soviet Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Hello finally i was able to get my hands on a coleco adam floppy drive i found it on a market mixed on a bunch of random stuff. This is very good for me because i have installed on my adam a microinovations CF ide kit. I like to use the drive to transfer software from my pc to the adam. Now i have some issues to get the drive working first, the floppy drive is missing its power supply and the adamnet cable. I have some questions I can use an adam keyboard cable ? Theres some website having manteinance information reparair tips shematics etc ? I can replace the internal mechanisem for a 360k xt floppy drive ? i have a brand new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 If you are in need of cables, you can get them here in varying lengths: http://www.showmecables.com/Search.aspx?q=RJ12+6+Conductor+6P6C+Flat+Silver+Satin+Crossed+Telephone+Line+Cord Just be sure you order the "crossed" or "reverse" ones. Hello finally i was able to get my hands on a coleco adam floppy drive i found it on a market mixed on a bunch of random stuff. This is very good for me because i have installed on my adam a microinovations CF ide kit. I like to use the drive to transfer software from my pc to the adam. Now i have some issues to get the drive working first, the floppy drive is missing its power supply and the adamnet cable. I have some questions I can use an adam keyboard cable ? Theres some website having manteinance information reparair tips shematics etc ? I can replace the internal mechanisem for a 360k xt floppy drive ? i have a brand new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Congrats on the score of an ADAM Disk Drive. BTW, the IDE CF Card is made by MicroFox Technologies (ADAMcon) and not Micro Innovations. There have been numerous threads on this forum covering in detail everything that you have asked and unfortunately I don't have the time right now to search for each specific thread. So put that Forum Search function to use as follows: - Enter the criteria DCOPY, ADAM CONNECTION or EOS to find details on transferring files between a PC and the ADAM as well as vice versa. - Contact ADAMcon (Bob S.) to see if he has a Disk Drive Power Supply/Transformer available. If not, you can use an Atari 9V P.S./Transformer as it is identical, even in appearance except that it is solid black whereas the ADAM's was beige and some drives came with a black one. There was mention of this in a thread as well. - You can use the ADAM Keyboard coiled ADAMnet Cable to hook-up the Disk Drive. They are 100% interchangeable or you can order a cable from the link lblenkle provided. I have bought these cables from them and they work great. There's also a number of threads that discuss this if you search for them. - No websites that I know off have maintenance or schematics of the Disk Drive, but you can check with ADAMcon (http://ann.hollowdreams.com) - You can not replace the drive mechanics with the 360K disk drive without making other modifications to the drive and replacing the BIOS chip on the disk drive controller board with updated firmware. I don't know if anyone still has all this information anymore, but back in the 80's, this drive upgrade mod was very popular and was available in two different sizes: 5 1/4" 320K and 3 1/2" 720K. You can read up about all this info in the NIAD Newsletters that are available on jblenkle's website in PDF format, the link is provided in my SIG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 Thanks for the reply i got an atari 1050 floppy drive so i just get the transoformer from there also i'm using a know working adam keyboard coiled cable. The drive seems to by detected by eos i can format a disk from the filemanager menu but after some blocks i get errors i'm using brand new kodad dsdd disks i will do some more testing and post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Sounds like you got some know-how, but I'll mention this anway. Have you used a Disk Cleaner on the drive? Hopefully this will rectify the problem. BTW, is the error during the format process or the verification process? If routine maintenance doesn't solve the problem, I would try a different brand of disks to see what the results are. The Kodak disks are good quality, but sometimes a drive has problems with certain types and other brands work just fine. If all else fails, there could be an alignment problem or you have a defective controller board. For alignment, there is a Variable Capacitor on the left side (when looking at the drive from the front) of the controller board, about half-way back. Mine is a small white plastic square with a screw in the middle. I posted a thread about this a couple years ago so just search for "disk drive alignment" and the best program to use when adjusting the variable capacitor is the program that originally came with the disk drive... Disk Manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks for the reply NIAD its good to know where the calibration adjustments are located. I was able to fix the problem that keep the drive from working. First i lubricated all the mechanisem and clean the drive motor Next i found that the drive head don't move at all, theres a single green wire that is soldered to the leg off an I.C on the bottom of the drisk drive this wire go down to a connector that is located behind the data cable on the controller board, i connected it first and don't work so i just connected it upside down and the drive started working. I don't know how well calibrated the drive is because i don't own any adam floppys formated in other drive. But now the drive seems to format and read fine copy files etc. Also i tried to get an standard AT mechanisem to work on the adam controller board i set the jumpers on the disk drive to RDY,DS0 and the controller started to see the drive i fooled the controller because theres an extra connector to 2 diodes on the left side looking to the front one of them seems to detect if the floppy is write protected i just ignored it and the other seems to detect theres a disk on the drive the problem is that the single wire cable is not present on a ibm drive when the adam try to get the disk drive to move it seems that the head get stuck. Maybe the eprom need to by modfied or some other hardware hack is necesary as you say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 As far as I recall, the disk insert sensor from the controller has to be connected to the 360K drive mechanics and there might be another mod that needs to be made between the controller board and the mechanics. As far as the Eprom, yes, the original eprom that is located on the controller board in a socket at the front/left of the controller board needs to be pulled and replaced. Two companies (M.M.S.G. and Orphanware) from back in the late 80's developed updated disk drive firmware to support either a 320K (M.M.S.G.) or 360K (Orphanware) standard. I have not seen these Eeproms available anywhere for years, but you could check with ADAMcon and also eColeco to see if you get lucky. As far as software, there were numerous commercial and public domain utility programs for formatting and copying that supported these large size drive conversions with the best being File Manager v2.0 thru v3.1 and CP/M patches were developed although T-DOS is a better alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 It could by nice if someone that have one of this updated disk drive take some pictures of the inside and maybe dump de eproms. Having access to this i could gladly post a complete mod guide including pictures of how tu update your disk drive to a 360k mechanisem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 The best chance for pictures as well as a dump of the Eprom would then be ADAMcon as I'm sure he has one or more of these modded drives... probably even has a modded 3 1/2" 720K drive. I know another member on AtariAge that might have one or more is Rich DiRocco and you can find his ADAM website here: http://rich.dirocco.org/Coleco/adam/ADAM.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Thanks for the reply niad, but after looking on rich webpage i was unable to find any email address to contact him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 He is an AtariAge member, so you can send him a PM.... http://atariage.com/forums/user/22026-rgdirocco/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coleconut Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 In reading this thread, I recall that I had some Eproms that I had bought a long time ago when I bought a bunch of drives working and not, upgraded and not from a guy in NY state. I never got around to trying anything, I cannot guarantee anything but if I got the $20 shipped that I paid for these I would be ok with that. Have a look at the pic and let me know.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Looks like you bought those Eproms from Shon M. (HDTV......... here on AtariAge). You would use the eprom labeled DBL4, but then you still need info on the wiring modification that needs to be done... but I think it only had to do with the disk insert sensor. The DBL6 eeprom would be used if you wanted to hookup 3 or 4 disk drives to the ADAM and be able to use them all at the same time. However, there are only a couple programs like File Manager, a patched CP/M 2.2, T-DOS and a patched SmartBASIC that can access up to 4 disk drives. If you want to test this ability out, Steve Pitman's Virtual ADAM allows you to setup up to 4 disks drives and 4 data drives, but the software program you use has to have the ability to access all these extra drives programmed into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 I can by interested so i can dump them and get them here 4free, also i'm highly interested on the disk detetect mofication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Good luck with the hunt for the modification info. I would send ADAMcon a PM here as well as visit his site and send an email to the address that is provided there. Also, it wouldn't hurt to contact Terry Fowler at eColeco as I'm sure he has the mod instructions on hand although he probably doesn't have the Eproms available anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yes i already PM ADAMcon he says that he will try to get them when he is back from the adamcon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcon Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Yes i already PM ADAMcon he says that he will try to get them when he is back from the adamcon. Well I got them....now what to do with them. About 800k worth of pics and instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Great you can upload them and share the link ?. Or just email them to my and i do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Great to hear you have the docs for the drive upgrade(s) and hope to see them made available for everyone's benefit soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 If you want to send them to me, I'll post them on my ADAM web page. Well I got them....now what to do with them. About 800k worth of pics and instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 After opening the coleco drive i see the design look much better than the commodore drives that are also serial lot less components also look much more reliable very nice. Ok now i got my new eprom programmer and flashed the original eprom on the floppy drive using the 320kdoug.bin the software that the eprom burner have don't like the 320kdbl2.bin file gives an error so i used the 320kdoug.bin. Using the original disk drive the drive seems to by detected by the adam so the eprom burned look to by OK. Reading the file "disk drive upgrade.bmp" says: RESUME: FIND U4 if is a 74LS05 Replace 7405 JUMPER FROM P5 PIN 34 to P4 pin 2 JUMPER FROM p5 PIN 32 to U3 pin 8 IF YOUR DRIVE IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A DISK PRESENT SWITCH SOLDER SWITCH FROM PIN 34 TO GND OK have some questions. On the pictures says PIN40 this seems to by an error and is refering to PIN34 ?, On the pictures don't seem to by installed the jumper from U3 to pin 8 this is necesary for the mod to work ?. I have on my drive in U4 an 74LS05 chip is necesary to replace it to an 7405 ? Have a 7406 chip seems to by pin compatible to the 7405 can be use ? I have to do the jumper from PIN34 to PIN2 + the switch mod ? or they are separated options ? The single green wire that come from the original drive what is it purpose ?. The switch need to by closed when the disk is inserted or when the drive is empty ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcon Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 After opening the coleco drive i see the design look much better than the commodore drives that are also serial lot less components also look much more reliable very nice. Ok now i got my new eprom programmer and flashed the original eprom on the floppy drive using the 320kdoug.bin the software that the eprom burner have don't like the 320kdbl2.bin file gives an error so i used the 320kdoug.bin. Using the original disk drive the drive seems to by detected by the adam so the eprom burned look to by OK. Reading the file "disk drive upgrade.bmp" says: RESUME: FIND U4 if is a 74LS05 Replace 7405 JUMPER FROM P5 PIN 34 to P4 pin 2 JUMPER FROM p5 PIN 32 to U3 pin 8 IF YOUR DRIVE IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A DISK PRESENT SWITCH SOLDER SWITCH FROM PIN 34 TO GND OK have some questions. On the pictures says PIN40 this seems to by an error and is refering to PIN34 ?, On the pictures don't seem to by installed the jumper from U3 to pin 8 this is necesary for the mod to work ?. I have on my drive in U4 an 74LS05 chip is necesary to replace it to an 7405 ? Have a 7406 chip seems to by pin compatible to the 7405 can be use ? I have to do the jumper from PIN34 to PIN2 + the switch mod ? or they are separated options ? The single green wire that come from the original drive what is it purpose ?. The switch need to by closed when the disk is inserted or when the drive is empty ? WHOA, that is a lot to digest. Having never attempted to convert a drive; I can't be a very big help. I believe the green wire you mention is just a ground for the 160k Coleco drive and do not need to address in the conversion. I believe you are correct that the disk in sensor connects to pin 34 and ground. and closed when disk is in. The others issues I defer to NIAD or son Doug if he sees this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soviet Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Thank for your reply adamcon already having the eprom files and the text reference is a great help because whitout it theres no way the upgrade can by performed. I will try different variations and post the results, i also have 5 different 5.25 360k floppy mechs assemblys to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I defer to Doug concerning this "technical" stuff. Good luck with the mod Soviet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcon Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) I defer to Doug concerning this "technical" stuff. Good luck with the mod Soviet. Based on my converted 320k drive, the conversion requires the following: - replace U10 with an alternate EPROM image - jumper from pin 17 of U6 (6803) to both pins 9 & 10 of U3 (74LS32) - jumper from pin 8 of U3 to pin 32 of P5 (floppy connector) - side select - jumper from pin 2 of P4 to pin 34 of P5 (floppy connector) - disk in mechanism - jumper from pin 4 of U4 (74LS05) to pin 21 of U6 (6803) - solder a 7405 either instead of or on top of U4 if it is a 74LS05 - rewire from P3 to P6 (power connector of floppy) correcting supply voltage locations ****** 160k mechanism does not use standard power connector wiring ****** - install disk-in mechanism (momentary switch) on floppy disk drive and connect to pin 34 of floppy disk drive ALSO, check your email. I sent you some pics to go with the docs Edited March 28, 2015 by adamcon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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