Having issue getting Agilent E4407B working with HXC slim.

[steve_atx]

I've finally managed to be able to read a directory that lists a file that I copied into the HFE image. I need to use a 1K resistor on R4 and R8 and HXCFESlim_V2_1_6_20a firmware. The HXCFESlim_V2_1_2_40 firmware did not work. But I'm unable to write, the instrument says that the media is write protected. I measured pin 22 and it is low. Any suggestions how to debug further? The drive being replaced is FD-05HF which works fine. Thanks!

[Jeff]

I measured pin 22 and it is low.

This is the issue : it should be high.

What is this signal level if you disconnect the floppy emulator ?

[steve_atx]

I measured that the output of pin 22 was about 30mV without the HXC. With the original floppy drive when using a non-write protected floppy I could see the voltage was around 100mV. So I put a 1K ohm from pin 22 to VDD and I can now write data. Write protect detection on the SD also works.

So the next problem I'm having is when I use the increment feature or even reinsert the SD card while the machine is on, I get "Bad, missing, or unformatted disk." The pinouts look a bit different on my drive than the one on the HXC. I did try to connect pin 9 to VSS (which goes to FLOPPY_DSKCHG# on HXC, but that had no effect. The only way is to power down and power back up the machine and then I can access the SD.

I wonder if pin 6 on the floppy needs to go to pin 9 on the HXC and pin 6 on the HXC go to pin 8 on the floppy......

FLOPPY pin/HXC pin
2 INDEX/FLOPPY_INDEX#
4 DRIVE SELECT/DS0#
6 DISK CHANGE/FLOPPY_READY# (needs 1K to VDD)
8 READY/READY_26P
9 HD OUT (HD at HIGH level)/FLOPPY_DSKCHG#
10 MOTOR ON/MTRON#
12 DIRECTION SELECT/FLOPPY_DIR#
16 WRITE DATA/FLOPPY_WDATA#
18 WRITE GATE/FLOPPY_WGATE#
20 TRACK 00/FLOPPY_TRK00#
22 WRITE PROTECT/FLOPPY_WPT# (needs 1K to VDD)
24 READ DATA/FLOPPY_DATA# (needs 1K to VDD)
26 SIDE ONE SELECT/FLOPPY_SIDE#

[Jeff]

This disk change issue is probably related to the floppy interface setting.
What was the floppy disk drive model present into this spectrum analyzer ?

[steve_atx]

The floppy drive is Teac FD-05HF. I tried many different combinations of CFG and HFE files and the only ones I could get to work are in the attached archive. I think I downloaded ones from the forum that were from one of the tektronix TDS oscilloscopes. It's strange I couldn't figure out how to make them on my own. That was one of the questions I was going to ask next. Thanks for all of the help so far, I wouldn't have gotten even this far without the forum and support.

Archive.zip

(58.47 KiB) Downloaded 9 times

[Jeff]

The floppy drive is Teac FD-05HF. I tried many different combinations of CFG and HFE files and the only ones I could get to work are in the attached archive. I think I downloaded ones from the forum that were from one of the tektronix TDS oscilloscopes. It's strange I couldn't figure out how to make them on my own. That was one of the questions I was going to ask next. Thanks for all of the help so far, I wouldn't have gotten even this far without the forum and support.
Archive.zip

I am not sure to understand : Are the Archive.zip files working properly with your Agilent E4407B ? Is there an issue ?

[steve_atx]

I can read and write a singe hfe file with that archive but the disk change and swapping SD card does not work. I need to power off and on the spectrum analyzer to access the first hfe file. Also I can’t figure out how recreate this hfe and cfg file on my own using the software. All the combinations I have tried that don’t have the auto cfg from hfe set do not work for me.

[Jeff]

I wonder if pin 6 on the floppy needs to go to pin 9 on the HXC and pin 6 on the HXC go to pin 8 on the floppy......

FLOPPY pin/HXC pin
2 INDEX/FLOPPY_INDEX#
4 DRIVE SELECT/DS0#
6 DISK CHANGE/FLOPPY_READY# (needs 1K to VDD)
8 READY/READY_26P
9 HD OUT (HD at HIGH level)/FLOPPY_DSKCHG#
10 MOTOR ON/MTRON#
12 DIRECTION SELECT/FLOPPY_DIR#
16 WRITE DATA/FLOPPY_WDATA#
18 WRITE GATE/FLOPPY_WGATE#
20 TRACK 00/FLOPPY_TRK00#
22 WRITE PROTECT/FLOPPY_WPT# (needs 1K to VDD)
24 READ DATA/FLOPPY_DATA# (needs 1K to VDD)
26 SIDE ONE SELECT/FLOPPY_SIDE#

the pin 6 "DISK CHANGE" match with the pin 34 ibm pc pin.

this is connected this way in the slim hxc :

https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_dri ... Design.zip

Screenshot at 2025-05-09 11-56-30.png (125.26 KiB) Viewed 142 times

You should have this behavior on this pin :

https://bitsavers.org/pdf/teac/FD-05HF-8830.pdf

Screenshot at 2025-05-09 11-53-30.png (33.33 KiB) Viewed 143 times

Note : When the drive selection is high the diskchange signal should be high too !
Note 2 : Low = something near 0v, High = Something around 5V.

Is it the case with your setup ?