.
You can also see a couple sets of unfilled holes in the PCB for upcoming add-ons. J3 (left side of photo) is where the LCD and other accessories will plug into. I am unsure about what J1 (center of board) will be used for.
Something else to note is that this board is small. It's substantially smaller than a 3.5 inch floppy drive. This means it will require some mods or custom fabrication if you intend to install this in your machines case. I took a photo comparing it to the floppy drive from my A600 and also showing it sitting inside the case beside the floppy drive mounting holes.
Ohhh dear. I looked at this for a bit before I determined the best solution is to simply make a plastic adapter for it. I cut out a piece of plastic (from an XBox game case) and fit it to the original floppy drive holes. Then I aligned up the HXC on the plastic adapter and drilled holes to fit it right up against the side of the A600 case. Then fitted some screws and nuts to raise up and fasten the board to the adapter. It sits about 10mm about the plastic adapter so it lines up with the external A600 floppy slot opening. No need to modify the Amiga case at all:
Usage:
Since the HxC Slim only has 1 button and no lcd, it's obvious you have to be able to boot to a gui to manage what's on the card. Enter the SDCard HxCFloppyEmulator Manager (for Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and Amiga). First you use the HxC Floppy Emulator on your PC or Mac to convert all you ADF fles to HFE format and then you put the appropriate autoboot.hfe and hxcsdfe.cfg (from the Floppy emulator manager) on the root of you SD card (depending on platform) and when the machines boots you will get something like this:
At this point you insert files into each of slots (total of 15 available) and press the F10 key to save and reboot. When its time to change disks, you press the button and it will change to the next slot. Also, you will hear a number of beeps to indicate what slot is active. 1 beep = Slot 0. Slot 0 is ALWAYS the autoboot.hfe file. 2 Beeps is Slot 1, 3 beeps is Slot 2 and etc. This system works fine unless you have a dozen disk slots in use. At that point it's hard to keep track of what's what... especially if they are all disk images to different things. That's where the SDcard HxC with the LCD screen might come in handy. However the Slim is still a potent product at a great price.
Also, if you plan to use this in an Amiga with in internal hard drive, you can simply eject the SD card and your Amiga will boot up off its hard drive just like normal. Once you are in Workbench you can insert the SD card and whatever the last selected Slot on the HxC will appear on the Desktop. If you have multiple disk slots in use, pressing the disk change button will swap to the next one. While there isn't any way in Workbench (that I know of) to change what image is in what slot, you can easily rotate through whatever was previously selected in the Floppy Emulator Manager. Also, the anticlick utility included in Classic Workbench silences the HxC's little speaker from clicking when a SDcard isn't inserted. Pretty neat.
Conclusions and delusions:
Overall the HxC Slim is another hit product from Jeff @ HxC and manufacturing by Lotharek. It sells for 58.99 Euros at Lotharek's website. However the regular SD card HxC Rev C unit only sells for about 11 Euros more making the price difference between them fairly small. If you think you need the LCD display and the 3 navigation buttons, or plan to have multiple slots loaded with different games and demos at one time, I would probably recommend the regular SDcard HxC emulator. However if all you want is to be able to play some games and demo's and aren't too concerned with the wow factor of the LCD, the HxC Slim is a fantastic product.
Also, I see an excellent business opportunity for someone to build and sell an inexpensive adapter plate for the HxC Slim to allow it to easily fit into an A500/600/1200. Best to design it as a single product that includes extra washer and shims so it can work in all 3 units. Perhaps someone with easy access to a 3d printer...
Relevant Links:
Lotharek's Lair
HxC Project website
Intro:
Recently Lotharek and Jeff (the HxC designer) announced a simpler and reduced cost version of the SD card HxC floppy emulator. This version removes the LCD display and only has one button. Due to this fact, this version is only suitable to be used with computers capable of running the HxC Floppy Emulator Manager onscreen display software. So, pretty much Amiga, Atari ST and Amstrad CPC only. However Jeff has indicated in the official HxC forum that in the future you will be able to add a LCD display and possibly switches to the Slim via the J3 connector (which isn't installed).
The board:
As you can see from the photo below the board design is overall very simple in design. The original jumper block on the original SD board have been replaced with a proper dip switch array marked as SW2. By default it's shipped with dip 1 ON and all the others are off. This is perfect for the Amiga with a twisted floppy drive cable out of the box. If the red HxC Slim drive light stays constantly lit, that means you probably need to flip the floppy drive cable over. Sadly I have yet to find proper documentation for the switch settings as I believe the documentation is still being written for it.
You can also see a couple sets of unfilled holes in the PCB for upcoming add-ons. J3 (left side of photo) is where the LCD and other accessories will plug into. I am unsure about what J1 (center of board) will be used for.
Something else to note is that this board is small. It's substantially smaller than a 3.5 inch floppy drive. This means it will require some mods or custom fabrication if you intend to install this in your machines case. I took a photo comparing it to the floppy drive from my A600 and also showing it sitting inside the case beside the floppy drive mounting holes.
Ohhh dear. I looked at this for a bit before I determined the best solution is to simply make a plastic adapter for it. I cut out a piece of plastic (from an XBox game case) and fit it to the original floppy drive holes. Then I aligned up the HXC on the plastic adapter and drilled holes to fit it right up against the side of the A600 case. Then fitted some screws and nuts to raise up and fasten the board to the adapter. It sits about 10mm about the plastic adapter so it lines up with the external A600 floppy slot opening. No need to modify the Amiga case at all:
Usage:
Since the HxC Slim only has 1 button and no lcd, it's obvious you have to be able to boot to a gui to manage what's on the card. Enter the SDCard HxCFloppyEmulator Manager (for Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and Amiga). First you use the HxC Floppy Emulator on your PC or Mac to convert all you ADF fles to HFE format and then you put the appropriate autoboot.hfe and hxcsdfe.cfg (from the Floppy emulator manager) on the root of you SD card (depending on platform) and when the machines boots you will get something like this:
At this point you insert files into each of slots (total of 15 available) and press the F10 key to save and reboot. When its time to change disks, you press the button and it will change to the next slot. Also, you will hear a number of beeps to indicate what slot is active. 1 beep = Slot 0. Slot 0 is ALWAYS the autoboot.hfe file. 2 Beeps is Slot 1, 3 beeps is Slot 2 and etc. This system works fine unless you have a dozen disk slots in use. At that point it's hard to keep track of what's what... especially if they are all disk images to different things. That's where the SDcard HxC with the LCD screen might come in handy. However the Slim is still a potent product at a great price.
Also, if you plan to use this in an Amiga with in internal hard drive, you can simply eject the SD card and your Amiga will boot up off its hard drive just like normal. Once you are in Workbench you can insert the SD card and whatever the last selected Slot on the HxC will appear on the Desktop. If you have multiple disk slots in use, pressing the disk change button will swap to the next one. While there isn't any way in Workbench (that I know of) to change what image is in what slot, you can easily rotate through whatever was previously selected in the Floppy Emulator Manager. Also, the anticlick utility included in Classic Workbench silences the HxC's little speaker from clicking when a SDcard isn't inserted. Pretty neat.
Conclusions and delusions:
Overall the HxC Slim is another hit product from Jeff @ HxC and manufacturing by Lotharek. It sells for 58.99 Euros at Lotharek's website. However the regular SD card HxC Rev C unit only sells for about 11 Euros more making the price difference between them fairly small. If you think you need the LCD display and the 3 navigation buttons, or plan to have multiple slots loaded with different games and demos at one time, I would probably recommend the regular SDcard HxC emulator. However if all you want is to be able to play some games and demo's and aren't too concerned with the wow factor of the LCD, the HxC Slim is a fantastic product.
Also, I see an excellent business opportunity for someone to build and sell an inexpensive adapter plate for the HxC Slim to allow it to easily fit into an A500/600/1200. Best to design it as a single product that includes extra washer and shims so it can work in all 3 units. Perhaps someone with easy access to a 3d printer...
Relevant Links:
Lotharek's Lair
HxC Project website
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