Windows 11

[admin]

OK, thanks.

[morduk2]

Hi Jim,

I tried the card you sent back to me.  Again the same problem, when copying a disk for a ADF image. The copy grid indicate the bottom part of the disk cannot be read (red color) yet the top part of the disk is green, indicating that information was read.  The equipment being used is "newer" except for the floppy drive.  The drive goes thru all 80 sections of the disk, but the image is flawed.  Is the floppy drive out of alignment or is there something else I should check?  

Since you repair Supercards and check them before you sent them back,  do you use a modern floppy drive or the antiques that most of us use to check for errors?  If you use a modern drive could you share the make and model.

Thanks before hand

[admin]

I use a standard 3.5" floppy drive like everyone uses. I typically use a Sony MPF-920 or Panasonic JU-257, both of which are very common.

Red means absolutely NO data is being found (bad head).

[morduk2]

Hi Jim,

I just purchased 3 "new" Sony MPF 290 drives that were manufactured in 2002 and were sold as never used.  All 3 were covered with a plastic form fitted to the drive.  The cables I used were the two you sent me a few weeks ago.  I tried to make an ADF image using all drives with several diskes I have copied before.  All of the  drives gave me the same results on every disk I tried.  Using the scp software run as an administrator the bottom half of each box was red and the upper half was green.  The setup was the one in the manual.  The only thing different is I no longer have the plastic covering for the updates on my card.

Am I missing something that keeps giving me these results?

[admin]

How are you powering the drive? Your board with that cable works perfect on my drives. The only difference would have to be power. If you are powering this via a USB port it could be that you are using a port that only has 100mA of current. The disk drives need 350mA startup current, so you would need a high powered USB port or a powered USB hub. I have only seen the issue you have reported when a disk drive or cable is bad, not bad power though.

Let me know how you are powering the drive (power source and cable).

[morduk2]

How are you powering the drive?  Your board with that cable works perfect on my drives.  The only difference would have to be power.  If you are powering this via a USB port it could be that you are using a port that only has 100mA of current.  The disk drives need 350mA startup current, so you would need a high powered USB port or a powered USB hub.  I have only seen the issue you have reported when a disk drive or cable is bad, not bad power though.

Let me know how you are powering the drive (power source and cable).

I am powering the drives by a usb connection in the computer and the cable is the one you sent me just recently.  Don't know what the juice is coming out the USB port

[admin]

How are you powering the drive itself? The drive needs its own power supply. There is a 4 pin molex header on the disk drive for power. You need power to that coming from somewhere.

[morduk2]

Hi Jim,

Was over to best Buy and picked up a new cable that connects the card to the computer's USB port.  I got the same results as before.  Do you have a power hub you can reccomend.  I have no clue what to look for in that item

[admin]

Again, HOW are you powering the disk drive? What cable do you have plugged into the disk drive for power? You should have two cables plugged into the drive - the large ribbon cable, and a 4 pin power cable. That 4 pin power cable needs to be plugged into a 5V power source, which can be the SuperCard Pro board itself or some other 5V source.

[admin]

You should have some type of power cable plugged into the drive.  You can provide power from this connector.
   

This is one of my drive setups.