.adf to .scp to real disk
#21
(05-26-2020, 10:40 PM)admin Wrote: Amiga disk drives do not have a density detect built in, so they can use either low density or high density disks.  A PC drive does have a density detect, so it knows the difference.  Of course you can’t use an Amiga drive with SuperCard Pro as it requires a PC drive.

What did you have on 1,000 5.25” Amiga disks?  Nothing was made commercially that was On 5.25” disk format, and they didn’t store much data.

I wonder if you have a bad cable or power supply?  There is nothing magic or special required.  There are literally thousands of SuperCard Pro boards out there.  They just work.

Make an image of your 1.44MB disk and send it to data @ cbmstuff.com.  Also make an image of the disk you attempt to do a media test with.  I can look at the image and probably tell you what is going on.
Ok, I can do that.
I thought the density detect was the little pin for the notch on the side of the disk?
I would have thought if it was a problem, I wouldn't have been able to read any of the my Amiga disks either.
Sorry, I meant a 720k Low density 3.5" drive which is more rare these days, true.

Yes, I know. Maybe it's rare? I never thought twice about it although, every Amiga user I knew had 3.5 disks.
It is an HD 5.25" AMIGA compliant disk drive that I bought from a copy house back in the day. It is still working as far as I can tell. I will take some photos of it for you. It connects to the drive port at the back via a ribbon cable.

I thought the same so I connected in a small regulated 5v supply to power the drive. It wouldn't be the first time a drive has drawn too much power from the SCP for me however, it's not that. I have even tried connecting back to the PC power supply of my desktop while Writing the flux images back.

Ok, thank you, I appreciate that offer, however, the images read fine after ripping. I can view the contents of every .scp rip without an issue.
It's the writing back to disk I have problems with. I am still happy to send to you but I think it's something I am doing wrong or, as you said, it's my disks.
That doesn't explain why the erase doesn't work on my 1.44MB IBM disk though, which, reads fine after formatting in the USB Teac

I should clarify here when I write the AMIGA .scp to disk, it's the first 40 or so tracks that come up Red or Yellow. If you look at the pictures, towards the end of the disk, they seem to go Green.

Now, I was thinking, ok, it's got to be alignment but, the disks Read perfectly most of the time.
I also have used 4 different drives now, mind you, I found a Samsung last night in a box in my shed, so I may try this tomorrow as all the drives have been Panasonic/Sony drives so far.
Still, why would they read fine but only write ok towards the end of the disks?
I also have 2 SCP devices that I bought from you because I once thought I had damaged one (ended up the power draw was too high from an old drive) however, both devices are fine and they both show exactly the same issue.
I also tried different floppy cables thinking it may be a flakey cable.
So, I'm just stumped.
I understand making new physical disks is a bit dumb these days, maybe I will just give up on this.
Reply
#22
Track 40 is where the standard write pre-comp starts. I find that about 5% of my brand new disks will pass a media test, usually failing starting around track 71. Some fail instantly, but that is not common. I have some old data disks that pass repeated test with no issues.

Using the wrong density will also cause this. There is a density jumper on the drives, as well as pin that detects whether a high density disk is inserted. You could try changing the density in the pull-down menu (SuperCard Pro software) and see if writing works. If it does the drive’s jumper is backwards from normal. As I said before, you need to be using low density disks with Amiga images. The drive speed is different between low density and high density, and I am sure HxC generates low density images. If you try to write a low density image to a high density disk it will fail for sure.

Send me a image of a disk you attempt to do the media test on. I can look at the flux display with SuperCard Pro’s editor/analyzer and tell you immediately what the problem is.
Reply
#23
(05-27-2020, 05:56 PM)admin Wrote: Track 40 is where the standard write pre-comp starts.  I find that about 5% of my brand new disks will pass a media test, usually failing starting around track 71.  Some fail instantly, but that is not common.  I have some old data disks that pass repeated test with no issues.

Using the wrong density will also cause this.  There is a density jumper on the drives, as well as pin that detects whether a high density disk is inserted.  You could try changing the density in the pull-down menu (SuperCard Pro software) and see if writing works.  If it does the drive’s jumper is backwards from normal.    As I said before, you need to be using low density disks with Amiga images.  The drive speed is different between low density and high density, and I am sure HxC generates low density images.  If you try to write a low density image to a high density disk it will fail for sure.

Send me a image of a disk you attempt to do the media test on.  I can look at the flux display with SuperCard Pro’s editor/analyzer and tell you immediately what the problem is.
Ok. Sent.
Thanks Jim.
Reply
#24
Just to follow up, the .scp images you sent were bad. There is either a drive speed issue or the disk is tight in the case. You can see a “wavy” flux pattern caused by a speed change. Data is also smeared between bitcells.
Reply
#25
(05-28-2020, 10:58 AM)admin Wrote: Just to follow up, the .scp images you sent were bad.  There is either a drive speed issue or the disk is tight in the case.  You can see a “wavy” flux pattern caused by a speed change.  Data is also smeared between bitcells.
Right!
Ok, thanks very much for the time you spent on this.
I forgot to bring my Samsung drive with me today however, it's old so maybe a waste of time.
I wonder why the Teac will read and write to the disk without problems in Windows.

Either way, it is what it is.
Time to jump onto E-Bay for a new drive!

Thanks Jim.
Reply
#26
(05-28-2020, 03:11 PM)shades_aus Wrote:
(05-28-2020, 10:58 AM)admin Wrote: Just to follow up, the .scp images you sent were bad.  There is either a drive speed issue or the disk is tight in the case.  You can see a “wavy” flux pattern caused by a speed change.  Data is also smeared between bitcells.
Right!
Ok, thanks very much for the time you spent on this.
I forgot to bring my Samsung drive with me today however, it's old so maybe a waste of time.
I wonder why the Teac will read and write to the disk without problems in Windows.

Either way, it is what it is.
Time to jump onto E-Bay for a new drive!

Thanks Jim.

*edit

After viewing the flux transitions like you suggested, I can "clearly" see this. It's right there.
Thank you for pointing this out to me and how to read it. Talk about service beyond the expectation!
At least I now know what's going on. :-)
Very very good information. Thank you a bunch.
Reply




Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)