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PS3000 floppy drive upgrade?


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Greetings, all!

 

I recently dug my SF314 out of mini storage, only to find that the PSU seems to have disappeared into that black hole where all of the left socks go out of the wash.

 

I was thinking that, instead of trying to find a new PSU for it, I might see about replacing the SF354 that's built into my PS3000 with a double-sided mechanism and saving some space on the desk.

 

Is this feasible without having to hack up my poor PS3000? It's the only color monitor I've got right now and I don't want to risk it if I don't have to.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

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  • 4 weeks later...

No idea what a PS3000 is, but are you just trying to replace the floppy drive ? I'm sure you could just get a replacement drive without taking Atari drives to bits for parts ?

The PS3000 was an Atari monitor with the floppy drive built into the case.

 

post-6701-0-28852100-1399399924_thumb.jpg

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I don't really want to hack this thing up, being that it's my only ST color monitor, so I was just wondering if it was something that could be done fairly easily.

 

The only reference I've found online involves hacking and soldering.

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Why not just buy a small PSU adapter off evilbay, If there is a mains connection you can tap into, link the new PSU to the mains socket internally, and just connect the new PSU directly to the floppy drive.. with some minor cable editing..

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-5V-AC-Adapter-For-HARD-DISK-Drive-Power-Supply-/250863729683?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccessories_PowerSupplies&hash=item3a68a4bc13

 

Or just get a Din plug and wire the new PSU into the Din plug, pinouts of the connector must be around somewhere. Other than the plug change it would be pretty much a straight swap.

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Cool, not seen one of those before :). How easy is it to get into the actual disk drive section of the monitor? Do you have to take the back off the CRT to get at the disk drive? If you can get at the disk drive bit seperately it might not be too hard.

 

If the connections internally is anything like a normal SF314/354 it should just be case of swapping the drive over (the SF314 you have is a big button one?). In the SF314 there is a bit of a logic board that interfaces to the disk drive. Presumably that monitor has the same thing, so it might just be a case of swapping the drive over. Whether the logic board can handle a double sided drive is another matter (or if it makes any difference at all I don't know), I've swapped a double sided drive into an SF354 before without issue though.

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I have never tried getting into the case before... it could be quite a production.

 

Funny thing about the PS3000... there were supposedly only about 1,000 of them made and distributed through out the U.S. and Canada. This is the 2nd one I've owned and I got both of them for free. I gave the other one to a friend who is a serious Atari collector in France and he was VERY happy to get it.

 

I see it as a white elephant... people told me for years that they'd love to have it, but no one ever wanted to trade me anything for it and if anyone ever did, they were not willing to pay for shipping (it's VERY heavy for its size). I was afraid to put too much wear-and-tear on it, because it was an odd duck, so it sat in my mini storage for years, getting dusty. I needed a color monitor for my ST setup, so I took it out recently and started using it again. Nice monitor, I just have no need for a single-sided drive at this point and was looking into my options.

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Yeah internal fitting could be tricky. Easy option is to just change the connector on the PSU (assume its a din for floppy power), I never seen one of the things until today so cant offer any assistance with it..

 

Of course really easy way is to find the proper PSU ;)

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It can be either A: or B:, depending on how you hook it up. Being that I have an ST with an internal FDD, the one in the monitor will always be drive B: for me.

 

I guess I will just get a proper PSU for my SF314 and go with that. I thought it'd be cool to try and put the mechanism into the PS3000, but things are working fine for me right now and I don't want to mess that up. :twisted:

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  • 1 month later...

I had the same idea for my PS3000. I did take it apart and the drive is a different mechanize. It has a custom flat data connection. Like the one on a 800XL keyboard. And the eject buttons do not line up with those of the 314's. It also has a non standard bay to hold the drive on place. It would be a very difficult job to upgrade a PS3000 to 720K drive.

fyi

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I have never tried getting into the case before... it could be quite a production.

 

Funny thing about the PS3000... there were supposedly only about 1,000 of them made and distributed through out the U.S. and Canada. This is the 2nd one I've owned and I got both of them for free. I gave the other one to a friend who is a serious Atari collector in France and he was VERY happy to get it.

 

I see it as a white elephant... people told me for years that they'd love to have it, but no one ever wanted to trade me anything for it and if anyone ever did, they were not willing to pay for shipping (it's VERY heavy for its size). I was afraid to put too much wear-and-tear on it, because it was an odd duck, so it sat in my mini storage for years, getting dusty. I needed a color monitor for my ST setup, so I took it out recently and started using it again. Nice monitor, I just have no need for a single-sided drive at this point and was looking into my options.

 

I only saw one over at Federated back in the day, and a good year before Atari bought that chain. What killed it popularity-wise was the fact that it had the SF354 built-in instead of the SF314. Had it had the 314, it would've been in serious demand.

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  • 3 years later...

I know this is an old topic, however just thought I would add my 2 cents. I actually installed 720k disk drives in two PS3000 monitors. It wasn't difficult at all. It was also easy to set them up so that the drive would be detected as B: instead of A: so it could be used with ST computers that had a built-in disk drive.

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I know this is an old topic, however just thought I would add my 2 cents. I actually installed 720k disk drives in two PS3000 monitors. It wasn't difficult at all. It was also easy to set them up so that the drive would be detected as B: instead of A: so it could be used with ST computers that had a built-in disk drive.

 

How did you do that? The connection are not the same inside the PS3000. I have one I have wanting to upgrade for years.

Can you explain in some detail how you did the upgrade. I know it would be a major pain, but a few pictures would last a 1000 words.

What drive mechanism did you use? Was is it from a SF314 1/3 big button drive? The one I tried with did not match up for data or power.

Please explain your method, parts, mounting, power, drive jumper setting, etc.

Many, many thanks if you post!!!

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How did you do that? The connection are not the same inside the PS3000. I have one I have wanting to upgrade for years.

Can you explain in some detail how you did the upgrade. I know it would be a major pain, but a few pictures would last a 1000 words.

What drive mechanism did you use? Was is it from a SF314 1/3 big button drive? The one I tried with did not match up for data or power.

Please explain your method, parts, mounting, power, drive jumper setting, etc.

Many, many thanks if you post!!!

 

As I recall it wasn't that difficult. The floppy drive that is required is the original big button drive from a SF314. I don't recall having to change the power connector. I did have to remove the data connector and solder in a 34 pin ribbon cable for a standard floppy drive. I still have one of the PS3000 monitors that I modded. I will try to take some pics and post them.

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  • 4 months later...

I have never tried getting into the case before... it could be quite a production.

 

Funny thing about the PS3000... there were supposedly only about 1,000 of them made and distributed through out the U.S. and Canada. This is the 2nd one I've owned and I got both of them for free. I gave the other one to a friend who is a serious Atari collector in France and he was VERY happy to get it.

 

I see it as a white elephant... people told me for years that they'd love to have it, but no one ever wanted to trade me anything for it and if anyone ever did, they were not willing to pay for shipping (it's VERY heavy for its size). I was afraid to put too much wear-and-tear on it, because it was an odd duck, so it sat in my mini storage for years, getting dusty. I needed a color monitor for my ST setup, so I took it out recently and started using it again. Nice monitor, I just have no need for a single-sided drive at this point and was looking into my options.

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That would be most helpful. Thanks!

 

Here's some pictures of the PS3000 that I modded so that I could install a double-sided floppy drive. I did not have to modify the power connector. It fit the double-sided drive without any modification. The data connector was the only part that needed to be modified. For the data connector, I had to remove the original mylar connector on the board and solder in a 34 pin ribbon cable with the appropriate connector attached. I figured out the wiring for the 34 pin connector by comparing the external drive connector with the pads on the board.

 

I also had to remove the bottom shielding of the double-sided drive so that it would fit in the monitor. The two mounting screw holes for the single-sided drive are in the same location as the double-sided drive. I used the original screws for the single-sided drive to bolt in the double-sided drive.

 

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.
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I have never tried getting into the case before... it could be quite a production.

 

Funny thing about the PS3000... there were supposedly only about 1,000 of them made and distributed through out the U.S. and Canada. This is the 2nd one I've owned and I got both of them for free. I gave the other one to a friend who is a serious Atari collector in France and he was VERY happy to get it.

 

I see it as a white elephant... people told me for years that they'd love to have it, but no one ever wanted to trade me anything for it and if anyone ever did, they were not willing to pay for shipping (it's VERY heavy for its size). I was afraid to put too much wear-and-tear on it, because it was an odd duck, so it sat in my mini storage for years, getting dusty. I needed a color monitor for my ST setup, so I took it out recently and started using it again. Nice monitor, I just have no need for a single-sided drive at this point and was looking into my options.

 

 

It is not a big deal to open a PS3000 monitor. There are only 7 screws holding the back housing on.

 

-Two of them are on the top of the monitor and are hidden by plastic covers. The plastic covers have pry holes and pop off pretty easily.

-The next two screws are on either side of the part that houses the floppy drive. If you spin the monitor around so the back housing is facing you, look at the power switch. You will see the first screw. The second one is on the other side in the exact same location.

-There is one screw in the hatch that houses the brightness, contrast and volume dials. Don't forget to remove all three dials as well, or the back housing will catch on them. The dials can be removed with your fingernails.

-The last set of screws are easily located underneath the monitor. (The screws that hold the stand to the monitor do not need to be removed.)

 

Once you have all 7 screws and the dials removed, the back housing should slide off without binding on anything.

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Here's some pictures of the PS3000 that I modded so that I could install a double-sided floppy drive. I did not have to modify the power connector. It fit the double-sided drive without any modification. The data connector was the only part that needed to be modified. For the data connector, I had to remove the original mylar connector on the board and solder in a 34 pin ribbon cable with the appropriate connector attached. I figured out the wiring for the 34 pin connector by comparing the external drive connector with the pads on the board.

 

I also had to remove the bottom shielding of the double-sided drive so that it would fit in the monitor. The two mounting screw holes for the single-sided drive are in the same location as the double-sided drive. I used the original screws for the single-sided drive to bolt in the double-sided drive.

 

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.

 

Can you put up a video of it running?

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