blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner) (06/29/87)
I need help with getting a 5.25" drive to format to 80 tracks under
AmigaDOS.
I've successfully adapted a Teac FD-55-FV (DS-DD, 80 track) to my Amiga
using information previously posted here and elsewhere, But I still have
some problems.
1) I cannot format to 80 tracks. Using the mountlist entry suppled on
the 1.2 workbench I have changed "df1:" to "df2:" and "unit 1" to
"unit 2". This allows the drive to work as a 440K AmigaDOS drive.
I expected that changing HighCyl from 39 to 79 would allow all 80
tracks to be used, but FORMAT dies on track 41.
2) The diskchange signal is not being read by the Amiga. I have CHNG*
wired from pin 2 of the 34 pin drive connector to pin 11 of the
DB23. The Teac drive does generate a diskchange signal.
3) The head load solenoid on the Teac loads and unloads with every track
change. It should load the head, format the disk, then unload the
head. Instead it does the following: load head, format track 0,
unload head; load head, format track 1, unload head, etc. As you can
imagine, this makes for a lot of noise!
Can anyone shed some light on the problems mentioned above? The head
load is likely a hardware problem, but are the diskchange and 80 track
problems caused by hardware or AmigaDOS?
Can anyone give me some information on the various jumper settings on
the Teac FD-55-FV? I've got an older Teac manual, but it's no help on
this drive.
I was really hoping to be able to use the Teac as my SYS: drive,
combined with Facc I'd be able to clear a lot of stuff out of vd0: and
still have ramdisk speed. (Facc isn't much use on df0: since it's cache
is invalidated whenever I eject the Workbench disk.)
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
--
Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland
UUCP Address: {ihnp4,decvax}!decwrl!esunix!blgardne
Alternate: {ihnp4,seismo}!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!esunix!blgardneford@crash.CTS.COM (Michael Ditto) (06/30/87)
In article <383@esunix.UUCP> blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner) writes: >I need help with getting a 5.25" drive to format to 80 tracks under >AmigaDOS. > >I've successfully adapted a Teac FD-55-FV (DS-DD, 80 track) to my Amiga >using information previously posted here and elsewhere, But I still have >some problems. > >1) I cannot format to 80 tracks. [...] Changing the devs:MountList to have HighCyl=79 should fix this. >2) The diskchange signal is not being read by the Amiga. [...] > >3) The head load solenoid on the Teac loads and unloads with every track > change. [...] On an Amiga external disk drive (3 or 5") there is a small extra circuit board, usually done with two pals. This circuit performs three functions: 1) It supports an "ID Mode" in which it indicates that a drive is present, and its type. This is done serially with the MTRX and READY lines. 2) It latches the motor status and remembers it when the drive is not selected. This allows the Amiga to control each drive's motor independently. 3) It latches the disk-change signal, resetting it only on a motor step pulse. This allows the Amiga to always find out about disk changes even if they happen when that drive was not selected. It also is the reason for the "clicking" of empty drives. All of this information is documented in the "Schematics and Expantion specifications" document available from Commodore. You will need this information in order to build the needed circuit. It may be possible to order the small circuit board from Commodore. -- Michael "Ford" Ditto -=] Ford [=- P.O. Box 1721 ford@crash.CTS.COM Bonita, CA 92002 ford%oz@prep.mit.ai.edu
daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (07/01/87)
in article <383@esunix.UUCP>, blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner) says: > Keywords: df2: 80 track 5.25 SOS > > I need help with getting a 5.25" drive to format to 80 tracks under > AmigaDOS. > 1) I cannot format to 80 tracks. Using the mountlist entry suppled on > the 1.2 workbench I have changed "df1:" to "df2:" and "unit 1" to > "unit 2". This allows the drive to work as a 440K AmigaDOS drive. > I expected that changing HighCyl from 39 to 79 would allow all 80 > tracks to be used, but FORMAT dies on track 41. Hmmm.... Sounds like the right thing to do (I assume you're hooking the drive in after df1:, adding a "mount df2:" to your startup-sequence). Have you added any external, Amiga style logic to the drive, or is this a straight direct-connect? Amiga drives auto-identify themselves if the proper circuitry is present, eliminating the need for a mountlist. And in fact I've never used one with a mountlist, but it sounds like you're doing everything OK. If you DO want it automatically recognized, the 3-1/2" circuit, not the 5-1/4" circuit, would be the proper one to add (I'll post it if you're interested). If for some reason the Amiga thinks the drive is identifying itself as a 5-1/4" drive (really, this circuit says "40 tracks", the actual drive diameter isn't important), the Amiga won't pay attention to the mountlist. > 2) The diskchange signal is not being read by the Amiga. I have CHNG* > wired from pin 2 of the 34 pin drive connector to pin 11 of the > DB23. The Teac drive does generate a diskchange signal. That's correct. Are you actually seeing the change signal falling (on a 'scope or something). This output must be open-collector, but I'd expect most drives to present such an output directly; both of the Amiga style drives do this properly. > Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga Usenet: {ihnp4|caip|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh "The A2000 Guy" BIX : hazy "Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world" -Beach Boys
ralph@mit-atrp.UUCP (Amiga-Man) (07/01/87)
In article <2060@cbmvax.UUCP> daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes: >... If you DO want it automatically recognized, the >3-1/2" circuit, not the 5-1/4" circuit, would be the proper one to add >(I'll post it if you're interested)..... >-- >Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga Usenet: {ihnp4|caip|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh Please post the circuit, Dave. I have a bizarre 3.5" EPSON drive connected to my Amiga which acts like an 80 track 5.25" drive. It sometimes turns it's motor on for just a moment without reason and I suspect it's the Amiga polling the drives that confuses it. I had always wondered how you guys used one line (disk change) to sense multiple drives without a single ejected disk locking out the whole set. PS: if the circuit it too large or difficult to post, just post a reference to the appropriate page of the hardware spec's and the address to order them from (yet again...).