Amstrad / ZX Spectrum +3 Floppy Drive Hack.

[zzarko]

But it seems in this post none of the modifications applied in the link you give are made, just some buttons added. No cut traces, no resistor swapping, nothing.

Well, then just don't do additional steps. I have several Sony drives already converted for Amiga use, and I just used one of those. You can probably use non-converted one without problems (maybe try conversion steps later if it doesn't work).

[Bryce]

Will ANY HD PC drive work on a CPC 6128 using this method? I read you needed a DD Drive, not HD. But there's a lot of Sony-MPF920 on eBay I can nab if this works with HD drives.

I also have two spare Amiga floppy drives, but I assume these won't work. Am I right?

Im planning to connect it internally, I suppose same method works. Also that I can remove the internal 3" drive without problems using this method.
Wasn't the +12V header backwards inside, therefore I have to invert it?

What about tehse floppy emulators? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5-1-44MB...-/231004353057

Any PC Floppy drive will work, but some ar easier to modify (Ready signal etc) than others. The MPF920 is one of the more difficult ones to modify.

Regarding internal installation: Yes, the power connector on the CPC has 5V and 12V swapped, you'll need to swap these or you'll fry the drive. The CPC also uses a 26way header for the 3in drive, so you'll need to make one of these adapters too: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/DIY:...F_HxC_emulator

Bryce.

[Akira]

Any PC Floppy drive will work, but some ar easier to modify (Ready signal etc) than others. The MPF920 is one of the more difficult ones to modify.

Thanks for your info Bryce!
What about a drive taken out of an Amiga?
I have one I took from an external drive and although a bit noisy it works fine.
Would it work straight away with no modifications?

[protek]

Amiga drives have the DC/RY signals and id set the same way as they are in Amiga so it should work as A: drive straight up.

[Akira]

OK I need some floppies now to test this.
But then I'll have to figure out how to transfer a disk to the Amstrad.
The plot thickens :P

[roy_bates]

you can write the disks on a pc,i think the software is called cpcdiskxp or something similar.
i also think you will also need another piece of software to use this,cant remember what at the mo though.

[Akira]

you can write the disks on a pc,i think the software is called cpcdiskxp or something similar.
i also think you will also need another piece of software to use this,cant remember what at the mo though.

A piece of software on the Amstrad you mean?
CPCdiskXP looks exactly as what I want. I have a USB floppy drive. Thanks!

[roy_bates]

you can write the disks on a pc,i think the software is called cpcdiskxp or something similar.
i also think you will also need another piece of software to use this,cant remember what at the mo though.

A piece of software on the Amstrad you mean?
CPCdiskXP looks exactly as what I want. I have a USB floppy drive. Thanks!

no mate,another piece of software for the pc to control the drive i think.
it will more than likely be discribed in the docs or on the site you download the software from.
i think it was www.cpcmania.com

[Akira]

Yeah I see that now, a low level floppy driver.
It comes with it ) Thanks!

[edit] FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[roy_bates]

Yeah I see that now, a low level floppy driver.
It comes with it ) Thanks!

no probs mate.

[protek]

Yeah I see that now, a low level floppy driver.
It comes with it ) Thanks!

[edit] FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I use an old and dirt cheap laptop that can run XP for writing floppies with CPCDiskXP.

[Akira]

Yeah I know what you mean but it goes well beyond the money I want to spend on this machine.
I have a Toshiba Libretto but I don't have its floppy drive :/

[protek]

Yeah I know what you mean but it goes well beyond the money I want to spend on this machine.
I have a Toshiba Libretto but I don't have its floppy drive :/

Oh laptops can be cheaper than you think. As we cannot discuss prices here I just say that it would've been more expensive to buy a pint of good import lager than what I paid for my Compaq Armada.

[Akira]

Yeah I know what you mean but it goes well beyond the money I want to spend on this machine.
I have a Toshiba Libretto but I don't have its floppy drive :/

Oh laptops can be cheaper than you think. As we cannot discuss prices here I just say that it would've been more expensive to buy a pint of good import lager than what I paid for my Compaq Armada.

I thought you couldn't discuss prices on sale threads. This is a rather silly "rule".

Anyway, I have enough junk as it is, I'm very mindful of space at home and I don't want another laptop PC just to transfer disks to a CPC once and never use it again. I Already have the Libretto quite forgotten :/ But it's so small I tuck it away in a drawer and it doesn't bother me.

[Bryce]

Download a DSK image, load it into ManageDSK (you'll find this online too) and write it to a 3.5in disk on your PC (won't work with USB connected floppy drives).

Bryce.