Drive not recognised - cable problem?
#1
I've just hooked up my SCP + Sony MPF920 3.5" floppy drive to my Windows 10 system.
The SCP software recognises the controller but is not seeing any drives.
The cable being used is an old (but previously unused, pulled from its plastic bag) one-drive 3.5" cable; it has a single standard 3.5" notched drive connector at each end with a twist in part of the cable close to one end. It doesn't have any 5.25" connectors. It's passed the smoke test.
I assume the fact that the power light on the drive comes on means that the power connector is OK. The USB cable is plugged directly into one of the system USB ports, not a hub, so power should be sufficient.
At the moment the power light on the drive is permanently on, but as mentioned above the drive is not showing up. 
If I disconnect the USB cable then reconnect it, the LED next to the floppy/board power connector flashes red briefly then turns green. The light next to the USB interface turns green and stays green. After reconnecting in this way, the power light on the floppy turns off. (It's an Amiga floppy disk.)

Is the floppy drive cable the culprit here? Or is it that the Sony drive does not play well with others?

Let me know if you need a pic of the cable, but it's a fairly standard part.
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#2
How are you powering the 3.5" drive?
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#3
(08-28-2020, 10:36 PM)admin Wrote: How are you powering the 3.5" drive?
It's being powered from the power out on the board, using a dual 3.5" splitter; the cable has a molex connector (unused) connected to 2 4-pin connectors of the sort used for 3.5" drives.

Pictures I should probably have included in the first place:

   
   
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#4
Wow... I totally missed the fact that this is an Amiga floppy drive.  You can't use that drive.  It's not wired the same as a stock PC drive, which is required for SuperCard Pro.  You will need to use a different (PC compatible) drive.

Keep in mind that you *might* have to power the system with a powered USB hub.  The USB port used must be capable of handling 500mA (which is really stipulated by the disk drive itself - the SuperCard Pro itself uses less than 50mA and most of that is the LEDs).
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#5
(08-31-2020, 02:35 AM)admin Wrote: Wow... I totally missed the fact that this is an Amiga floppy drive.  You can't use that drive.  It's not wired the same as a stock PC drive, which is required for SuperCard Pro.  You will need to use a different (PC compatible) drive.

Keep in mind that you *might* have to power the system with a powered USB hub.  The USB port used must be capable of handling 500mA (which is really stipulated by the disk drive itself - the SuperCard Pro itself uses less than 50mA and most of that is the LEDs).
It's  an Amiga floppy DISK, not an Amiga floppy DRIVE.

Heck, the drive manufacturer and model is clearly readable in one of my pictures, as well as being specified in literally the first line of my original question.

I've tried it connected directly to one of the PC's USB 3.0 ports and to a powered hub (also USB 3.0). No luck either way. Being USB 3.0, power supply should be more than sufficient; that particular hub is capable of powering multiple external 2.5" hard drives simultaneously.

I also have an external MOLEX pwoer supply somewhere (from an old USB-to-IDE drive adapter). I'll give that a try.
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#6
OK, so the drive light being on means that the device select line is wrong (just like an Amiga drive would be).  The LED on the drive should ONLY be on when it is being accessed.  This would indicate a cable or power problem.

A disk itself has nothing to do with any of this.
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#7
I've now tried replacing the floppy drive; using a new floppy cable; and hooking power up to an external MOLEX power supply.

Both floppy cables were of the single-drive variety (ribbon cable with notch at each end and a twist in the wiring). I've also tried flipping the cable around (so that the twist is closer to the board).

The only things I haven't yet tried is using an old-school floppy cable (with a 5.25" edge connector in the middle rather than a 1-to-1 3.5" cable) and replacing the actual SCP board.

I'll see if I can source an old-school cable on EBay.
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#8
Just MAKE SURE that you don't flip the cable polarity around or you will instantly destroy the SuperCard Pro board!  I can repair the board if you do (and that is covered under warranty).  You can look at the "Huey" and "Duey" chips to determine if you have damaged one of them... you will typically see a burn mark in the center of the chip.  At that point, no drive will be recognized.  You might want to take a look at those chips.
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#9
Just wanted to add some info to this discussion.  I have this same floppy drive (and many others).  This drive works just fine with the SuperCard Pro.



I wouldn't waste your time getting another cable.  The typical PC floppy cable with 3.5 & 5.25 will not solve your problem, there is nothing special about those cables.  The "connectors" are simply in parallel with each other, twist or not.  I repair floppy drives and make normal (and custom) floppy cables all the time.




So, what you need is EXTERNAL power.  The Sony drive is clearly labeled with the power requirements; 5v @ 960ma.  That's almost a 1 amp!  If you add the 50ma the SCP requires, that's twice what the USB port will provide.  Solve this problem first.


   


I never ever ever rely on USB for power, for anything.  Just bad practice, unless you like troubleshooting and intermittent issues a lot.




Find yourself something like this (it is what I use):




https://www.ebay.com/itm/External-MOLEX-...xy4YdTWwr0




Hope you get your drive problems resolved.  The SCP and this drive work just fine on my setup, and it should for you too!




Cheers!




-Dano
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