3.5" PC drives
#31
(03-16-2020, 04:29 PM)admin Wrote: I have several 'T6' drives, and they only work in 1.44MB mode, no matter what you do with the density line.

Thanks for the link to the manual.  After reading it I see something very odd compared to other model 3.5" disk drive.  Normally, the density line selects between 720K and 1.44MB density modes.  These drives can only switch to true low density (720K) if you are using a low density floppy drive (ignoring the density select line) and the density line switches between 1.66MB and 2.0MB modes.    That's definitely a problem if you are trying to read or write a low density format using a high density disk!

Sorry if I'm a little confused here. Do you mean to say that it's only possible, for example, preserving a 720K disk to a new disk is only possible if the new disk is also 720K? Or am I misunderstanding something here?

Would you still recommend it though, as you do in the original post in this thread? And is this an issue with the SFD-321J or is that a more versatile disk drive?
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#32
You can not typically copy a 720K image on to a 1.44MB disk and have it work in a standard PC drive. The extra hole in a 1.44MB disk tell the drive to change its electronics to read the disk differently from standard 720K.
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#33
My Supercard Pro arrived yesterday, so I am quite new to it.

I have a Mitsumi D63119 drive here, that seems to be jumperless. When I connect it to Supercard Pro (both power and data cable) and connect the Supercard Pro to my computer, I can hear the sound of a device connecting, the USB-LED turns green and one of the pretty lights is flashing and also turns green. To me, this seems OK. However, the drive is not working at it does not seem to be recognized from Drive/Disk Utilities (the Device-field stays empty).

Before I start to look for alternative drives, can you tell me if this drive should work, and if so: how? I saw somebody else in the forums referencing this drive, but am not sure he made it work.

Thanks in advance!

Hans-Peter
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#34
How are you powering the drive? All drives require separate power. You can power the drive from the SuperCard Pro itself if your drive is 5v (only) and your USB hub can handle 500mA or more.
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#35
I have powered the drive from the Supercard Pro, and I have connected the Supercard Pro to a high-power USB-interface on my computer (a Microsoft Surface Studio 1). As fas as I understand from the specs, the computer contains a Genesys Logic GL3520 USB 3.1 hub controller that should be able to deliver 5V / 1,5 A to the drive. That should be enough I think? The Mitsumi D63119 is a jumperless drive, so not much to tweak. Could it simply be incompatible?

Btw: based on the drive compatibility list, I have ordered a Samsung SFD-321J drive from eBay. Does that drive require separate power if the USB-port is providing 1,5 A?
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#36
I have yet to find a drive that doesn't actually work. Typically when this occurs its caused from either bad/no power to the drive, or a bad drive cable. How are you connecting the SuperCard Pro's power to the drive?
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#37
Thank you for your quick anwsers!

I have powered the drive with the 3,5"power cable that I have bought together with the Supercard Pro. The drive is further connected with the Floppy Drive Cable that I bought at the same time. I assume that these components are working. I have checked the placement of both cables several times and I am pretty sure that I do not make mistakes. It is getting late here (GMT+1), but I can plug in my Fluke tomorrow to see if power is applied and will let you know. Is there, besides power, anything that I can test from the software?

Just one final question: what does it mean that the middle one of the pretty lights starts flashing and turns green after I plug in the Supercard Pro? To me, this looks like a good sign. I can also hear the computer sound that normally plays when you connect a USB-device, so a lot of things seem to actually work.
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#38
OK, so even though it is getting late here, I decided to try it out. I measure a nice 4,92V output on the Supercard Pro and on the drive. The drive is not doing anything. Is it normal that a drive does not respond at all if power is applied, even not when a diskette is inserted? I thought that at least it would spin a few times? Maybe this drive is 'dead'. To be continued.
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#39
Sorry to bother one final time. I just thought that this might very well be a software issue, maybe a driver issue. I have installed the drivers, but if I look in Device Management, I am not sure where I can find them. How can I best check if the drivers are properly installed and fully functional?

Thanks in advance!
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#40
When you run the SuperCard Pro it will tell you if there is no board present.  If you see that message then it would be a driver installation issue.  If you don't see that message, then the problem is communication between the SuperCard Pro and the drive.

I program and test every board before they are shipped, so I am confident that the board is working.  The first thing the board does is a power-on self test.  The pretty lights would be all rapidly flashing if there was any type of problem with the board.   I test the power cable (I make those), but I don't test the floppy cable because that is something that I purchase brand new (I would think they are ok, and I have not had any bad ones so far).  Do you know that the floppy drive you have actually works?  Have you tested it with a PC?  A drive will not make any noise or light up (unless it has a LED, and only a few models do) when there is power.  So, you can't tell much about the drive connection just from looking or listening to the drive when it gets power.
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