+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 I dunno - can anybody read that? Bob Unit is going to need a retro-bright treatment by the way.....sorry for being curious Bob but what is the hand writing on top of the box ? anything special ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 The main case does not seem to be dis-colored. It may be that someone has already swapped the drive. Bob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I have an SF354 I can look at tonight. I'll open her up and report back. OK - is this an SF354 mechanism? I assumed that the ST used regular 34-pin drives. Maybe not? The XF351 drive has a single row of interface pins and what looks like a standard power connector. It is also thicker than a regular 3.5. Bob DSC01422.JPG DSC01423.JPG DSC01424.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Someone needs to clone that controller board so we can mod our otherwise useless ST floppy drives. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SoulBuster Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 here are some pics maybe these will help http://atariage.com/forums/topic/211924-old-atari-sf354-hxc-floppy-emulator/?p=2747536 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I dunno - can anybody read that? Bob DSC01425.JPG Chinon FCC #272 454 ??? (looks like =1) ) then maybe BRR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Looks like the XF351 uses an ST354 mechanism. Anybody got an ST354 they could part with? Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The main case does not seem to be dis-colored. It may be that someone has already swapped the drive. Bob oh wow yes that could very well be ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Or they were just made of two different batches of plastic. I have several original unaltered drives for various systems that have discolored in different spots. I don't think that's enough to tell if the mech has been swapped out. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 True. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Bob, I do have one, If it turns out that it is the same drive mechanism I'm sure I could part with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) I'm not doubting you, since you own one of these, but this suggests that it is the same mechanism as the SF354. http://firewi.com/ahs/xf351.html In the quoted site kind of infers that the unit is a 1.44MB, but obviously its not. Assuming it is the same mechanism as the SF354 it's single sided 360KB. Apparently these units were very similar in operation to the XF551... so it stands to reason that DOS XE would have been the goto DOS. A double sided version would have been much more useful... the other thing that is incorrect about 1.44MB is that 1.44 MB diskettes and drives were introduced sometime in 1987... and the XF351 developed in 1986 (doesn't the ROM chip have 1986 written on it)? Edited November 10, 2014 by bbking67 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yes, the ROM is from '86. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 In the quoted site kind of infers that the unit is a 1.44MB, but obviously its not. Assuming it is the same mechanism as the SF354 it's single sided 360KB. Apparently these units were very similar in operation to the XF551... so it stands to reason that DOS XE would have been the goto DOS. A double sided version would have been much more useful... the other thing that is incorrect about 1.44MB is that 1.44 MB diskettes and drives were introduced sometime in 1987... and the XF351 developed in 1986 (doesn't the ROM chip have 1986 written on it)? Although 1.44MB capacity is mentioned with reference to 3.5" floppies in general, the article infers to me that the XF351 unit was 720KB DS/DD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Nice bob could you dump the rom chip aswell before selling and tell us which cpu this drive uses i guess 8040/8050 like xf551 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I have only been aware of a 360 and 720 official version of XF3..... that being said my xf551 were updated to 1.4... the bad news..... low density disks all survived the sands of time and worked... the high 1.4 ones over 75% failed after 21 years.... that made bbs back ups useless for reconstruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) 1.44MB floppies are rubbish, IMO. But like I say: that article doesn't suggest for a moment that there was ever a 1.44MB Atari floppy drive. The XF551 mod sounds pretty interesting, though. I didn't even realize this was possible. I'll stick at 720KB, though. Edited November 10, 2014 by flashjazzcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 The XF551 mod is complicated by the less than robust PCB that Atari put out. Otherwise, it is pretty simple. Some AA member got one of the first XF551s and had a 3.5 in there as soon at he got it open. ( I guess he violated the warranty...) He had to write (in BASIC, no less) an 8040 dis-assembler so he could alter a couple of parameters. That was all it needed. I have hundreds of 720K, 3.5 8-bit disks. Works great. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Could you take a peek in there an let me know? Thanks. Bob Bob, I do have one, If it turns out that it is the same drive mechanism I'm sure I could part with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The XF551 mod is complicated by the less than robust PCB that Atari put out. Otherwise, it is pretty simple. I never experienced issues with the PCB on either of mine, but I guess I was just lucky. I put a 3.5" 720K mech in one and left the other one stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Not looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_J64bit Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 In the quoted site kind of infers that the unit is a 1.44MB, but obviously its not. Assuming it is the same mechanism as the SF354 it's single sided 360KB. Apparently these units were very similar in operation to the XF551... so it stands to reason that DOS XE would have been the goto DOS. A double sided version would have been much more useful... the other thing that is incorrect about 1.44MB is that 1.44 MB diskettes and drives were introduced sometime in 1987... and the XF351 developed in 1986 (doesn't the ROM chip have 1986 written on it)? That's a scary thought DOS XE, I've toyed with DOS XE it's pain just to move files over to DOS XE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Darn... that isn't it. Thanks for trying! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Hello Jon Someone needs to clone that controller board so we can mod our otherwise useless ST floppy drives. Dropcheck? Sincerely Mathy PS I read on her site that's she's back in business. And she could add the second SIO port. Edited November 10, 2014 by Mathy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilaskey Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I'm just impressed someone had a copy of Curt's site back when it had loads of cool content. It seems to have lost much of the interesting stuff over the years but here it all is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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