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Adding a 3.5" Drive to a 5150

Hhello again - just to emphasise , read/write and format 720kB floppy ;)
..just do not format in windows explorer - it says "wrong format", format of an usb-720kb disk is done in CMD c:\format a:/F:720
/cimonvg

Cimonvg said:
hello
....
Anyhow today , i tried this out and it works :)
...
i was able to read + write + (in CMD) format a:
....
/cimonvg
Click to expand...
 
I've had a few of them, I generally found them to be less reliable than standard separate drives. Anyone else share that experience?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Are those rare? I've still got a carton of NOS Teac FD-505s. Maybe I should consider selling them...
Click to expand...

Well they're not common and they're obviously desirable from a space perspective. I've always avoided them because they were A. Expensive, and B. As Glitch pointed out, usually less reliable.

Also is that a 360K 5.25" or a 1.2MB 5.25"?
 
I thought they were as reliable as other thin drives - considerably reduced compared to standard drives. The paired thin drives are also a pain to clean.

Combo drives only accounted for about 1% of production so rare compared to standard 3.5" drives but much more numerous than 8" drives.
 
tempest said:
Also is that a 360K 5.25" or a 1.2MB 5.25"?
Click to expand...

1.2MB. The 3.5" part isn't too bad, the 5.25" is a bit less reliable that the single-unit ones; uses leadscrew type positioner, rather than taut-band, probably because of space constraints. Still, for casual floppy use, they'll turn in a lot of mileage.
 
I got around to trying this today and discovered that my cable won't work because it needs that 5.25" 'edge connector' type connector on both ends as the card itself has the same connector as the 5.25" drive. My cable has the standard 3.5" connector on the end of it.

What kind of cable do I specifically need to do this?
 
Again, the simplest thing to do is to crimp a 34-pin IDC connector onto the cable next to the standard Berg connector.

Like this

You can do the crimping carefully with a small machinist's vise, a bench vise, a pair of Channelocks, a Vise-Grip tool--or preferably, with a tool made for the purpose. Use a piece of wood to protect the contact edge; make sure that the cable is straight and that pin 1 (striped) on the cable matches the little triangle on the connector. You'll be fine.
 
tempest said:
I got around to trying this today and discovered that my cable won't work because it needs that 5.25" 'edge connector' type connector on both ends as the card itself has the same connector as the 5.25" drive. My cable has the standard 3.5" connector on the end of it.

What kind of cable do I specifically need to do this?
Click to expand...

I am not sure if any floppy cable had edge connectors at both ends and a pin connector for a 3.5" floppy. Early floppy cables for IBM PCs had all edge connectors and later cables that had both pins and edge connectors typically had a pin connector for the controller side. If you have a spare floppy cable, you could replace connectors to match your needs.

There used to be a whole array of adapters to switch edge connectors to pin connectors. If you can find appropriate versions of that, your existing cables and drives could be made to work. I didn't find any in a quick web search. What is likely to be faster than trying to find scarce adapters from 30 years ago is to get a replacement floppy card with a pin connector.
 
I've got a few of the adapters, but they're pretty thin on the ground. They used to be packaged with the 3.5"-to-5.25" floppy adapter kits, along with a power cable adapter--but all that seems to be ancient history.

All "combo" floppy cables I've ever seen have 5 connectors--two card-edge, next to two pin connectors and a pin connector at the controller end. The card-edge FDCs lasted but a short time.
 
I've seen 5.25" to 3.5" bay adapters on auction within the last couple of weeks with the pin to card edge adapter included. I also saw an auction recently where they were selling the adapters by themselves. Just keep your eyes open because they do come up from time to time. There are also auctions for vintage floppy cables like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-PAT...978790?hash=item2a4a1c0d26:g:rTQAAOxySoJTRxcV

Take a look at this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teac-CS-235...933e2a&pid=100011&rk=4&rkt=10&sd=222111418023

The adapter you're looking for is in the middle of the picture.

Old cables can be canibalized for parts. Once you have some cable and some connectors it's easy enough to build what you need. One of the frequently used tools in my bag of tricks is a rather long 34 conductor cable with one of each type of connector at each position. That produces an almost universal floppy cable that you can use to get things rigged together for testing purposes. Then you can build a "custom" cable for your particular configuration when you're sure what is going to go where.
 
DDS said:
The adapter you're looking for is in the middle of the picture.
Click to expand...
No, that isn't what he is looking for.

That one has a female IDC connector AND a male card edge connector while the one he wants is the complete opposite, i.e., a male IDC with 34 pins and a female card edge connector.

FWIW, I have a ~ 15", 34 conductor ribbon cable with a 34 pin male IDC connector at one end and a female card edge connector at the other. Now, that would work to connect the standard controller end connector of the floppy ribbon cable to one that would connect to the 5150's floppy controller.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Again, the simplest thing to do is to crimp a 34-pin IDC connector onto the cable next to the standard Berg connector.
Click to expand...

While probably true, I honestly don't have any means of doing that. Does anyone sell one of these pre-crimped?

Stone said:
FWIW, I have a ~ 15", 34 conductor ribbon cable with a 34 pin male IDC connector at one end and a female card edge connector at the other. Now, that would work to connect the standard controller end connector of the floppy ribbon cable to one that would connect to the 5150's floppy controller.
Click to expand...
Not sure I follow what you're saying. It sounds like I need a cable like this:

Female Card Edge > Female IDC > [Wire Twist] > Female Card Edge

Does that sound right?
 
tempest said:
While probably true, I honestly don't have any means of doing that. Does anyone sell one of these pre-crimped?


Not sure I follow what you're saying. It sounds like I need a cable like this:

Female Card Edge > Female IDC > [Wire Twist] > Female Card Edge

Does that sound right?
Click to expand...

Sounds right. Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone who sells one like that premade. I suggest picking up an extra floppy cable. Cheap and the modification needed is relatively easy.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Send me a cable and a connector and I'll crimp it on for you. I usually make my own floppy cables anyway.
Click to expand...

I already have a cable that goes Female IDC > Female IDC > Female IDC > Female Edge Connector > [Twist] > Female IDC > Female Edge Connector. If I'm right all that needs to be changed is to put a female edge connector at the beginning of the chain. If I send it to you, could the extra female edge connector be taken off and put on the end? That would save some time and money.
 
"That one has a female IDC connector AND a male card edge connector while the one he wants is the complete opposite, i.e., a male IDC with 34 pins and a female card edge connector"

Yep... I see what you mean.

"Female Card Edge > Female IDC > [Wire Twist] > Female Card Edge"

That would be the correct setup if you want the 3.5" drive to be B:. If you want it to be A: it needs to be on the end of the cable after the twist.

Another point to quibble over but it might mess up any searches you do is that technically both of those connector types are IDC or "Insulation Displacement Connector". This refers to the way the connector connects to the ribbon cable, not the way it connects to the floppy drive. The older type is a card edge or keyed card edge connector. The newer type seems to go by various names like pin header connector, header type connector or Berg connector after one of the companies that make them.
 
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