Modifying PC floppy drives for Amiga use

[Retroplay]

Originally Posted by duga

Turn the cable connector 180 degrees at the floppy drive and see if that helps.

Already tried that, floppy led is always lit and drive doesn't work at all

Originally Posted by robinsonb5

What happens if you try and format a blank disk in this drive?

It just gets stuck at "Initializing disk".

[edit]
Drive two works, it must have been a fluke World of Commodore crashed.
Arte by Sanity boots and works 100%.

[edit]
Thanks to the superb support at AmigaKit the drive is up and running Arte! as I type this.

The head was just stuck, nothing more.
[ Show youtube player ]

[luncheon]

I replaced a broken Epson SMD300 with a modded Alps DF354H, rev.121G.

I followed these instructions:

A: Change DS1 to DS0 jumper pad.
B: Cut trace from pin 2 of connector.
C: Cut trace from pin 34 of connector.
D: Solder a wire from pin 34 of the connector to RD pad.
E: Solder a wire from pin 2 of the socket to pin 5 of the chip.
F: Solder a wire from HD2 to ground.

Works fine, but I cannot use my external A1011 drive as DF1: when this one is DF0:... It shows all disks as BAD. Maybe that's because I skipped step F (disable HD detect)? Who knows...

Anyway, I then cut the top of the drive case with my Dremel so it would fit, and removed the eject button from the Epson, and adapted it to the Alps drive; so it really looks 100% stock!

Originally Posted by andreas

I'll translate the red text so that everyone of you guys know what these guys did (NOTE: I consider the IC pin 2 connection needed for the D359T6-2 board model VERY difficult, because it's veeeery fiddly: a tad too much solder and your IC will be short-circuited, aka gone!! Personally, I'd rather get myself a -1 model to circumvent this step!)

German text says:
(for ALL boards)
- Cut both DS0 and DS1.
- Join DS0 to DS1 track.
- Connect DCH to Pin2

(for MITSUMI D359T6-1 board ONLY)

- "Move" RDY/DCH resistor.


(for MITSUMI D359T6-2 board ONLY)

- Connect RDY to pin 2 of integrated circuit (NCL036)

hi,
regarding Mitsumi D359t6 type 2.
im looking at this old post from 2010, and still can't get this drive to work.
cut trace to pin 34 and pin 12 of floppy connector.
pin 34 goes to ic's pin 2.
pin 10 goes to ic's pin 15
pin 2 to pin 3 of ic? (thats what photo shows???).
have you modified this sucessfully?

[lesta_smsc]

Originally Posted by luncheon

I replaced a broken Epson SMD300 with a modded Alps DF354H, rev.121G.

I followed these instructions:

A: Change DS1 to DS0 jumper pad.
B: Cut trace from pin 2 of connector.
C: Cut trace from pin 34 of connector.
D: Solder a wire from pin 34 of the connector to RD pad.
E: Solder a wire from pin 2 of the socket to pin 5 of the chip.
F: Solder a wire from HD2 to ground.

Works fine, but I cannot use my external A1011 drive as DF1: when this one is DF0:... It shows all disks as BAD. Maybe that's because I skipped step F (disable HD detect)? Who knows...

Anyway, I then cut the top of the drive case with my Dremel so it would fit, and removed the eject button from the Epson, and adapted it to the Alps drive; so it really looks 100% stock!

Blimey! Some bloody good soldering there! Well done!

[dJOS]

Has anyone tried modding the AmigaTech a1200 supplied Panasonic JU257a605p to be a proper Amiga FDD?

I believe there is a jumper wire on the bottom of the a1200 mobo that needs to be removed once a proper amiga drive is installed but I havent had a chance to take the ju257 apart to see if it looks anything like the ju256 i've already modded.

PS, found these instructions on AmiNet but wondering if they are 100% accurate for an AmigaTech supplied ju257?

http://aminet.net/package/docs/hard/ju257

EDIT: Just found this info

http://www.softpres.org/article:hard...u-257a605p_fdd

and the mobo mod:

http://www.softpres.org/article:hard..._fdd_connector

[Vot]

Hi Guys I managed to locate some old Panasonic and Sony drives:

2 x Panasonic JU-256A048PC (PCB Scan - See Attached "Panasonic JU-256a048PC - small.jpg")
1 x Panasonic JU-256A048P (NO PCB Scan)
1 x Panasonic JU-256A888PC (NO PCB Scan)
3 x Sony MPF920??? (PCB Scan - See Attached "Sony MPF920 - small.jpg", but I don't have what 920 model it is)

Are you guys able to give me any advice on if they are modifiable ?

* The JU-256A048PC looks pretty close (simiar looking ic) to a JU-256A198PC photo I have seen that someone modified on the web. (See attached "Forum Panasonic JU-256a88p - small.jpg")
* The JU-256A048P im not sure about this one as I dont have a PCB Scan.
* The JU-256A888PC is hopefully the same as a forum post I saw with a pic of what they call an JU-256a88p (see "Forum Panasonic JU-256a88p - small.jpg") which im hoping was a typo and they missed an 8 and is a JU-256A888PC (triple 8).
* The Sony drives look very similar to a post I saw with this mod (See "Forum - Sony MPF920-z-161 - small.jpg")

I also attached a pic of "Forum - Panasonic JU-256A198PC - small.jpg" from the forums. It may be closer to one of the two I don't have pcb scans of.

Cheers

Vot

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Vot

Hi Guys I managed to locate some old Panasonic and Sony drives:

2 x Panasonic JU-256A048PC (PCB Scan - See Attached "Panasonic JU-256a048PC - small.jpg")
1 x Panasonic JU-256A048P (NO PCB Scan)
1 x Panasonic JU-256A888PC (NO PCB Scan)
3 x Sony MPF920??? (PCB Scan - See Attached "Sony MPF920 - small.jpg", but I don't have what 920 model it is)

Are you guys able to give me any advice on if they are modifiable ?

* The JU-256A048PC looks pretty close (simiar looking ic) to a JU-256A198PC photo I have seen that someone modified on the web. (See attached "Forum Panasonic JU-256a88p - small.jpg")
* The JU-256A048P im not sure about this one as I dont have a PCB Scan.
* The JU-256A888PC is hopefully the same as a forum post I saw with a pic of what they call an JU-256a88p (see "Forum Panasonic JU-256a88p - small.jpg") which im hoping was a typo and they missed an 8 and is a JU-256A888PC (triple 8).
* The Sony drives look very similar to a post I saw with this mod (See "Forum - Sony MPF920-z-161 - small.jpg")

I also attached a pic of "Forum - Panasonic JU-256A198PC - small.jpg" from the forums. It may be closer to one of the two I don't have pcb scans of.

Cheers

Vot

check this thread for more drives info...

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=43265


There are a lot of revisions of drives using same part number, its best to compare to see if the same chipset is being used to determine compatibility and just trace the connections to see if you can clone it onto yours. ALL PC drives need to be converted from DS1 to DS0 in order for the Amiga to recognise it and then of course the other signals. Not all drives will convert, its the luck of the draw

[Jope]

I would steer clear of these.. At least don't do any writing with them. Those flimsy sheet metal drives are out of alignment in no time.

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by Vot

Hi Guys I managed to locate some old Panasonic and Sony drives:

2 x Panasonic JU-256A048PC (PCB Scan - See Attached "Panasonic JU-256a048PC - small.jpg")
1 x Panasonic JU-256A048P (NO PCB Scan)
1 x Panasonic JU-256A888PC (NO PCB Scan)
3 x Sony MPF920??? (PCB Scan - See Attached "Sony MPF920 - small.jpg", but I don't have what 920 model it is)

Are you guys able to give me any advice on if they are modifiable ?

* The JU-256A048PC looks pretty close (simiar looking ic) to a JU-256A198PC photo I have seen that someone modified on the web. (See attached "Forum Panasonic JU-256a88p - small.jpg")
* The JU-256A048P im not sure about this one as I dont have a PCB Scan.
* The JU-256A888PC is hopefully the same as a forum post I saw with a pic of what they call an JU-256a88p (see "Forum Panasonic JU-256a88p - small.jpg") which im hoping was a typo and they missed an 8 and is a JU-256A888PC (triple 8).
* The Sony drives look very similar to a post I saw with this mod (See "Forum - Sony MPF920-z-161 - small.jpg")

I also attached a pic of "Forum - Panasonic JU-256A198PC - small.jpg" from the forums. It may be closer to one of the two I don't have pcb scans of.

Cheers

Vot

Looks like I did make a typo, the panny is a 888 not a 88 as I may have written - I makes a great Amiga drive too, quiet and reliable.

[Vot]

ju-256a108p
ju-256a178p

I can confirm these two models can be modified to work. Tested with sanity artae.

I will edit this post in a few days to show pics of the mod for both.

[Vot]

Originally Posted by dJOS

Looks like I did make a typo, the panny is a 888 not a 88 as I may have written - I makes a great Amiga drive too, quiet and reliable.

Have you verified this drive with the sanity artae demo?.

The pic I got I think from your post when you modded it shows you bridging pin 34 to 32. On all other mods pin 34 is bridged with pin 30.

Just checking as I may be able to get my hands on the 888...

[Vot]

Hi guys despite previous posts it looks like you can get the 257A607P working (Well Rev F atleast).

If someone can post a good pic of this models pcb I will annonate it with how to mod the drive. unfortunately I had to do a bit of investigative work to get this going and cut a pcb trace in the wrong place.. ended up having to solder directly onto the QFP to access the pin. Trust me you don't want to have to do that at home. If you just cut the traces differently its fine.. no harder to mod than any other panny.

I havn't tested it with sanity artae yet because ive misplaced my floppy but it should be fine.. boots other games ok... just have to check the rdy signal with the demo. I will check it tomorrow and update the post.

Tested with sanity Artae. Works like a dream...

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by Vot

Have you verified this drive with the sanity artae demo?.

The pic I got I think from your post when you modded it shows you bridging pin 34 to 32. On all other mods pin 34 is bridged with pin 30.

Just checking as I may be able to get my hands on the 888...

I havent yet but I'll try that this weekend - there's no reason it shouldnt work.

re the bridging of those pins, I'll need to double check why I did that - it might have actually been a mistake that I never caught because it worked.

Originally Posted by paulo_becas

I've modified a few Nec drives (all the same model) actually My A500 is equipped with one that i modded.
Here's the pictures.




It's a bit tricky, you have to be really steady when soldering to the main chip.
I've modded a few different brands and this is one of the drives that works very well one of the best and very common and easy to find.

Hope this helps

Does anyone know if this mod or a slight variation on it can change my NEC FD1231T into a mode-3 floppy drive?

I urgently need to get my hands on a mode-3 compatible drive and the fastest way would be to just modify what I have at hand.

Yesterday I modded Samsung SFD-321B (REV WT-02). It wasn't used for years and I thought I could give it a shot. I sucked DS1 blob and created some blob of solder for DS0. Then I desoldered jumper from DC and soldered it to RDY. I accidentaly lifted the DC pad in the process but then I glued it and checked for continuity with the integrated circuit. Then i soldered the wire from DC pad to the pad that goes to pin 2. Here goes the strange part... I connected the drive to my Amiga 600 and succesfully loaded Enigma by Phenomena (lovely demo). I was playing the demo for a minute or two, everything was fine. Then I turned off the power supply and at the same moment smoke came out from the floppy. I think I fried the IC (fire symbol on the picture). It smelled very bad. I don't know if I screwed up or am I just unlucky?

[lesta_smsc]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

i found what looks to be new amiga compatible 3.5" floppy drives...

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=111110...acture=Mitsumi


Mitsumi D359M3D 3.5" Floppy

$7.70 Cdn... a great deal.!

i found the pic below that shows how to mod this drive to work in an Amiga... the text is in German...
Can anyone translate the text in the pic for me please...

This is what i can see in the picture (correct me if i am wrong..


http://www.pitsch.de/stuff/amiga/tep...umid359m3d.jpg

- cut the trace on pin 12
- cut the trace on pin 34
- rebuild the trace on pin 10. (It looks like you use the trace that pin 12 was using)
- jumper pin 2 to pin 34 (Board side, not connector side)
- jumper pin 34 (connector) to pin 17 of the IC chip

Does this look right, Am i missing anything..

Thanks.


According to the store stock checker they only have 21,000 left... better hurry
weird... weight shows as 10lbs... i think thats a little wrong


here are the drive specs...
http://www.mitsumi.co.jp/Catalog/pc/fdd/d359m3d_e.html

Did this work? My bro has a brand new of this drive spare. If this works and someone needs the drive I can do the mod and post on for a small fee to cover the item itself and postage (no charge for mod). I've done various console soldering (and track reworks) so not bad with soldering iron lol.

[rkauer]

Finally the Sony MPF920Z-171! Thanks to a local friend (Alexandre "Tabajara").

1- Cut track near pin #34 to insulate it.
2- Follow the picture.

[Grega]

Hi

Using Kippers mod (here http://www.kipper2k.com/amiga/teac.jpg) I successfully modified a Teac FD-235HG drive to work on my Amiga 500 - all good.

Thanks much to all.

[Grega]

right. SFD-321B time. this is a T series
heres the mod accordingly


it kinda works....so power on the amiga....both FDD and power lights come on......drive fires up, reads disk but is VERY slow. sometimes it does read. of note, the FDD light goes out, when the disk is inserted /reading, but, the LED on the front of the drive works fine

[amigoun]

Have you switched from DS1 to DS0? These drives work perfect on amiga.