Installing in standard 3.5 inch floppy drive bay for PC

[Frank Hileman]

Hello,

The RM1x is compatible with standard PC floppy drives. We can be sure of this, because other people have replaced their drives, and because the floppies written by an RM1x can be read in a PC floppy drive, and vice versa.

I believe the HxC emulator is the best on the market, with the best support. We can see they have good support based on the existence and content of this forum. It is constantly getting better. We are communicating directly with the creators here.

For the RM1x (and similar hardware) the one disadvantage is the form factor. We need a small display on the front plate of the emulator hardware, and buttons there, to produce a form factor identical to a floppy drive. When that is available, this emulator will take off in popularity, I predict.

SD cards are probably better than usb drives for this purpose.

Regards,
Frank

[randomusername]

Hello, Frank Hileman!

This sounds like good news



Now, if the HxC FDE Developers would be able to bring it into a similar form like the third party product below, it would be worth every cent!

http://www.ipcas.com/download/brochures ... dd-udd.pdf

i don't know how hard it would be to accomplish,
but i guess a similar display like the one which is built into current HcX emulators might be able to be adapted to the front of a floppy case.
it seems to me like all that is necessary is

- an empty floppy case
or even just a bent piece of metal of the dimensions of a 3,5'' floppy drive, similar to the "skid" adapter in the image below

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/case/z_k_fddinbracket.jpg

- a customized fascia panel with a display showing the numbers 00-99

- two buttons (up, down) to navigate

- SD slot

- two LEDs (power, working)



i would be very pleased to spend my money here,
rather than at "the big companies".




concerning the reasons to replace the floppy drive of the RM1x:

- floppy disks are very fragile
- floppy disks cause read/write errors
- floppy disks take long to read/write data
- floppy disks have a low capacity
- customized user data on many floppy disks is confusing and the chance of losing or damaging a disk is high



now, while SD cards can cause data corruption on mobile devices due to read/write errors, i think i have to agree, it possibly is the best solution.

[Jeff]

Hello, Frank Hileman!

This sounds like good news



Now, if the HxC FDE Developers would be able to bring it into a similar form like the third party product below, it would be worth every cent!

This will increase the final price. The final price will be around 120-150 euros...
Are you ready to pay this price?

[Frank Hileman]

Personally I would prefer a real display, just like the present one, just much smaller so it would fit on the face. Perhaps that is impossible. A couple digits would be ok.

I wonder if a "face" could be purchased separately and added to the standard hxc.

The price you quote Jeff is good for me.

[Jeff]

Personally I would prefer a real display, just like the present one, just much smaller so it would fit on the face. Perhaps that is impossible. A couple digits would be ok.

I wonder if a "face" could be purchased separately and added to the standard hxc.

The price you quote Jeff is good for me.

i will design a front panel soon. It should fit a 5"1/4 bay.
For the 3"1/2 the LCD must be smaller.

[Frank Hileman]

For the RM1x specifically, only the 3.5 inch form factor will fit. I suppose you can see that in the image.

[randomusername]

This will increase the final price.
The final price will be around 120-150 euros...
Are you ready to pay this price?

Certainly, I would imagine a price of about 130 € to be fair.


Even better news, Jeff!

[gizmomelb]

if there's a cheaper option for one mounted in a 3 1/2" 'box' that doesn't have a front LCD then I'm sure there'd be a big market for that among the Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad, PC crowd.

Finally get them built cheaply in Asia so the price drops to about 30-40 Euros and you'll sell a truckload of them. I've noticed the USB flash IBM only format floppy emulators are selling on ebay now for $25 USD inc. postage.

[Jeff]

if there's a cheaper option for one mounted in a 3 1/2" 'box' that doesn't have a front LCD then I'm sure there'd be a big market for that among the Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad, PC crowd.

Finally get them built cheaply in Asia so the price drops to about 30-40 Euros and you'll sell a truckload of them. I've noticed the USB flash IBM only format floppy emulators are selling on ebay now for $25 USD inc. postage.

Don't dream too much... The chinese floppy emulator have a low price because they use only their own ASIC (no American mcu ).
And this device is very limited (only one format supported: PC 1.44MB, no fat support, and one floppy image per USB key...)

For the Atari ST Amiga, CPC market the term "big market" is clearly a dream, not a reality (what is a big market for you ?).
In the reallity most Atari and Amiga fans use PC emulators... And there are very few CPC fans...

Another question : Why going to Asia ? Where is my interest ?
Actually Lotharek is doing a great support. I don't think i can found this in asia, especially at this price...

I am not a fan of "the lowest price at any price" policy.
And to be honest if i go to Asia, the first reason will be to increase the margin, not reduce the price.

Actually I consider the HxC Floppy Emulator as cheap enough compared with competitors floppy emulator (250-300 euros)...

[randomusername]

I am not a fan of "the lowest price at any price" policy.
And to be honest if i go to Asia, the first reason will be to increase the margin, not reduce the price.

Actually I consider the HxC Floppy Emulator as cheap enough compared with competitors floppy emulator (250-300 euros)...

Exactly. The working conditions of chinese labourers are quite dreadful
and that is where the margin is generated from (at the end of the day).

As I said, i would prefer a reliable HxC FDE over FDEs produced by
"the big companies" and especially over "chinese slave labour" any time.

Another factor that plays into buying it here,
is to try to support small developers.

[randomusername]

For the RM1x specifically, only the 3.5 inch form factor will fit.

That is the case.

[bluemoonnimbus]

Can anyone confirm that it WORKS with Yamaha RM1X?

[Jeff]

Can anyone confirm that it WORKS with Yamaha RM1X?

Yes since the HxC floppy emulator works in all device using PC or Shugart floppy interface.

[Frank Hileman]

My RM1X needs work on the buttons, that I wish to have done at the same time I open it up again. Since I have not had time for that, I have not installed a floppy emulator yet. However, the RM1X uses a standard PC floppy drive, of recent (1999) origin, so I am almost certain it will work.

[bluemoonnimbus]

Jeff, Frank Hileman,

Thanks guys, you've made me make my buying decision. I'll come back here when I get the emulator and install it and report how it works. Cheers!