KCS DHD-Drive Issues

Hi to all :)

Time a go I have bought here a nice KCS DHD-Drive unit but I canoot get it to work :(

I readed specs in some sites and the unit can work as standard floppys or HD ones (with drivers). There is a 3 steps switch in the back with no description.

So, I connected it to one A4000 (with DF0 & DF1) and to my A500 (with only DF0):

On A4000: The lights of the four drives are flashing all times and cannot boot.

On A500: Power light flashes and cannot boot

Mobos are completely refurbished and in full working order, also I have good PSU's in both machines so is not a power issue.

Anyone knows about the switch functions? Tested the three positions has no changes. Maybe is needed any hardware modiffication on the Amigas?

Anyhelp will be highly appreciated :bowdown: :bowdown:

The drives do not need drivers, at least not with Kick 3.1. It should work out of the box even when your 4000 has two drives already.

The switch at the back is drives off, drives on xcopy off, drives on xcopy on (something like that, I will dig up a manual if you need to know for sure)

Edit: Eh, I think you bought that drive from me! Now that is terrible to hear it's now not working! I have tested it prior to sending it to you on my Amiga 600 and it worked fine, did a full format on both drives with both HD and DD disks and booted of both drives. Do you have any other system you could test it on?
Maybe a connector slipped on the inside?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tahoe

The drives do not need drivers, at least not with Kick 3.1. It should work out of the box even when your 4000 has two drives already.

The switch at the back is drives off, drives on xcopy off, drives on xcopy on (something like that, I will dig up a manual if you need to know for sure)

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Hi mate :)

If you can upload a manual will be appreciated.

I don't know, I bought as full working unit (I trust you, of course), but no way. Other external units works like a charm....

I will open the unit this evening/night... maybe is something wrong inside due transportation.....

Thanks for your help

Hi again,

Well, I opened the unit and inside it has two NEC FD1138H drives, a little PCB and..... one CR2032 battery soldered in the PCB :blink:

So, thinking on a battery problem I desoldered the original ( ? ) one and I installed a new CR2032 with socket.

Now, when I connect the KCS unit to the Amigas:

On A4000: My onboard DF0 & DF1 works fine, the external KCS not

On A500: Onboard DF0 works, the external KCS not.

Other test I realised is to power on the inside drives of the KCS unit with external power but no way.....

So after you replaced the battery the non-booting issue went away? And the system boots and works fine, of course with the exception of the KCS unit?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BLTCON0

So after you replaced the battery the non-booting issue went away? And the system boots and works fine, of course with the exception of the KCS unit?

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Yes, that is the situation now.... :blink:

Edit: Also tested on an towerised A600... no way

Well, you can take a look at these NEC drives, if they look like standard PC HD floppy drives just replace them with some other standard PC HD floppy drives.
The only drives (other than the "official" Chinons) capable of working at 150 rpm in "native" Amiga HD mode were a Sony and a TEAC model IIRC, so maybe the drives are indeed stock PC HD units and it's the small PCB in this unit that buffers the data flow and then outputs it at half the rate to match the Amiga's capability.

Thanks for the info :thumbsup:

I will try this evening/night :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BLTCON0

Well, you can take a look at these NEC drives, if they look like standard PC HD floppy drives just replace them with some other standard PC HD floppy drives.
The only drives (other than the "official" Chinons) capable of working at 150 rpm in "native" Amiga HD mode were a Sony and a TEAC model IIRC, so maybe the drives are indeed stock PC HD units and it's the small PCB in this unit that buffers the data flow and then outputs it at half the rate to match the Amiga's capability.

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I have heard romours about these drives that after opening them, they no longer work. This is the second time I have heard of this issue, but what exactly causes this behavious I do not know. Maybe the CR2032 holds some volatile RAM which is now cleared? (that means the drives would self destruct when the battery runs low, a little unlikely but not entirely impossible).

Is there any EPROM inside? Maybe without the window blocked so any UV light could kill it? (not that it's my experience that they are that sensetive, but still)

BTW: I looked at the print inside the KCS drives, is that not a rechargeable battery? If you put a normal one in, maybe that causes problems?

Hi mate,

No EPROM, just one square IC (I can check type & specs this evening/night).

About original battery, it looks like one standard CR2032/1 3v and I used one of the same brand Panasonic.

Maybe it's possible to find the .bin file to reprogramm the IC? I can made this task without probs (If the IC permit this, of course).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tahoe

I have heard romours about these drives that after opening them, they no longer work. This is the second time I have heard of this issue, but what exactly causes this behavious I do not know. Maybe the CR2032 holds some volatile RAM which is now cleared? (that means the drives would self destruct when the battery runs low, a little unlikely but not entirely impossible).

Is there any EPROM inside? Maybe without the window blocked so any UV light could kill it? (not that it's my experience that they are that sensetive, but still)

BTW: I looked at the print inside the KCS drives, is that not a rechargeable battery? If you put a normal one in, maybe that causes problems?

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