Active adapter for PC HD floppy drive to be used as Amiga HD

demolition · 23 September 2014, 18:15

Was just curious if anyone has ever built an interface for a PC HD floppy drive so it could be used as an Amiga HD floppy drive? I mean without changing the rotation speed?

I think it should be possible using some microcontroller with memory to buffer a track and deliver it at half speed to the Amiga. In this case, the drive would spin twice over every track and only be active 50% of the time.
The timing might be off, but I don't assume there's many trackloaders out there designed for Amiga HD floppies anyway?

A microcontroller or FPGA design might be quite expensive for what it is, but we all know there's some rich Amiga owners out there. Just look at the ones buying 060s, PPCs and Cybervisions.

mark_k · 23 September 2014, 20:07

Didn't the Power XL HD drive do something like that? It required a driver, so obviously wasn't emulating a true 150rpm Amiga HD drive though.

Mrs Beanbag · 23 September 2014, 20:46

i think it should be possible too, but i also wondered whether it would be possible to wire in another rotation speed sensor opposite the first one to "trick" the motor controller into thinking the motor is spinning twice as fast as it really is.

Arnie · 23 September 2014, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs Beanbag

i think it should be possible too, but i also wondered whether it would be possible to wire in another rotation speed sensor opposite the first one to "trick" the motor controller into thinking the motor is spinning twice as fast as it really is.

There was a topic about that 4 years ago......

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=55344

Mrs Beanbag · 23 September 2014, 21:14

another thing that i just thought, i wonder if it's possible to replace Paula with maybe a FPGA version that can work twice as fast? Then use normal HD drives at 300rpm.

23 September 2014, 18:15	#1
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 43 Posts: 4,190	Active adapter for PC HD floppy drive to be used as Amiga HD Was just curious if anyone has ever built an interface for a PC HD floppy drive so it could be used as an Amiga HD floppy drive? I mean without changing the rotation speed? I think it should be possible using some microcontroller with memory to buffer a track and deliver it at half speed to the Amiga. In this case, the drive would spin twice over every track and only be active 50% of the time. The timing might be off, but I don't assume there's many trackloaders out there designed for Amiga HD floppies anyway? A microcontroller or FPGA design might be quite expensive for what it is, but we all know there's some rich Amiga owners out there. Just look at the ones buying 060s, PPCs and Cybervisions.

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23 September 2014, 20:07	#2
mark_k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 3,334	Didn't the Power XL HD drive do something like that? It required a driver, so obviously wasn't emulating a true 150rpm Amiga HD drive though.

23 September 2014, 20:46	#3
Mrs Beanbag Glastonbridge Software Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Edinburgh/Scotland Posts: 2,243	i think it should be possible too, but i also wondered whether it would be possible to wire in another rotation speed sensor opposite the first one to "trick" the motor controller into thinking the motor is spinning twice as fast as it really is.

23 September 2014, 21:14	#5
Mrs Beanbag Glastonbridge Software Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Edinburgh/Scotland Posts: 2,243	another thing that i just thought, i wonder if it's possible to replace Paula with maybe a FPGA version that can work twice as fast? Then use normal HD drives at 300rpm.

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