Old ICs are getting impossible to find now

[stephen_usher]

Interesting, missed this comment earlier. Do you know if the company still has any masks or layout files, or whatever, for the Ajax, or for that matter for any interesting old school chip?

Surely Toshiba's chip fab subsidiary was sold off decades ago? Anyway, they'd unlikely hold that sort of stuff anyway as it would be copyright Western Digital. Even then, one division would not have access to information from another.

[alexh]

Surely Toshiba's chip fab subsidiary was sold off decades ago?

No. We were spun out and renamed Kioxia in 2018 but Toshiba remain one of the two the primary share holders.

Anyway, they'd unlikely hold that sort of stuff anyway

as it would be copyright Western Digital

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2 ... nks-loans/

[ijor]

I imagine it depends how much of the WDC design Toshiba inherited. Toshiba almost certainly had a completely different process to WDC and so couldn't use any of their masks/layout. It was just before logic synthesis took off so the design was probably schematics and re-made?

The WD1772 is old school NMOS (HMOS) and hand drawn layout, and surely hand drawn schematics. I don't know about the Ajax, but I suspect it is just a die shrink. At that time it was very uncommon to produce new layout design from scratch.

Surely Toshiba's chip fab subsidiary was sold off decades ago? Anyway, they'd unlikely hold that sort of stuff anyway as it would be copyright Western Digital. Even then, one division would not have access to information from another.

Yeah, I know. Still worth to ask

as it would be copyright Western Digital

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2 ... nks-loans/

WD sold their chip business long ago, IIRC to SMC, which in turn was also sold ?

[alexh]

WD sold their chip business long ago, IIRC to SMC, which in turn was also sold ?

I don't know.

We've made many custom SoC chips for WD over the years, for 1394/USB external storage, NAS, etc.

It would seem WD are wanting to get back into the chip business if they are in the early process of buying Kioxia (formerly the chip development and manufacturing part of Toshiba).

[exxos]

I am now the proud owner of the worlds stock of about 300 WD1772-00-02 chips

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IMG_1275.JPG (59.07 KiB) Viewed 1193 times

[PhilC]

Well done and from the quick photo, they might actually be real ones!

[exxos]

Well done and from the quick photo, they might actually be real ones!

Yep, I need to test them all but allegedly they are all tested and genuine. Companies I use state they have to have a paper trail of parts back to the manufacturer and they supply companies like Boeing and NASA and the military etc etc.. As to if you believe that or not is another matter.. But they a lot more convincing than a Chinese "template" half-assed site.

Now I need to figure out how to pay my credit card off

[alexh]

Well done. I contacted lots of places and they either didn't have stock despite saying they did OR they wanted $100 / part

[exxos]

Well done. I contacted lots of places and they either didn't have stock despite saying they did OR they wanted $100 / part

Yeah that's basically what I ended up with $100-$150 parts. I paid nowhere near that (not worth it) Though they still going to end up around £35 a pop in my store. But still 3x cheaper than anywhere else. I think once they start hitting a certain price point, it is just not worth bothering with them any more. So these chips are most definitely the last ones which will be available from my store.

[JezC]

I guess that is about the price point where buying an Ajax is almost cost effective...