External floppy drive not working, comes up as DF2 when should be DF1

Hewitson · 14 December 2007, 08:10

I've got an external drive here which used to work fine on my old A500.. On my 2000 it comes up as DF2:????, ive tried closing the floppy jumper on the motherboard which made it become DF3:????, why isnt it coming up as DF1:?

Any help would be appreciated, playing Cannon Fodder with one drive is an absolute nightmare.

Galaxy · 14 December 2007, 08:15

I believe DF1 on an A2000 is reserved for the second internal drive so what you are seeing is correct behaviour

Hewitson · 14 December 2007, 08:27

The drive is not working as DF2, hence the ????. It is not correct behaviour.

J301 This jumper is closed to add a second internal floppy drive, open to leave the second floppy out of the main unit box. The Amiga expects an ID bit stream from each floppy drive; this lets it determine the drive type. External floppies have this ID circuitry on board, but as it's not an industry standard capability, it has to be implemented on the A2000 motherboard to save cost on internal drives. Leaving the jumper open prevents the Amiga from seeing the ID sequence.

Jope · 14 December 2007, 11:09

True, the drive is not working, but it *is* supposed to always show up as DF2 when plugged into the A2000.

The J301 jumper only turns on the id bit stream for DF1, it does not remap the drive select signals.

Hewitson · 15 December 2007, 01:58

The drive does almost work, I can just about boot off it. It comes up with the error Not a DOS disk, on any bootable disk whether its DOS or NDOS. Surely this is repairable

twizzle · 15 December 2007, 16:33

have you tried cleaning the switch on the front lower left side of the floppy drive? use a small brush with some meths, and gently press up & down a few times.

Smiley · 16 December 2007, 03:57

????? usually means it can't read the disk iirc. Either the disks you are using a garbage or the floppy header is dirty. Try and give the internals a bit of a clean and stick in a known working floppy. When you say it can just about boot off it, it sound like its having trouble reading disks.

I believe a good old clean with meths or vodka (I use it for everything) will solve your problem. You just need to know the right parts to clean.

14 December 2007, 08:10	#1
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,772	External floppy drive not working, comes up as DF2 when should be DF1 I've got an external drive here which used to work fine on my old A500.. On my 2000 it comes up as DF2:????, ive tried closing the floppy jumper on the motherboard which made it become DF3:????, why isnt it coming up as DF1:? Any help would be appreciated, playing Cannon Fodder with one drive is an absolute nightmare.

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14 December 2007, 08:15	#2
Galaxy Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 46 Posts: 1,417	I believe DF1 on an A2000 is reserved for the second internal drive so what you are seeing is correct behaviour

14 December 2007, 08:27	#3
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,772	The drive is not working as DF2, hence the ????. It is not correct behaviour. J301 This jumper is closed to add a second internal floppy drive, open to leave the second floppy out of the main unit box. The Amiga expects an ID bit stream from each floppy drive; this lets it determine the drive type. External floppies have this ID circuitry on board, but as it's not an industry standard capability, it has to be implemented on the A2000 motherboard to save cost on internal drives. Leaving the jumper open prevents the Amiga from seeing the ID sequence.

14 December 2007, 11:09	#4
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,861	True, the drive is not working, but it is supposed to always show up as DF2 when plugged into the A2000. The J301 jumper only turns on the id bit stream for DF1, it does not remap the drive select signals.

15 December 2007, 01:58	#5
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,772	The drive does almost work, I can just about boot off it. It comes up with the error Not a DOS disk, on any bootable disk whether its DOS or NDOS. Surely this is repairable

15 December 2007, 16:33	#6
twizzle Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: taunton.som.uk Age: 73 Posts: 681	have you tried cleaning the switch on the front lower left side of the floppy drive? use a small brush with some meths, and gently press up & down a few times.

16 December 2007, 03:57	#7
Smiley Amiga-less! Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,350	????? usually means it can't read the disk iirc. Either the disks you are using a garbage or the floppy header is dirty. Try and give the internals a bit of a clean and stick in a known working floppy. When you say it can just about boot off it, it sound like its having trouble reading disks. I believe a good old clean with meths or vodka (I use it for everything) will solve your problem. You just need to know the right parts to clean.

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