Modifying PC floppy drives for Amiga use - Page 5

MickGyver · 21 May 2009, 12:52

Hi! Is it possible to use a modified PC floppy drive and use it in a external floppy drive case? I have a broken external drive, when I try to connect my modified Panasonic to the external drive case it doesn't work, the led is constantly lit. Will it work if I move the ds1/ds0 jumper back to ds1? Is there something else I'm missing? The modified drive work well as an internal drive.

Fingerlickin_B · 21 May 2009, 13:27

Hmm, I've got an external one that works great with a modified PC drive set to DS0...are you sure it's not something else inside the unit that is broken?

Maybe try the drive you took out of it & connect as internal as a test?

PZ.

MickGyver · 21 May 2009, 13:40

I know the unit is otherwise working, the problem is with the mechanics of the drive itself, AND I also had this same problem when the external drive was working, I tried already then (for fun) to connect a modified panasonic but it did not work. Could it be that some external drive cases need the drive set to ds1 and some to ds0?

Fingerlickin_B · 21 May 2009, 13:44

Maybe, it would make sense that not all manufacturers would do it exactly the same way.

PZ.

MickGyver · 21 May 2009, 14:18

Well this was just too stupid!

The floppy connector on the original citizen drive was upside down compared to a "normal" drive, so I had to twist the cable upside down. Now the new drive works well with ds set to 0. Thanks Fingerlickin for you help!

Fingerlickin_B · 21 May 2009, 14:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by witchmaster

the led is constantly lit.

I should have twigged as soon as I read that...oops!

PZ.

cosmicfrog · 21 May 2009, 17:33

yep sure sign floppy lead is connected upside down the led is constantly lit

Photon · 03 July 2009, 19:16

Not modding a PC drive, but removed an A600 internal drive completely and looking for advice on how to patch it to get rid of the 4-second wait. (See separate thread here)

25 July 2009, 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

For those drives who doesn't have a disk change signal available, the most simple trick is JOIN the pin 30 with the 34!
Works like a charm with ANY floppy unit I tested so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

Oh, BTW: this is not my original idea/hack.
Thanks to Hernan (aka Elpiloto), from Argentina to this easy and reliable hack!

It's not working with more than 1 drive (because you shunt /RDY signal made by "normal amiga" drive).
It's dangerous for floppy chips life !

There's no way to have reliable drive without /ready signal without electronics modifications.

protek · 21 January 2010, 09:34

I wonder, if this site would need some updating?
http://freewebs.com/computolio/amiga...atibility.html

rkauer · 21 January 2010, 22:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Get27

It's not working with more than 1 drive (because you shunt /RDY signal made by "normal amiga" drive).
It's dangerous for floppy chips life !

There's no way to have reliable drive without /ready signal without electronics modifications.

I made Ernan's hack about 3 years ago on 5 floppy units. They all still going stronger.

paulo_becas · 02 February 2010, 17:28

I´ve just modified two Panasonics and they work great, thank´s a lot.
I also modified a samsung floppy drive with the same result, the best thing about this drive is that i can still buy it from any local computer store

xc8 · 06 February 2010, 18:33

Hi,

I am trying to modify a Panasonic JU-257A606P(F9536) , the board is different that the one of the 1st post. but as I see there are the RDY/DC pads and DS1 / DS0.

I wanted to use this as external (the old external kicked the bucket) so I left the DS switch (pad) as it was,

I removed the DC jumper on the PCB, and connected the DC with the pin 2 and
RDY with the pin 34 of the interface.

I still cannot use this drive, there is a DF1??? on the desktop so I suppose I need to modify something else too on the PCB, but I have no idea what....

As I see there is a MO/MS (motor on/off) PCB switch, as I see is off (MS)..
should I put this to MO ?

Regards

Chris

paulo_becas · 07 February 2010, 18:08

Here´s a list of drives i´ve modified so far.

Samsung SFD-321B Rev T1; Rev T3 and Rev A
Alps Electric DF354H090F
Mitsumi Newtronics D359T6
NEC FD1231T
Sony MPF920 Z/131
Panasonic JU-257A606P

The Samsung drives are pretty easy to modify, the others aren´t hard but Alps Elctric and NEC need you to be very steady to solder them.

I´ll post some images soon for your info.

I tried to modify diferent drives just to see where i could go.
Bottom line, if you find the right place to modify in each PCB their all pretty much the same.

They are all as DF0

rkauer · 09 February 2010, 05:25

Where did you found DS0/DS1 on Mitsumi Newtronics D359T6? I'm

searching for it.

Albeit it is a shame that a HD-ready floppy unit will go just 880kb.

Supamax · 09 February 2010, 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

Albeit it is a shame that a HD-ready floppy unit will go just 880kb.

A HD-ready floppy? I suppose you made some confusion with HD-ready displays (LCD/Plasma)?

rkauer · 10 February 2010, 00:53

Same wording, different meanings. Not "High Definition", but High Density.

Stedy · 10 February 2010, 21:17

@xc8

To make a disk drive work as Df1-DF3 requires additional circuitry on the A500/A600/A1200. You need to latch the MTRx signal together with the SEL1/SEL2 or SEL3 signal.
All these signals are only available from the 23 way d-type connector.

Basically you use a 74LS74 d-type flip flop, connect MTRX to the Data input and the SEL1/SEL2 or SEL3 input to the Clock input. The Q output the becomes the MotorON signal for the FDD. From MotorOn and SEL you can then create the inverted Ready signal to send back to the Amiga.

The following diagram comes from the PCFloppy-2-Amiga archive from Aminet.

If you do not use this circuit, you will get the DF1:???? icon on the desktop as the drive is not being correctly selected.

Ian

xc8 · 10 February 2010, 21:29

Thank you Ian,

I want to replace the drive of an external drive (from power computing)
There is already an IC inside (GAL16v8) with some components.
So I suppose these components have nothing to do with your diagram?

thanx

Chris

Stedy · 11 February 2010, 00:15

@xc8.

Undo the DS1/DS0 and DC/RDY changes you did earlier and plug the drive in unmodified. The 16V8 GAL and PCB most likely adapt the PC drive for the Amiga.

When my Amitek external drive broke many years back, I plugged in a new FDD with absolutely no modifications and it worked, because the GAL and PCB took care of the differences between PC and Amiga drives.

You will not need the circuit I showed earlier.

Ian

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21 May 2009, 12:52	#81
MickGyver Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Finland Posts: 643	Hi! Is it possible to use a modified PC floppy drive and use it in a external floppy drive case? I have a broken external drive, when I try to connect my modified Panasonic to the external drive case it doesn't work, the led is constantly lit. Will it work if I move the ds1/ds0 jumper back to ds1? Is there something else I'm missing? The modified drive work well as an internal drive.

21 May 2009, 13:27	#82
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Hmm, I've got an external one that works great with a modified PC drive set to DS0...are you sure it's not something else inside the unit that is broken? Maybe try the drive you took out of it & connect as internal as a test? PZ.

21 May 2009, 13:40	#83
MickGyver Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Finland Posts: 643	I know the unit is otherwise working, the problem is with the mechanics of the drive itself, AND I also had this same problem when the external drive was working, I tried already then (for fun) to connect a modified panasonic but it did not work. Could it be that some external drive cases need the drive set to ds1 and some to ds0?

21 May 2009, 13:44	#84
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Maybe, it would make sense that not all manufacturers would do it exactly the same way. PZ.

21 May 2009, 14:18	#85
MickGyver Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Finland Posts: 643	Well this was just too stupid! The floppy connector on the original citizen drive was upside down compared to a "normal" drive, so I had to twist the cable upside down. Now the new drive works well with ds set to 0. Thanks Fingerlickin for you help!

21 May 2009, 17:33	#87
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	yep sure sign floppy lead is connected upside down the led is constantly lit

03 July 2009, 19:16	#88
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,602	Not modding a PC drive, but removed an A600 internal drive completely and looking for advice on how to patch it to get rid of the 4-second wait. (See separate thread here)

21 January 2010, 09:34	#90
protek Amiga hobbyist Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Oulu, Finland Posts: 250	I wonder, if this site would need some updating? http://freewebs.com/computolio/amiga...atibility.html

02 February 2010, 17:28	#92
paulo_becas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Porto, Portugal Posts: 464	I´ve just modified two Panasonics and they work great, thank´s a lot. I also modified a samsung floppy drive with the same result, the best thing about this drive is that i can still buy it from any local computer store

06 February 2010, 18:33	#93
xc8 no c= no fun Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 312	Hi, I am trying to modify a Panasonic JU-257A606P(F9536) , the board is different that the one of the 1st post. but as I see there are the RDY/DC pads and DS1 / DS0. I wanted to use this as external (the old external kicked the bucket) so I left the DS switch (pad) as it was, I removed the DC jumper on the PCB, and connected the DC with the pin 2 and RDY with the pin 34 of the interface. I still cannot use this drive, there is a DF1??? on the desktop so I suppose I need to modify something else too on the PCB, but I have no idea what.... As I see there is a MO/MS (motor on/off) PCB switch, as I see is off (MS).. should I put this to MO ? Regards Chris

07 February 2010, 18:08	#94
paulo_becas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Porto, Portugal Posts: 464	Here´s a list of drives i´ve modified so far. Samsung SFD-321B Rev T1; Rev T3 and Rev A Alps Electric DF354H090F Mitsumi Newtronics D359T6 NEC FD1231T Sony MPF920 Z/131 Panasonic JU-257A606P The Samsung drives are pretty easy to modify, the others aren´t hard but Alps Elctric and NEC need you to be very steady to solder them. I´ll post some images soon for your info. I tried to modify diferent drives just to see where i could go. Bottom line, if you find the right place to modify in each PCB their all pretty much the same. They are all as DF0

09 February 2010, 05:25	#95
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Where did you found DS0/DS1 on Mitsumi Newtronics D359T6? I'm searching for it. Albeit it is a shame that a HD-ready floppy unit will go just 880kb.

10 February 2010, 00:53	#97
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Same wording, different meanings. Not "High Definition", but High Density.

10 February 2010, 21:17	#98
Stedy Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: United Kingdom Age: 46 Posts: 733	@xc8 To make a disk drive work as Df1-DF3 requires additional circuitry on the A500/A600/A1200. You need to latch the MTRx signal together with the SEL1/SEL2 or SEL3 signal. All these signals are only available from the 23 way d-type connector. Basically you use a 74LS74 d-type flip flop, connect MTRX to the Data input and the SEL1/SEL2 or SEL3 input to the Clock input. The Q output the becomes the MotorON signal for the FDD. From MotorOn and SEL you can then create the inverted Ready signal to send back to the Amiga. The following diagram comes from the PCFloppy-2-Amiga archive from Aminet. If you do not use this circuit, you will get the DF1:???? icon on the desktop as the drive is not being correctly selected. Ian

10 February 2010, 21:29	#99
xc8 no c= no fun Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 312	Thank you Ian, I want to replace the drive of an external drive (from power computing) There is already an IC inside (GAL16v8) with some components. So I suppose these components have nothing to do with your diagram? thanx Chris

11 February 2010, 00:15	#100
Stedy Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: United Kingdom Age: 46 Posts: 733	@xc8. Undo the DS1/DS0 and DC/RDY changes you did earlier and plug the drive in unmodified. The 16V8 GAL and PCB most likely adapt the PC drive for the Amiga. When my Amitek external drive broke many years back, I plugged in a new FDD with absolutely no modifications and it worked, because the GAL and PCB took care of the differences between PC and Amiga drives. You will not need the circuit I showed earlier. Ian

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