Activity led Chinon FB354 in external A1011 case

[liviux76]

Hello all!

Does anyone know how to have the activity led on a Chinon FB354 fitted in an external Amiga A1011 case?

My A1011 has been repaired replacing the original Chinon FB354 with a Chinon got from an A500 and the activity led doesn't work.

There was a led connected in the place you can see in the picture below, but it was always on when the computer was powered on. Now it seems blown.

Please, let me know where I can solder a led that turns on only when the drive is reading and if I have to use a resistor (unfortunately my knowledge of electronics is really low...)

Thanks in advance for any help!

[darefail]

Maybe the led was always on because it was soldered with the wrong polarity..
You should buy a new led and solder the long leg to the "A" point and the short leg to the "K".
Of course wait for another reply from an expert.

[liviux76]

Originally Posted by darefail

Maybe the led was always on because it was soldered with the wrong polarity..
You should buy a new led and solder the long leg to the "A" point and the short leg to the "K".
Of course wait for another reply from an expert.

Hi darefall and thanks for your reply.

I think that if soldered with the wrong polarity a led stays always off...
I own a new led but i would like to know when to solder it and if I need to use a resistor (probably) or not...

[darefail]

Not sure about the resistor but you don't have to lose anything by touching the legs to the solder points with your fingers, power it on and see what happens..
If it is working just solder it then..
BTW if the pin1 on a floppy cable is placed on pin 34 of the floppy drive, the led is always on.

[liviux76]

Thanks for your help darefail.
I am sure that the cable is connected correctly because the drive works, it reads and writes but now the led light is always off (I suspect it is blown).

Until a few days ago, it was working as well with the led light always on.
I could replace the led with another one but doing so I'd probably have again the led light on as soon as I power on the Amiga and not just when the drive is reading/writing a floppy.
My goal is to have the light on just when the drive is working (as a "normal" activity led).

[darefail]

What happens if you connect this drive as df0?
Is the light always on? Try it without soldering it.
I think this way you can see if the problem is on the drive or the pcb of the external case.

[darefail]

Hi there.
Any progress?

[liviux76]

Originally Posted by darefail

Hi there.
Any progress?

Hi, sorry if I haven't replied yet and thanks for your interest.

I haven't had time yet to look at the drive but, as far as I remember, I can't connect the drive to a motherboard since the "standard interface" with the 34 pins connector has been replaced in order to use the drive into the A1011.

I'll take some pictures to show you what I mean. I'll also check if with a new led the light always turns on as it did (and as I think).