Modifying PC floppy drives for Amiga use - Page 20

cpiac64 · 29 May 2018, 22:37

use systest for calibrate the floppy drive

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6...GhXMWRvOXVDd3M

Overmann · 12 July 2018, 00:30

Hi there,

I have a PC floppy drive that I think might be an easy mod for amiga compatability. I have not found instructions for this particular drive but based on what I've found I think this is mostly jumpers and a quick wiresolder.

It's a Mitsubishi mf355-250mg. I've added a couple of pictures. As you can see there jumpers for DS0/DS1 and DC, but I'm having trouble decoding the circuit board and understanding exactly what to do, and I would love some pointers and suggestions before I start working.

Here you can see the jumpers. I've already moved the DS1/DS3 to DS0/DS2, but I've not changed the other two jumpers as I'm a bit lost.

I can't seem to figure out qhich of these are actually DC, and I am assuming that SR is READY but I don't know how I can make sure, or which 2 pins make the SR connection. And shat is SW? It is a bit confusing.

Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

EDIT:

Could it be as easy as this?

I've replicatied what was done on this board (which is supposed to be the same model number as my drive, but is slightly different).

I've not done anything to the circuit board though. On the picture above some of the pads by the flat wire is soldered together but those wires do not appear to be next to each other on my board. And they do seem to be connected by traces. I might be wrong..

Link to higher res photos

Overmann · 12 July 2018, 21:03

I just went for it and it works! I haven't tested touroughly yet, but it loads the games I've tried so far without issues. This one is going into a tower, but what are people doing with the eject buttons of the drives that are going into the classic wedge cases?

I've taken some pictures of the final modifications. Hopefully I won't have to do more. I suspect that removing the entire HD-detect thing was overkill.

katarakt · 15 July 2018, 22:31

Just want to let you know that flood scoopex version is runbish ! All drives mentioned some posts before are working with flood flintstone version !

Zippy Zapp · 07 September 2018, 06:49

Hi All,

I have a Teac FD-235HF 3217-U drive that I would like to configure for Amiga use. The jumpers look like the attached image. What should be the jumper config for Amiga use? I can take a guess but I really don't want to fry anything. They show what they are configured to by default but not what the other jumper settings are. IE if you wanted to change 34 to Ready instead of Disk change or DSO instead of DS1, etc.

Thanks!

katarakt · 08 September 2018, 15:40

For Teac FD-235HF 3217-U try set the jumper to:

1A with 1B
3A with 3B (if ready is missing try instead 4A-4B)
4C with 3C
4E with 3E
4G with 3G
Also set jumper to "Frame Ground" on the upper left

Let me know if this works

edit: added 4A-4B optional thanks to luigi75 455

Zippy Zapp · 10 September 2018, 03:39

@katarakt that did the trick! Thanks a ton.

So if get the changes right, we jumped 1A-1B to make it DS0:, 4C-3C to remove Disk Change on 34?

I put it in an A500 and it booted workbench with no problems. I have not tried formatting or writing but it seems to work great.

If I wanted this to be a second drive in an Amiga 2000 or put it in an external case as a second A500 drive, would I need to move the jumper back to DS1?

Thanks Again!

katarakt · 12 September 2018, 21:51

Excellent

About your questions, yes exactly as you wrote ...not 100% sure, but should be right.

hooverphonique · 13 September 2018, 10:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zippy Zapp

If I wanted this to be a second drive in an Amiga 2000 or put it in an external case as a second A500 drive, would I need to move the jumper back to DS1?

For external drive, you need to set it to the DSx used by the enclosure's internal electronics. A2000 has a twist in the cable to relocate df0/df1 motor on signals, but I'm not sure about which SEL it should be set to. You can find other threads on here that describe that, though.

katarakt · 16 September 2018, 15:34

@ZippY_Zapp
Check jumper block pic in post 386 , this will help for different jumper settings

idrougge · 17 September 2018, 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by hooverphonique

For external drive, you need to set it to the DSx used by the enclosure's internal electronics. A2000 has a twist in the cable to relocate df0/df1 motor on signals, but I'm not sure about which SEL it should be set to. You can find other threads on here that describe that, though.

DF1 on Amiga 2000 should be set to DS1.
Do also note that some of these modifications prevent the drive from being used in an internal double-drive setup.

Zippy Zapp · 19 September 2018, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by katarakt

@ZippY_Zapp
Check jumper block pic in post 386 , this will help for different jumper settings

Cool. Thanks for uploading that it is super helpful.

Thanks All for the great comments.

RiP · 24 October 2018, 09:30

It seems modified PC floppy drives for Amiga can't format pre-formatted HD floppy disks for DOS

demolition · 24 October 2018, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiP

It seems modified PC floppy drives for Amiga can't format pre-formatted HD floppy disks for DOS

Format as Amiga 880kB disk? Converted HD drives should have the DD/HD switch fixed to DD. Else you need to cover the hole on any HD disks you want to use. Even then, using HD disks with DD format isn't very reliable and should be avoided if possible.

idrougge · 24 October 2018, 11:57

I always disable the HD detection on drives I modify.

RiP · 24 October 2018, 12:49

No, that's not because of the HD sensor.
It can format HD disks if it was formatted 880k before.

demolition · 24 October 2018, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiP

No, that's not because of the HD sensor.
It can format HD disks if it was formatted 880k before.

The head on an HD drive is narrower than the one in a DD drive so alignment needs to be more accurate for the head to hit the track. This also means that a HD drive will have a hard time rewriting/formatting a disk which was previously formatted in a pure DD drive since it will not be able to overwrite the previous track completely. I am not sure whether this is what you are experiencing though since you seem to have the opposite problem.

RiP · 24 October 2018, 14:03

Well, tried again and it can't format any DD/HD disks if they were formatted with DOS before

Edit: w00t, x-copy could format

Jope · 24 October 2018, 16:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

The head on an HD drive is narrower than the one in a DD drive so alignment needs to be more accurate for the head to hit the track. This also means that a HD drive will have a hard time rewriting/formatting a disk which was previously formatted in a pure DD drive since it will not be able to overwrite the previous track completely. I am not sure whether this is what you are experiencing though since you seem to have the opposite problem.

Are you sure you're not thinking about 5.25" DD and HD drives here? There the DD drives were often 40 track with a wider track width..

However 3.5" DD and HD drives are all 80 track, so the track width/density is the same.

RiP · 24 October 2018, 16:19

A question: why does X-Copy format disk 2x faster than workbench?

12 July 2018, 00:30	#382
Overmann Registered User Join Date: May 2014 Location: Norway Posts: 379	Tips on modding a PC floppy drive for use in A1200 (tower) Hi there, I have a PC floppy drive that I think might be an easy mod for amiga compatability. I have not found instructions for this particular drive but based on what I've found I think this is mostly jumpers and a quick wiresolder. It's a Mitsubishi mf355-250mg. I've added a couple of pictures. As you can see there jumpers for DS0/DS1 and DC, but I'm having trouble decoding the circuit board and understanding exactly what to do, and I would love some pointers and suggestions before I start working. Here you can see the jumpers. I've already moved the DS1/DS3 to DS0/DS2, but I've not changed the other two jumpers as I'm a bit lost. I can't seem to figure out qhich of these are actually DC, and I am assuming that SR is READY but I don't know how I can make sure, or which 2 pins make the SR connection. And shat is SW? It is a bit confusing. Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated. EDIT: Could it be as easy as this? I've replicatied what was done on this board (which is supposed to be the same model number as my drive, but is slightly different). I've not done anything to the circuit board though. On the picture above some of the pads by the flat wire is soldered together but those wires do not appear to be next to each other on my board. And they do seem to be connected by traces. I might be wrong.. Link to higher res photos Last edited by Overmann; 12 July 2018 at 11:16.

07 September 2018, 06:49	#385
Zippy Zapp Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: CA/USA Posts: 346	Hi All, I have a Teac FD-235HF 3217-U drive that I would like to configure for Amiga use. The jumpers look like the attached image. What should be the jumper config for Amiga use? I can take a guess but I really don't want to fry anything. They show what they are configured to by default but not what the other jumper settings are. IE if you wanted to change 34 to Ready instead of Disk change or DSO instead of DS1, etc. Thanks! Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Zippy Zapp; 07 September 2018 at 06:55.

08 September 2018, 15:40	#386
katarakt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Germany Posts: 205	For Teac FD-235HF 3217-U try set the jumper to: 1A with 1B 3A with 3B (if ready is missing try instead 4A-4B) 4C with 3C 4E with 3E 4G with 3G Also set jumper to "Frame Ground" on the upper left Let me know if this works edit: added 4A-4B optional thanks to luigi75 455 Attached Thumbnails Last edited by katarakt; 03 April 2022 at 21:00. Reason: pic uploaded

24 October 2018, 14:03	#398
RiP Q Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: CD0: Posts: 139	Well, tried again and it can't format any DD/HD disks if they were formatted with DOS before Edit: w00t, x-copy could format Last edited by RiP; 24 October 2018 at 15:32.

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29 May 2018, 22:37	#381
cpiac64 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Italy Posts: 1,136	use systest for calibrate the floppy drive https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6...GhXMWRvOXVDd3M

12 July 2018, 21:03	#383
Overmann Registered User Join Date: May 2014 Location: Norway Posts: 379	I just went for it and it works! I haven't tested touroughly yet, but it loads the games I've tried so far without issues. This one is going into a tower, but what are people doing with the eject buttons of the drives that are going into the classic wedge cases? I've taken some pictures of the final modifications. Hopefully I won't have to do more. I suspect that removing the entire HD-detect thing was overkill.

15 July 2018, 22:31	#384
katarakt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Germany Posts: 205	Just want to let you know that flood scoopex version is runbish ! All drives mentioned some posts before are working with flood flintstone version !

10 September 2018, 03:39	#387
Zippy Zapp Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: CA/USA Posts: 346	@katarakt that did the trick! Thanks a ton. So if get the changes right, we jumped 1A-1B to make it DS0:, 4C-3C to remove Disk Change on 34? I put it in an A500 and it booted workbench with no problems. I have not tried formatting or writing but it seems to work great. If I wanted this to be a second drive in an Amiga 2000 or put it in an external case as a second A500 drive, would I need to move the jumper back to DS1? Thanks Again!

12 September 2018, 21:51	#388
katarakt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Germany Posts: 205	Excellent About your questions, yes exactly as you wrote ...not 100% sure, but should be right.

16 September 2018, 15:34	#390
katarakt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Germany Posts: 205	@ZippY_Zapp Check jumper block pic in post 386 , this will help for different jumper settings

24 October 2018, 09:30	#393
RiP Q Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: CD0: Posts: 139	It seems modified PC floppy drives for Amiga can't format pre-formatted HD floppy disks for DOS

24 October 2018, 11:57	#395
idrougge Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Stockholm Posts: 4,332	I always disable the HD detection on drives I modify.

24 October 2018, 12:49	#396
RiP Q Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: CD0: Posts: 139	No, that's not because of the HD sensor. It can format HD disks if it was formatted 880k before.

24 October 2018, 16:19	#400
RiP Q Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: CD0: Posts: 139	A question: why does X-Copy format disk 2x faster than workbench?

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