| Posted on 06-May-2002 18:42 GMT by kdh | 42 comments
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The USB card HIGHWAY will be general available by May, 31st 2002 and will be distributed by KDH Datentechnik. This is the first time that Amiga users can connect and use modern USB devices in connection with their classic Amigas.
HIGHWAY is a Zorro II USB card and comes with an integrated 4-port-hub. The user has the possibility to connect up to four USB devices without the need for an additional hub. In addition, the HIGHWAY card can be expanded by the new 10Mbit ethernet modul NORWAY without wasting an additional Zorro slot. A compatibility list for Zorro-boards and Zorro-cards can be found here.
The boards have been developed and manufactured by E3B ( Michael Boehmer ). The worldwide distribution is done by KDH Datentechnik and your local Amiga dealer will have the cards in stock by end of May.
The scope of delivery includes the USB software stack Poseidon by Chris Hodges. Drivers for USB mice, keyboard and parallel interface ( printers ) and mass storage devices ( SCSI-emulation: e.g. flashcard-reader, ZIP-devices, digicams following the MSD-standard ) will be shipped in addition to the HIGHWAY card without any additional cost. More drivers ( webcam, digicam and printers ) are being developed right now by third party companies.
We do support the development of the Amiga OS4.0 contained USB-stack by providing the USB cards HIGHWAY and SUBWAY. Both cards serve as the reference-hardware for the software-development and will be directly supported by OS4.0. Alternatively it will be possible to use the provided Poseidon stack.
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| USB card HIGHWAY : Comment 38 of 42 | ANN.lu |
| Posted by Michael Boehmer on 07-May-2002 20:54 GMT | Hi folks,
I have followed your discussions - and there's one thing to clarify.
One of the main comments is pricing. You compare HIGHWAY with off-the-shelf USB PCI cards. Have you ever thought why these PCI cards are so cheap ?
There is NO software work for these cards to be done, as the PC operating system has everything already included. There is NO need for special hardware work, as PCI USB bridges are everywhere available. There is even NO need to think about compatibility with different busboards, as PCI is a standard, and everything is already done in the USB PCI chip.
And maybe the high volume production of these PCI cards is also dumping the price you have to pay for a PCI USB solution, guess what ?
For HIGHWAY boards, things are slightly different: we had to write the complete software from scratch, we had to find a Zorro adaptable chip solution, we had to find out which bus boards have what design specialities (I just say... RBM), and we have due to a small market only a relatively small number of boards produced.
Anyhow, we tried to keep quality at maximum despite the wish of a small pricing, as in my opinion people are willing to pay for quality.
For those people still comparing PCI USB cards in pricing with the HIGHWAY board: where do you get drivers from ? A cheap PCI card is nice, but without a working driver and an USB stack it's just a way of wasting energy inside your computer case. Think about it. Hardware is just one part of the game.
Anyhow, thanks to all those who appreciated our work.
It's good to get positive feedback from people. |
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