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External floppy drives on the Spectrum +3: Difference between revisions
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External floppy drives on the Spectrum +3 (view source)
Revision as of 12:16, 26 April 2017
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====The +3 External Drive Connector==== | ====The +3 External Drive Connector==== | ||
The ''"Disk B:"'' connector on the +3 is slightly non standard and there is an error in the manual which adds to the confusion. The connector is rotated through 180 degrees so pin 1 is at the top right rather than the bottom left (looking in from the rear of the computer). The indexing slot is also at the opposite end to normal, instead between pins 31/32 and 33/34, this means that | The ''"Disk B:"'' connector on the +3 is slightly non standard and there is an error in the manual which adds to the confusion. The connector is rotated through 180 degrees so pin 1 is at the top right rather than the bottom left (looking in from the rear of the computer). The indexing slot is also at the opposite end to normal, instead between pins 31/32 and 33/34, this means that any standard PC floppy cable will only fit in the '''wrong''' orientation unless the polarising key is (re)moved. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | ||
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====Connecting a modern 3½″ FDD==== | ====Connecting a modern 3½″ FDD==== | ||
=====Cable===== | =====Cable===== | ||
[[File: | [[File:spectrum_plus3_external_floppy_drive_cable.png|thumb|An example of a suitable cable]] | ||
To connect a normal PC floppy drive as "drive B:" to the +3 you need a 34 way ribbon cable with an IDC card edge connector at one end, and an IDC socket connector at the other. | To connect a normal PC floppy drive as "drive B:" to the +3 you need a 34 way ribbon cable with an IDC card edge connector at one end, and an IDC socket connector at the other. | ||
Modern floppy drives don't provide the drive ready signal, so the {{overline|READY}} line needs shorting to ground to signal to the Spectrum that the drive is ready | Modern floppy drives don't provide the drive ready signal, so the {{overline|READY}} line needs shorting to ground to signal to the Spectrum that the drive is ready. A switch can be used to manually toggle the ready signal on and off, but a more convenient method is to place a diode between the {{overline|READY}} and {{overline|DRIVE 1}} lines so that the ready signal is exerted whenever the external drive is accessed. Wiring the {{overline|READY}} permanently to ground works, but is not recommended as this causes the loader to hang when no diskette is present in the internal drive, meaning that loading tape software from the loader option on the boot menu is impossible. | ||
A detailed guide to constructing a suitable cable is available [http://zxnet.co.uk/spectrum/plus3_external_floppy_cable/ here] | |||
=====Drive===== | =====Drive===== | ||
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=====+3DOS format disks===== | =====+3DOS format disks===== | ||
3½″ disks can be formatted in a variety of different capacities as CP/M disks. The +3 ROM cannot format 3½″ disks itself so either a utility is required on the +3 (such as [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/zxplus3e/software.html#mformat | 3½″ disks can be formatted in a variety of different capacities as CP/M disks. The +3 ROM cannot format 3½″ disks itself so either a utility is required on the +3 (such as [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/zxplus3e/software.html#mformat The Spectrum +3 Multiformatter] by Garry Lancaster), or the disk must be prepared on the PC. | ||
=====DOS format disks===== | =====DOS format disks===== | ||
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====Writing Images==== | ====Writing Images==== | ||
=====3½″ diskettes===== | =====3½″ diskettes===== | ||
To | To read and format disks with formats other than 720kB (the +3multiformatter utility refers to this as 708K) on Windows NT you will need the [http://simonowen.com/fdrawcmd/ FDrawcmd driver by simon owen]. This will only work correctly on PCs with real floppy controllers. | ||
A good utility for writing the images is [http://www.seasip. | A good utility for writing the images is [http://www.seasip.info/Unix/LibDsk/#tools John Elliot's dsktool]. | ||
It's possible to read and write 708K +3DOS format dsk images using dsktool on some USB floppy drives that have an NEC UF000x chipset. The Dell FDDM-101 module is known to work. | |||
=====3″ disks===== | =====3″ disks===== | ||
A guide to connecting a 3″ drive to a PC and reading/writing disks is available from the [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/sdp/FAQ.html Spectrum Disk Preservation Project] | A guide to connecting a 3″ drive to a PC and reading/writing disks is available from the [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/sdp/FAQ.html Spectrum Disk Preservation Project] | ||