Floppy Drive Problems

Djay · 01 August 2002, 21:35

I'm gonna have to replace my internal floppy drive (A1200).... with a PC one..... what mods am i gonna have to make?

and...

Can you recommend me any brand of floppy disk that are HD but will format to DD (for Amiga usage)

Thanks

Amiga1992 · 01 August 2002, 23:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Djay
I'm gonna have to replace my internal floppy drive (A1200).... with a PC one..... what mods am i gonna have to make?

DON'T
Most of your NDOS stuff will not work anymore. Why do you want to do this anyway? get an A1200 diskdrive!

Djay · 02 August 2002, 00:30

thanx 4 the tip Akira......

i can't find any places to buy an Amiga floppy drive, new would be good

after opening my external twin drive, i've the same connections... so am i right in thinking that could buy a single external drive off ebay and strip that

Amiga1992 · 02 August 2002, 03:18

You are not completely right. Some drives are not like this, for example, my Rocslim drive has a Citizen drive inside that has a completely different pinout (for one, power goes through the flat-ribbon! It looks like an internal Panasonic MSX drive).

Your best bet is just to buy a new internal A1200/A600 drive. www.eyetech.co.uk is a good bet! From the US, www.softhut.net.

Prepare to pay dearly, but betetr that than paying almost the same for an adapter that wont let you run NDOS disks.

If there is a modification you can do to an HD drive, someone here must know it. but I dont think there is a good one. I have a modified PC drive and it works so-so. But it's a modified 2SDD drive, not a 2SHD drive.

Djay · 02 August 2002, 04:00

the connections look right ?!?!?

Amiga1992 · 02 August 2002, 05:40

Eh?

Overdoc · 02 August 2002, 13:05

Well, if the connector looks like a normal PC/Amiga drive then you can use the external as internal, but have in mind that most likely the eject button will not fit the Amiga's case and you will have to do some cutting in the plastic case

Also, check if your external drive has some jumper on the back which says something like DS0/DS1. This one must be set to DS0 for internal !

If you are very lucky you can find an old PC drive that has several jumpers on it's back. Some of these can be jumpered to work on the Amiga without modifications. One of them is the Chinon FZ-357 drive, but there are also some Panasonic and Mitsubishi drives. Important jumpers are the RD and DC ones.

Otherwise you will have to build an interface when you want to attach a standard PC drive. There is some info on Aminet about this, but the only interface that I think will work is the one that requires some 74LSxxxx chips and some resistors and diodes, I think.
The simple rewiring of the drive's cable, which is also on Aminet, won't work 100% since you cannot read NDOS disks afterwards, like Akira mentioned.

Amiga1992 · 02 August 2002, 16:39

But will the little interface work? I think I heard it from jmmijo, who got one of these off eyetech, and he reported lots of things not working...

Overdoc · 02 August 2002, 19:44

Hmm, the thing for Eytech is called Kylwaldia, right ?
I don't know anything about this one, but I think if you rebuild the adapter which was built into later A-1200 models ( the ones which had 'AMIGA 1200' written on them ), then this should work also with NDOS disks without problems.
Also the instruction from Aminet look good, but I have no idea if it works 100% ???

Amiga1992 · 02 August 2002, 21:33

There are two things: The Klywalda, reprted by jmmijo as "poop", and the Sony EZDF0 or something like that. I think this one is like the one inside the ESCOM Amigas.

The compatibility is higher but there's still stuff that doesnt work with it, I think.

01 August 2002, 21:35	#1
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	Floppy Drive Problems I'm gonna have to replace my internal floppy drive (A1200).... with a PC one..... what mods am i gonna have to make? and... Can you recommend me any brand of floppy disk that are HD but will format to DD (for Amiga usage) Thanks

02 August 2002, 00:30	#3
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	thanx 4 the tip Akira...... i can't find any places to buy an Amiga floppy drive, new would be good after opening my external twin drive, i've the same connections... so am i right in thinking that could buy a single external drive off ebay and strip that Last edited by Djay; 02 August 2002 at 00:42.

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02 August 2002, 03:18	#4
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	You are not completely right. Some drives are not like this, for example, my Rocslim drive has a Citizen drive inside that has a completely different pinout (for one, power goes through the flat-ribbon! It looks like an internal Panasonic MSX drive). Your best bet is just to buy a new internal A1200/A600 drive. www.eyetech.co.uk is a good bet! From the US, www.softhut.net. Prepare to pay dearly, but betetr that than paying almost the same for an adapter that wont let you run NDOS disks. If there is a modification you can do to an HD drive, someone here must know it. but I dont think there is a good one. I have a modified PC drive and it works so-so. But it's a modified 2SDD drive, not a 2SHD drive.

02 August 2002, 04:00	#5
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	the connections look right ?!?!?

02 August 2002, 05:40	#6
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Eh?

02 August 2002, 13:05	#7
Overdoc Commodore Collector Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Austria Age: 53 Posts: 944	Well, if the connector looks like a normal PC/Amiga drive then you can use the external as internal, but have in mind that most likely the eject button will not fit the Amiga's case and you will have to do some cutting in the plastic case Also, check if your external drive has some jumper on the back which says something like DS0/DS1. This one must be set to DS0 for internal ! If you are very lucky you can find an old PC drive that has several jumpers on it's back. Some of these can be jumpered to work on the Amiga without modifications. One of them is the Chinon FZ-357 drive, but there are also some Panasonic and Mitsubishi drives. Important jumpers are the RD and DC ones. Otherwise you will have to build an interface when you want to attach a standard PC drive. There is some info on Aminet about this, but the only interface that I think will work is the one that requires some 74LSxxxx chips and some resistors and diodes, I think. The simple rewiring of the drive's cable, which is also on Aminet, won't work 100% since you cannot read NDOS disks afterwards, like Akira mentioned.

02 August 2002, 16:39	#8
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	But will the little interface work? I think I heard it from jmmijo, who got one of these off eyetech, and he reported lots of things not working...

02 August 2002, 19:44	#9
Overdoc Commodore Collector Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Austria Age: 53 Posts: 944	Hmm, the thing for Eytech is called Kylwaldia, right ? I don't know anything about this one, but I think if you rebuild the adapter which was built into later A-1200 models ( the ones which had 'AMIGA 1200' written on them ), then this should work also with NDOS disks without problems. Also the instruction from Aminet look good, but I have no idea if it works 100% ???

02 August 2002, 21:33	#10
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	There are two things: The Klywalda, reprted by jmmijo as "poop", and the Sony EZDF0 or something like that. I think this one is like the one inside the ESCOM Amigas. The compatibility is higher but there's still stuff that doesnt work with it, I think.

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