A1200 floppy "mounting/installing" problem

[emuola]

This is rather ridiculous, but I just got me a quite roughly modded a1200 which seems to be in working condition, but I have a little problem:

The floppy drive is completely loose inside the case. I suppose it has been originally attached with screws or something, but I cannot make anything out of it. It could be that there should be somekind of a "cradle" under the floppy, but there isn't. It seems there's no way to attach the floppy in a reasonable way to anything, the drive rests in an quite funky tilted position. I've never had a A1200, so I really don't know how it should look like indside.

Could someone give me a hint. I'll post photos, if the answer isn't as obvious as I really hope it is.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by emuola

This is rather ridiculous, but I just got me a quite roughly modded a1200 which seems to be in working condition, but I have a little problem:

The floppy drive is completely loose inside the case. I suppose it has been originally attached with screws or something, but I cannot make anything out of it. It could be that there should be somekind of a "cradle" under the floppy, but there isn't. It seems there's no way to attach the floppy in a reasonable way to anything, the drive rests in an quite funky tilted position. I've never had a A1200, so I really don't know how it should look like indside.

Could someone give me a hint. I'll post photos, if the answer isn't as obvious as I really hope it is.

do you have the 2 screws that go through the back of the case up into the bottom right side of the floppy ? (as you look at it from the front opening)

[emuola]

Ok, I may have "spotted" the holes for the crews in the case, but there's no way to attach the drive to that. Here are 2 photos, I hope you can tell me what I'm missing

[kipper2k]

the first picture shows the 2 slots in the case on the right side that you use to screw in the floppy. the floppy drive is either missing a mounting plate or is not designed for an A1200 as it is missing the screw holes.

Looks lke you are going to get creative and use some sheet metal to make a securing plate. (Or put that as a spare and buy a floppy that is a true A1200 floppy.. There are lots for sale for about $20 + shipping on ebay

[emuola]

Ok, it seems the drive is definitely not an A1200/A600 one Thanks for the info, I'll get creative

[prowler]

Hi emuola,

If you would find it useful, I could prepare for you a sketch of my A1200 floppy drive cradle with dimensions.

Let me know.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by emuola

Ok, it seems the drive is definitely not an A1200/A600 one Thanks for the info, I'll get creative

That drive is definately missing the mounting plate that gives you the 2 holes that line up with rear of case.

[emuola]

If you would find it useful, I could prepare for you a sketch of my A1200 floppy drive cradle with dimensions.

That would be awesome Thank you so much in advance!

[prowler]

Originally Posted by emuola

That would be awesome Thank you so much in advance!

I'll upload something for you in the next day or so.

[Jope]

Hmm. Two holes in the plastic screw directly into the drive chassis and the other side two holes in the side of the drive connect to a metal bracket.

[emuola]

Hmm. Two holes in the plastic screw directly into the drive chassis and the other side two holes in the side of the drive connect to a metal bracket.

The drive seems to be a A500 drive. At least when I searched with the model/type I got tons of A500 posts in this forum also I guess there are no suitable holes in the drive chassis at all. I'm not sure though, how the drive was fitted originally in an A500.

[prowler]

Hi emuola,

That Matsushita drive was not designed for an A1200. It's not a standard A500 drive either.

You say in your opening post that the A1200 seems to be in working condition. Do you know that the floppy drive works too? Can you boot the A1200 from a floppy disk? Or will it boot only from the hard drive (if it has one)?

If you have not checked that the floppy drive works properly with your Amiga, it will be a waste of your time and effort to make it fit, only to discover that the drive is incompatible or faulty.

Assuming that the drive operates satisfactorily, here are my initial thoughts:

The Matsushita drive appears to be rather longer than a standard A1200 floppy drive, however there should be room to accommodate it, and, assuming you can get it mounted correctly, I don't think the eject button will align properly with the cut-out in the case, although it will be fairly close.

As you have observed, the A1200 floppy drive fits into the case in a tilted position, making it parallel with the plane of the keyboard. Place the floppy drive upside down into its position in the top half of the A1200's case and you will see what I mean. This will be your best chance to assess how well the drive can be made to fit the case.

When the drive has been properly mounted in the case, it will sit almost exactly in this position. You must decide whether you are prepared to enlarge the cut-out, if necessary, to accommodate the eject button. (It should not be necessary to modify the floppy disk cut-out.)

The standard A1200 floppy drive doesn't require a drive cradle, being secured into the case by means of two M3x8mm screws inserted through the slotted holes in the case underneath the right side of the drive as shown in the first of your photographs. The left side of the drive is supported using a small bracket (part number 364982) which attaches to the side of the drive with an M3x5mm screw and is secured with a self-tapping screw through the motherboard into to the case. This mounting hole is hidden behind the keyboard in your photograph.

In fact, standard A1200 floppy drives have ten M3 threaded mounting holes - four underneath and three on each side.

Because your floppy drive does not have the mounting holes underneath that line up with the slotted holes in the case, it will be necessary to construct a mounting plate to provide them. In addition, this plate could be extended to shield the exposed drive mechanism shown in the second of your photographs. Does this drive have any mounting holes on either side to which this plate and a support bracket can be attached?

If you decide to go ahead and mount this floppy drive in your A1200, I can give you all the help you will need.

Tomorrow, I will provide a drawing of the support bracket with dimensions. You will require one of these (or something similar) even if you decide to buy a replacement A1200 floppy drive and fit that instead.

[emuola]

Thank you for your clarification I haven't tested the drive, but it *seems* the Amiga works. And of course the seller claimed persistently that it's ok... Actually the Amiga seems to be a A1200HD (says in the sticker on the mb) It has a 2Gb cf-drive. I'm not able to test the Amiga properly before I get my new KS 3.1 chips. The *orons an Vesalia (again) let me down and sent me wrong chips I'm going to shop at Amigakit.com exclusively from this on

Like you said, the floppy drive is indeed quite long, it almost hits one side of the M-tec 1230 my Amiga has in the trapdoor slot.

Does this drive have any mounting holes on either side to which this plate and a support bracket can be attached?

I'd say no, there are only 4 tiny holes on the "bare" side (also visible in the earlier photo) and none on the left or right side.

The bracket illustration will be great, because like youi said, I need it in any case I guess the spanking new drives available at Amigakit.com don't have the bracket with them either?

[rkauer]

AFAIR, Amigakit only have drives suitable for tower conversions.

[prowler]

Hi emuola,

Here, as promised are scanned pictures and a drawing of the Amiga 1200 floppy drive support bracket. I have both Commodore and Escom A1200s and the brackets are the same, even though the floppy drives are different types.

The pictures will give you a good idea what the finished bracket looks like, and the drawing provides all the dimensions you will require to make one. The drawing is scanned at 300dpi and should be suitable foir printing.

If there are no mounting holes on either side of your floppy drive, you will have to drill an additional hole in your A1200's case to line up with one of the mounting holes underneath your drive. That should be sufficient to hold it in place.

[Eclipse]

That drive looks like the ones for towered Amiga's, specifically the A2000 I'd say.

[emuola]

Thank you so much I'll get on it asap. Will let you know, how it ends up

[ElectroBlaster]

If im right then the drive is missing its two mounting rails from the underside. I dont understand why they would have been removed but thats why you cant just fit it and screw it down.

http://eab.abime.net/attachment.php?...1&d=1251463452

EDIT: There is a possibility I have one of these panasonic/matsushita drives floating about in my storage. its faulty but intact.

[prowler]

Interesting suggestion, ElectroBlaster!

It might give emuola an idea for mounting it better than otherwise.

That floppy drive isn't exactly brimming with mounting points, is it?

Edit:

Originally Posted by ElectroBlaster

EDIT: There is a possibility I have one of these panasonic/matsushita drives floating about in my storage. its faulty but intact.

It would be a great help if you could find that!

[emuola]

I'm sorry Prowler, but I have not had the time to "build" the mounting plate yet. I spent a weekend in an amusement park with wife and kids, so no time for "craftsmanship"

The thing about the rails sounds reasonable, because there are practically no mounting holes in the drive. It can very well be that the rails have been removed for some obscure reason. I'm very anxious to hear about the rails of course

That floppy drive isn't exactly brimming with mounting points, is it?

I'd say a definite no for that

We'll see who gets first: Me with the plate or ElectroBlaster with some additional infoirmation