Sony 920 MPF z/121 fix for Amiga - Page 2

kipper2k · 12 June 2010, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

A "regular" Amiga drive doesn't give a shit if theres a hole there or not. Why would a double density drive check for a high density hole in the disk?

Sorry, let me rephrase, i do have some modded drives that would see the hole, You're right, "official" DD drives don't have a HD floppy sensor

Jope · 13 June 2010, 14:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loedown

The standard A500 drives are 300 RPM, the high density A4000 drives are 300 / 150, perhaps PC drives operate in the same way?

No. PC drives are always 300rpm, no matter what the density it detects.

In a PC drive, the density select switch mainly decides the parameters with which the media is magnetized. Some drives also use the HD detect switch as part of disk change detection, for example panasonic drives will stop detecting disk changes if you force the hd switch on.

Loedown · 14 June 2010, 04:14

Cheers Jope and that's why the Amiga HD drives are such a pain in the proverbial.

Sledge/FLT · 14 June 2010, 08:05

I found a z/121 drive here at work that was about to be thrown away. So I'll try this mod out.

What about other drives? We have Panasonic drives aswell. And Sony e/131.

kipper2k · 14 June 2010, 11:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sledge/FLT

What about other drives? We have Panasonic drives aswell. And Sony e/131.

There are a few panasonic drives on the compatibility list, depends on the model number, not too sure on the sony e131.

kipper2k · 27 June 2010, 23:27

Heres another floppy to add to the compatibility list.

its the Sony Z/161. Just one change to the z/121. Use the Z/121 picture for all except the wire from pin 34... look at this picture to get the new correct location.

prowler · 28 June 2010, 00:06

Thanks for your continuing work on this, kipper!

Techseeker · 30 June 2010, 00:01

Thank you, you're a star. Tried the mod on a Sony MPF920

Which is near identical to your one above

And the Sony MPF920-E

Both work with XCOPY

prowler · 30 June 2010, 00:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techseeker

Tried the mod on a Sony MPF920

And the Sony MPF920-E

Both work with XCOPY

Hmm... That's interesting.

I've just got hold of a Sony MPF920 for use as a replacement for the original unit in a Cumana external Amiga floppy drive and it's working fine.

I'll have a look at it to see if it includes the same modification.

The original owner of the MPF920 (fitzsteve) seemed to think it had been modified.

Techseeker · 30 June 2010, 00:38

Lol nice, I just put my 920-E on the Cumana interface

For some reason the 920 wouldnt work on the external, so now the 920 is the internal A500 drive and the 920-E is the external..... if one was paranoid the E could stand for External lol..

prowler · 30 June 2010, 00:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techseeker

Lol nice, I just put my 920-E on the Cumana interface

For some reason the 920 wouldnt work on the external, so now the 920 is the internal A500 drive and the 920-E is the external..... if one was paranoid the E could stand for External lol..

Seriously, do you know what the E actually stands for?

Before you ask, I don't.

Techseeker · 30 June 2010, 00:48

Not a clue

kipper2k · 30 June 2010, 05:29

I have 2 more i just figured out, a Panasonic JU-256A198PC and a TEAC FD-235HF rev A291, i'll post pics later

8bitbubsy · 30 June 2010, 06:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techseeker

Lol nice, I just put my 920-E on the Cumana interface

For some reason the 920 wouldnt work on the external, so now the 920 is the internal A500 drive and the 920-E is the external..... if one was paranoid the E could stand for External lol..

You need to set the drive to DRIVE1 or DRIVE2 etc... By moving a resistor or so.

prowler · 30 June 2010, 23:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8bitbubsy

You need to set the drive to DRIVE1 or DRIVE2 etc... By moving a resistor or so.

In my experience with internal and external amiga drives, all units have been set to Drive Select 0 (DS0). Note that all PC compatible floppy drive units are shipped set to Drive Select 1 (DS1).

If anyone else's experience is different or contrary to this, then please let's hear about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techseeker

Tried the mod on a Sony MPF920

And the Sony MPF920-E

Both work with XCOPY

Hmm... That's interesting.

I've just got hold of a Sony MPF920 for use as a replacement for the original unit in a Cumana external Amiga floppy drive and it's working fine.

I'll have a look at it to see if it includes the same modification.

The original owner of the MPF920 (fitzsteve) seemed to think it had been modified.

Okay, I got the drive stripped down and there's a bird's nest of wires in there!

On the right of the picture, a PLCC chip has been glued to the chassis top-down, so I cannot see what it is. Does anyone have a clue what that lot's doing?

BTW, the external drive I repaired with this unit was a Power Computing PC-880B device, not a Cumana as previously stated. I'm sorry if this was misleading.

Techseeker · 30 June 2010, 23:53

That looks like a HD floppy conversion

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36521

prowler · 01 July 2010, 00:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techseeker

That looks like a HD floppy conversion

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36521

Hey, it looks like you're right!

Thanks for the link, Techseeker.

There's a lot of useful info in that thread.

fitzsteve · 01 July 2010, 00:07

@Prowler

Thats the drive that came in a Power Tower I bought on ebay, I took out all the bits I needed like the Mediator, Voodoo, Blizzard. Since I already had a brand new Amigakit FDD it was surplus.

Anyway I hope the fact that it seems to be HD is useful to you

It originally came from here:

http://www.efunzine.com/

They must have done the mods, but alas I could not understand the site as its not in English...

Steve.

prowler · 01 July 2010, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

I hope the fact that it seems to be HD is useful to you

Hi Steve, and thanks for the further info.

As you know, I bought that drive from you to replace the original, non-working unit (a Sony MPF110-04) in a Power Computing PC-880B Amiga external drive, and in that respect it works perfectly!

Now, in view of Techseeker's affirmation that this replacement unit is, in fact, a converted HD floppy drive, I'm going to have a look inside the two Power Computing XL (High Density, 1.76MB) Amiga external drives that I also have, to see whether they are similarly converted drives.

If they are, it will mean that this drive will also read Amiga 1.76MB High Density floppies if it is fitted in one of those devices and with the Power Computing Workbench patch installed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

It originally came from here:

http://www.efunzine.com/

They must have done the mods, but alas I could not understand the site as its not in English...

The language appears to be Polish, but I can't find their info on that particular drive unit to paste into the Google translator...

Techseeker · 01 July 2010, 00:50

Found a little more info here, might be related

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=538186&postcount=77

Looks like that rats nest started life as a TEAC FD-235HF mod, then sony.
It would be interesting to see if it works.

27 June 2010, 23:27	#26
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	Sony z/161 Heres another floppy to add to the compatibility list. its the Sony Z/161. Just one change to the z/121. Use the Z/121 picture for all except the wire from pin 34... look at this picture to get the new correct location.

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14 June 2010, 04:14	#23
Loedown Precious & fragile things Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Victoria, Australia Posts: 1,946	Cheers Jope and that's why the Amiga HD drives are such a pain in the proverbial.

14 June 2010, 08:05	#24
Sledge/FLT Registered User Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Sweden Age: 51 Posts: 19	I found a z/121 drive here at work that was about to be thrown away. So I'll try this mod out. What about other drives? We have Panasonic drives aswell. And Sony e/131.

28 June 2010, 00:06	#27
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Thanks for your continuing work on this, kipper!

30 June 2010, 00:01	#28
Techseeker Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Cork / Ireland Posts: 28	Thank you, you're a star. Tried the mod on a Sony MPF920 Which is near identical to your one above And the Sony MPF920-E Both work with XCOPY

30 June 2010, 00:38	#30
Techseeker Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Cork / Ireland Posts: 28	Lol nice, I just put my 920-E on the Cumana interface For some reason the 920 wouldnt work on the external, so now the 920 is the internal A500 drive and the 920-E is the external..... if one was paranoid the E could stand for External lol..

30 June 2010, 00:48	#32
Techseeker Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Cork / Ireland Posts: 28	Not a clue

30 June 2010, 05:29	#33
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	I have 2 more i just figured out, a Panasonic JU-256A198PC and a TEAC FD-235HF rev A291, i'll post pics later

30 June 2010, 23:53	#36
Techseeker Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Cork / Ireland Posts: 28	That looks like a HD floppy conversion http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36521

01 July 2010, 00:07	#38
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	@Prowler Thats the drive that came in a Power Tower I bought on ebay, I took out all the bits I needed like the Mediator, Voodoo, Blizzard. Since I already had a brand new Amigakit FDD it was surplus. Anyway I hope the fact that it seems to be HD is useful to you It originally came from here: http://www.efunzine.com/ They must have done the mods, but alas I could not understand the site as its not in English... Steve.

01 July 2010, 00:50	#40
Techseeker Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Cork / Ireland Posts: 28	Found a little more info here, might be related http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=538186&postcount=77 Looks like that rats nest started life as a TEAC FD-235HF mod, then sony. It would be interesting to see if it works.

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