Amstrad / ZX Spectrum +3 Floppy Drive Hack.

:sigh:

What do I need for a 2+ non-a? Beside this hack, of course.
 
The +2A is just a +3 with a tape drive instead of the floppy disk drive. It's got +3DOS in the ROM and all the requisite hardware to plug an external disk drive on to it.

I don't believe the normal +2 has any of these things, so I'm not even sure you can attach a floppy drive to it. :(
 
@rkauer

The grey +2a is more of a legacy hardware solution, some would say based on the Sinclair 128K.

The black +2a is a different hardware platform based on an ASIC and it is very similar to the +3a, as Andy pointed out the PCB's between the two are very similar, so adding the floppy is no biggie, Zetr0 I think is in the process of doing this with his +2a

My advice is, as you have a grey +2 (as I have too). I wouldn't bother with a floppy, go down the DivIDE route.

You won't regret it.

You can plug a DivIDE into ANY spectrum, from rubber key 48K to +3a
In fact with your grey +2 you will benefit from running 128K enhanced sound software as well as std 48K

TC :cool:
 
@Thread

There exists 2 different Spectrum 128k +2 models

(In Battleship Grey) The classic Spectrum 128 +2 (and most compatible)

ZX-Spectrum-128k%2B2.jpg


(In Chic Black) The Spectrum 128 +2A/B (uses the same +3 mobo)
ZX-Spectrum-128k%2B2a.jpg


Theres no technological difference between 'A' and 'B' revision - the only difference is where they are manufactured, the +A was manufactured in Hong Kong and the +B was manufactured in Taiwan

some more wikilicous info

Unfortuantely the only Spectrum's that can be hacked in this way is the +2A/B and +3 - to add a disk drive to the classic +2 you would need an interface one or perhaps a DivIDE as an alternative.

With my +3, I plan to add a 64MB CF as a hard disk, - its a simple wire up to the Z80 and rom update. - this gives me a few of my favourite games and a developing platform =)
 
Also, the bit which i find a bit unclear is which wire goes to what (the ac adapter and floppy power cable).

From what i understand... the red (5V) goes to the pin striped AC wire (5V)... but what about the rest? No ground?

could someone answer this please? :unsure:
 
I think the drive only needs 5v to work on Low Density mode and the ground goes from the psu to the correspondent ground on the connector of the floppy.
At least thats what i can figure out of the pics... :p (correct me if wrong please).
 
Also, the bit which i find a bit unclear is which wire goes to what (the ac adapter and floppy power cable).

From what i understand... the red (5V) goes to the pin striped AC wire (5V)... but what about the rest? No ground?

could someone answer this please? :unsure:

I think the drive only needs 5v to work on Low Density mode and the ground goes from the psu to the correspondent ground on the connector of the floppy.
At least thats what i can figure out of the pics... :p (correct me if wrong please).


Yes the ground from the PSU will be required to be installed to the power socket of the FDD drive as well as the +5volt (otherwise you wont have a circuit and no power)
 
The only thing is that there are 2 grounds on the floppy, so i guess it doesnt matter which one i use. Also, the powersupply only has +5V and -5V so i assume you mean -5V as the ground?

Thanks
 
Sorry i still dont understand... its probably just me :S

The AC adapter has +5V (black cable) and -5V (black cable with a white pin strip).

The floppy drive has 4 cables. In order from left to right, they are:
Yellow (+12V)
Black (Ground)
Black (Ground)
Red (+5V)

What I was asking was which cable goes to which?

Sorry, I'm easily confused, especially when dealing with unknown territory for me.
 
The AC adapter as +5v and Ground, witch connect to the +5v (Red) on the floppy and on the adjacent Ground (Black next to Red) on the Floppy.

Hope that helps. :)
 
If you wanted something different on the normal +2's you could always hack it and fit a top loading or slot cd drive and just put the games on an audio cd. Its what i might be doing soon.
 
The AC adapter as +5v and Ground, witch connect to the +5v (Red) on the floppy and on the adjacent Ground (Black next to Red) on the Floppy.

Hope that helps. :)
Ahh thanks, cant wait to try this out now
 
I love stuff like this and I joined the forum because of this thread!

Recently I saved my wife's mobile phone from the bin. Her charger split the connector lead. After hunting around a few charity shops for a mobile phone charger to replace her busted one I ended up with 4 of them with power ratings of around 4.5v to 5v so the left over ones will be great for this disk drive mod. Ive always wanted a 3 1/2 drive on my +3 but the thought of hacking things about kinda put me off.
Now I can easily find an external drive case in my storage and cobble one together :)
 
Just made myself one of these using a Samsung 321B, only need to finish the external casing and external power supply :D.
Tested on my CPC6128 and works flawlessly writing disks with CPCdiskXP (http://www.cpcmania.com/), on the +3 only able to use side A, I'm using SAMdisk (http://simonowen.com/samdisk/) to write +3 .dsk files using --fix command, i can write both files using both Head 0 and 1 but the Speccy +3 doesn't read the file write with Head 1.

Does anyone knows a better way to write +3 floppy images? :help:

When finished will post some fotos (y).

Thanks Jasey!!!
 
Just made myself one of these using a Samsung 321B, only need to finish the external casing and external power supply :D.
Tested on my CPC6128 and works flawlessly writing disks with CPCdiskXP (http://www.cpcmania.com/), on the +3 only able to use side A, I'm using SAMdisk (http://simonowen.com/samdisk/) to write +3 .dsk files using --fix command, i can write both files using both Head 0 and 1 but the Speccy +3 doesn't read the file write with Head 1.

<b>Does anyone knows a better way to write +3 floppy images? :help:<b/>

When finished will post some fotos (y).

Thanks Jasey!!!

Thats what I'm looking for too...
Also, does anyone know where to buy premade enclosures?
 
I managed to pick up the exact same floppy drive like the one in the o/p's guide. But I need to clarify a few small things.

1. What pins do the 3 wires go to on the toggle switches? Finding it hard to see them on the pictures properly...

2. Do you have to use the switches or could I just stick to side 1 only? Somebody else stated +3 disk images didnt work right on side b?

3. Putting a jumper wire on HD detect switch, the circuit board holding this is upside down and only one layer. I assume the whole metal plate and motor has to come off so I can get to it?

Hopefully you guys will know what im babbling on about :)
Thanx.
 
I managed to pick up the exact same floppy drive like the one in the o/p's guide. But I need to clarify a few small things.

1. What pins do the 3 wires go to on the toggle switches? Finding it hard to see them on the pictures properly...

2. Do you have to use the switches or could I just stick to side 1 only? Somebody else stated +3 disk images didnt work right on side b?

3. Putting a jumper wire on HD detect switch, the circuit board holding this is upside down and only one layer. I assume the whole metal plate and motor has to come off so I can get to it?

Hopefully you guys will know what im babbling on about :)
Thanx.

On switch 1, "Ground" goes to centre, "Drive Select" goes to either side - it doesn't really matter

On switch 2, "Ground" also goes to centre, "Head Select" goes to either side - it doesn't really matter

The switches are not necessary, but games don't usually work from Drive B. Without the switches, the drive will (probably) just override drive A:

Again, if you don't fancy doing the HD trick, you can either use DSDD floppys, or put a bit of tape over the HD hole in the floppy.

---------- Post added at 16:30 ---------- Previous post was at 16:23 ----------

Just made myself one of these using a Samsung 321B, only need to finish the external casing and external power supply :D.
Tested on my CPC6128 and works flawlessly writing disks with CPCdiskXP (http://www.cpcmania.com/), on the +3 only able to use side A, I'm using SAMdisk (http://simonowen.com/samdisk/) to write +3 .dsk files using --fix command, i can write both files using both Head 0 and 1 but the Speccy +3 doesn't read the file write with Head 1.

<b>Does anyone knows a better way to write +3 floppy images? :help:<b/>

When finished will post some fotos (y).

Thanks Jasey!!!

Thats what I'm looking for too...
Also, does anyone know where to buy premade enclosures?

cpcdiskxp from http://www.cpcmania.com/ is my writer of choice. It works in Win7/64 bit too, which is nice.

The premade enclosure was one from a broken external amiga drive... ebay is a nice, but expensive place to get one. Maybe ask in the "wanted" section here for something a bit cheaper? (like whut I did)
 
I'm such an idiot! Ive just released that all odd pins on the floppy connector are ground... spent ages trying to figure out what pin 21 was wired to :D I'm guessing this is just the ground connection for pins 12 & 32.

Just ordered my first soldering iron to try this out on my +3... cant wait.
 
Last edited:
Its Alive!

Learning to solder was not as straight forward as I had first thought, although fairly pleased with the results...

P1010019.jpg P1010018.jpg

P1010020.jpg P1010021.jpg

Just needs a quick pant job and it will be perfect :D

Using the switches I can select the external drive as drive A (the internal drive is then ignored), this boots disks written using Samdisk on your PC. The second switch can be used to select the disk side (1 or 2 / head 0 or 1) again Samdisk can be used to write to both sides (use the --flip command for side 2). This works really well for games that use both sides of a disk, when the change side message is displayed all you need to do is flick a switch. Also works well for single sided games as you can have a different game on each side.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom