Got drive - uncertain about cable

HxC Floppy Emulator on IBM PC and compatible support
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Mikorians
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

I got the slim ZIF with the 26 conductor FFC socket on it.
I looked closely at the socket on your board.
You have pin 1 marked at the opposite side from my cable.
The floppy drive I'm replacing is the Citizen W1D which has pin 1 matching
My ribbon strip laptop connector.

If it's all correct, then it would be unfortunate that
Your FFC/ZIF isn't 2-sided, because---
It looks backwards!!!

It's for my Compaq Armada 7800.

Jeff
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Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Jeff »

Do you have the pinout of the old drive ?

Mikorians
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Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

It is near identical to yours.
But the conductors are on the bottom.

Here's the only OFFICIAL data I could find for the Citizen W1D:
1 VDD 14 /STEP
2 /INDEX 15 GND
3 VDD 16 /WRDATA
4 DR0 17 GND
5 VDD 18 /WGATE
6 DISKCH 19 GND
7 N/C 20 /TRK0
8 N/C 21 GND
9 N/C 22 /WP
10 MTR0 23 GND
11 N/C 24 /RDDATA
12 DIR 25 GND
13 N/C 26 /HDSEL
Last edited by Mikorians on Fri Sep 18, 2015 11:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Jeff
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Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Jeff »

Mikorians wrote:It is near identical to yours.
But the conductors are on the bottom.

Here's the only OFFICIAL data I could find:
1 VDD 14 /STEP
2 /INDEX 15 GND
3 VDD 16 /WRDATA
4 DR0 17 GND
5 VDD 18 /WGATE
6 DISKCH 19 GND
7 N/C 20 /TRK0
8 N/C 21 GND
9 N/C 22 /WP
10 MTR0 23 GND
11 N/C 24 /RDDATA
12 DIR 25 GND
13 N/C 26 /HDSEL
The pinout is matching :
https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_driv ... al_ENG.pdf

Connect the drive and just check that the system ground is well connected with the emulator ground with a ohmmeter before switch on the machine. Do the same thing with the +5V power line as double check.

Mikorians
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

I cannot connect the drive because the conductors are on the bottom of the socket on the old drive.
On your drive, the conductors are on the top. I would have to flip the cable upside down to plug it into your drive, and this would reverse the pins.

I tried to flip over the plastic locking clip on your plug, but it
just won't lock down the strip in that position, and I don't want to break it.
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Mikorians
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

For testing, I have a computer with a functional floppy.
I have carefully soldered on the optional 34 pin connector dip header.
When hooked to my PC with only drive select dip switch 2 on,
It responds to the computer, but gives only drive not ready.
I formatted 2GB SD card on XP to FAT32
I wrote a config file with indexed mode on
I created an hfe image of DOS 1.44MB disk with hxc software, and dragged a text file on it.
Image called DISKA0000.HFE
I pressed the next button.
Still said drive not ready.
Is the connector not good and just for strip connector only?
I wanted to use it for both types of cables, desktop and laptop.
LAPTOP is primary importance.
Purpose: Emergency boot floppies.
I patiently await your response.
With your help, we made the other unit purchased from you
work on antique IBM PC- Thanks!

Mikorians
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

Is there a part that can help me on Mouser.com
Under FFC connectors?????
I'm not good at connector specifications.

Mikorians
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

COMPAQ ARMADA 7800 PROPRIETARY FLOPPY CABLE ADAPTER
SO. FINALLY. Got it to work. Here's what it took:
(Incidentally, sometimes the dark brown Compaq plastic strip has pin 1 marked with a *)
3 parts from Mouser:
Right angle through-hole 26P 1mm spacing ZIF socket
(Solder tail, not SMT, 1mm pin spacing - needs custom 1mm protoboard)
649-SLW26R-1C7LV (Qty.2)
FPC jumper cable 26P 1mm spacing, bottom conductors both ends
710-68662600001 (Qty.1)
Cost: about $6

Set jumper 1 and 3 on as per instructions.
Downloaded sample PC HD floppy image zip file.
Now it runs!

QUESTION: So it formatted and booted from the image file.
But during formatting at about 61%, there were a couple of ERROR TRACKS.
How can that happen with an IMAGE file?
Doesn't matter much, but curious.

Jeff
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Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Jeff »

This is probably related to the write speed of the sdcard.
Try to get a faster one (if needed).

Mikorians
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Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

Thanks for the tip!
At least I'm free of the cheap old mechanical drive. I've replaced it twice and the motors are too weak on them! It's now BOOTABLE.

Mikorians
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Got drive - uncertain about cable

Post by Mikorians »

For everyone's information:
My new Sandisk Ultra 4GB is fast enough that
There were no more corrupt images and everything
Is now working real great!

Thanks again for the tip!
Joe

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