<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
is	O
a	O
family	O
of	O
enhanced	O
floppy-disk	B-Device
controllers	I-Device
from	O
German	O
company	O
Individual	O
Computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
controllers	O
are	O
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
more	O
recent	O
computers	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
PCs	O
,	O
to	O
access	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
older	O
or	O
non-native	O
disk	B-Application
formats	I-Application
using	O
standard	O
floppy	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
floppy	B-Device
controller	I-Device
chip	O
used	O
in	O
IBM	O
PCs	O
and	O
compatibles	O
was	O
the	O
NEC	O
765A	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
was	O
therefore	O
created	O
to	O
emulate	O
the	O
hardware	O
necessary	O
to	O
produce	O
these	O
other	O
low-level	B-Application
formats	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
provides	O
a	O
custom	O
floppy	O
drive	O
interface	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
any	O
other	O
floppy	O
interfaces	O
the	O
computer	O
is	O
already	O
equipped	O
with	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Industry	O
standard	O
floppy	O
drives	O
can	O
be	O
attached	O
to	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
to	O
read	O
many	O
standard	O
and	O
custom	O
formats	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
custom	O
software	O
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1996	O
and	O
has	O
since	O
undergone	O
several	O
revisions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Mk1	O
and	O
Mk2	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Application
Amiga	I-Application
1200	I-Application
and	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
,	O
sold	O
out	O
in	O
October	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Mk3	O
added	O
PCI	B-Protocol
compatibility	O
and	O
sold	O
out	O
in	O
mid-2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1996	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
computer	I-Device
,	O
and	O
was	O
available	O
in	O
two	O
versions	O
-	O
one	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
and	O
one	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
version	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
machine	O
's	O
clock	B-Device
port	I-Device
;	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
version	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
machine	O
's	O
IDE	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
pass-through	O
was	O
provided	O
on	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
version	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
IDE	O
port	O
could	O
still	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
mass	O
storage	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
controller	O
was	O
developed	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
a	O
standard	O
PC	O
ISA	O
slot	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
of	O
reading	O
custom	O
non-PC	O
floppy	O
formats	O
from	O
MS-DOS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Official	O
software	O
and	O
drivers	O
are	O
also	O
available	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Mk2	O
Catweasel	B-Device
was	O
a	O
redesign	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Catweasel	B-Device
,	O
merging	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
and	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
versions	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
product	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
on	O
both	O
computers	O
,	O
and	O
providing	O
a	O
new	O
PCB	O
layout	O
that	O
allowed	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
more	O
easily	O
installed	O
in	O
a	O
standard	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
continued	O
popularity	O
of	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Mk2	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
special	O
"	O
Anniversary	O
Edition	O
"	O
of	O
this	O
model	O
being	O
released	O
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Z-II	O
version	O
was	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Device
Zorro-II	B-Device
expansion	O
that	O
combined	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Mk2	O
controller	O
with	O
another	O
Individual	O
Computers	O
product	O
,	O
the	O
Buddha	O
,	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
board	O
providing	O
floppy	O
and	O
IDE	O
interfaces	O
to	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Mk3	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
interface	O
with	O
either	O
a	O
PCI	B-Protocol
slot	I-Protocol
,	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Device
Zorro	I-Device
II	I-Device
slot	O
or	O
the	O
clock	B-Device
port	I-Device
of	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
low-level	O
access	O
granted	O
to	O
floppy	O
drives	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
a	O
socket	O
for	O
a	O
Commodore	O
64	O
SID	O
sound	O
chip	O
,	O
a	O
port	O
for	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Device
2000	I-Device
keyboard	O
,	O
and	O
two	O
9-pin	O
digital	O
joysticks	B-Device
(	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Mk4	O
was	O
officially	O
announced	O
on	O
18	O
July	O
2004	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
wide	O
array	O
of	O
new	O
features	O
planned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Catweasel	B-Device
makes	O
heavy	O
use	O
of	O
reconfigurable	O
logic	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
an	O
Altera	O
ACEX	O
EP1K30TC144-3N	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
chip	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
AMD	O
MACH110	O
PLD	O
and	O
a	O
PCI	B-Protocol
interface	O
IC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Mk4/Mk4	O
+	O
driver	O
uploads	O
the	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
microcode	O
on	O
start	O
,	O
which	O
makes	O
easy	O
updates	O
possible	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
replace	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Official	O
software	O
and	O
drivers	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
and	O
unofficial	O
drivers	O
and	O
utilities	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Catweasel	B-Device
Mk4Plus	O
appears	O
to	O
be	O
no	O
longer	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
