USB flash drive floppy emulator- direct replacement?

[Tupin]

I recently picked up an IBM PC Convertible and was thinking about replacing one of the drives with one of those "drives" that uses a flash drive to store floppies:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-1000-Fl...=US_Floppy_Zip_Jaz_Drives&hash=item25920afc16

Would this or something like it work in what I want or would I need something like an HxC?

 

[Stone]

Can you run this with DOS? I thought it requires Windows.

 

[Al Hartman]

You would want to get a version that supports 720k drives rather than 1.44mb. I suppose it would work, but you'd need a modern PC to load up the USB drive with images.

 

[Tupin]

Well yeah, I suppose I should look for the ones designed for older keyboards and such.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Eh, wrong one (and yes, it'll work with DOS and Windows), but this one is 1.44M only. It does not emulate 720K (which you probably want). There are 720K versions wandering around eBay.

 

[Malc]

....(and yes, it'll work with DOS and Windows)....

I didn't realize they worked in DOS, Now i got to get one and have a play

 

[Chuck(G)]

They literally function electrically as floppy drives--they plug right into the floppy connector. Loading data on the USB stick is done on another USB-capable machine, obviously. But yeah, they work well as striaght DOS-format floppies--just get the right one (1.44M or 720K for your system).

They offer straight DOS (18 sector or 9 sector) formats--you can't change that by trying to format them.

 

[Unknown_K]

Eh, wrong one (and yes, it'll work with DOS and Windows), but this one is 1.44M only. It does not emulate 720K (which you probably want). There are 720K versions wandering around eBay.

Do those 720K versions work with Amiga ADF files?

 

[MikeModifed]

I know nothing about Amigas, but this http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/syd/4634469519.html is always on local C/L.

Mike

 

[Chuck(G)]

You do know about this project involving the Gotek box and the Amiga, don't you?

 

[SkydivinGirl]

I purchased one of the 720K versions for my Commodore PC10-III project. Within the 720K category, there are models that require custom formatting of the USB drive into 720K partitions and ones that use a FAT32 formatted drive with folders and disk images.

Even though it is more expensive, I would really suggest the one that uses the FAT32 formatted flash drives. You create 999 folders that can contain any amount of data. However, only the first 720K of data will actually be accessible through the drive. There's also a disk image folder that will use up to 100 floppy image files. You would use the image files for specially formatted floppies, such as boot disks.

None of these types of drives work on the Amiga unless you flash the drive with the custom Amiga firmware. Be aware that it's a one way conversion because, from what I know, nobody has been able to extract the original firmware. Once you flash it for Amiga, that's all it's good for. If you buy one to convert for use on the Amiga, ANY of the 1.44MB versions of the Gotek will work. This means you can find the cheapest one on eBay to use for the Amiga.

I hope this helps!

Heather