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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 10:45, 10 May 2020
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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. | 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 [ | A detailed guide to constructing a suitable cable is available [https://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 [ | 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 [https://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===== | ||
to access a DOS formatted 720k disk on the +3 you can use [ | to access a DOS formatted 720k disk on the +3 you can use [https://www.worldofspectrum.org/zxplus3e/software.html#msdos Garry Lancaster's MSDOS utility] | ||
This will allow you to "log on" to a DOS format disk in drive B: and copy files from it to a +3DOS formatted 3″ disk in drive A: | This will allow you to "log on" to a DOS format disk in drive B: and copy files from it to a +3DOS formatted 3″ disk in drive A: | ||
====Writing Images==== | ====Writing Images==== | ||
=====3½″ diskettes===== | =====3½″ diskettes===== | ||
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 [ | 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 [https://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 [ | A good utility for writing the images is [https://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. | 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 [ | A guide to connecting a 3″ drive to a PC and reading/writing disks is available from the [https://www.worldofspectrum.org/sdp/FAQ.html Spectrum Disk Preservation Project] | ||
====Writing individual files==== | ====Writing individual files==== | ||