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Just completed the 80 Track disk controller MOD


Sinphaltimus

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Just completed my 80-track Mod.

Will thoroughly check all solder points before plugging in. Which I can't do until the weekend.

 

Hope I done good.

 

I took lots of photos, some might make good prints for wall art.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206865163899614&set=a.2902404651182.2113402.1592441926&type=3

 

 

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The second chip I put in (u27) I didn't check before I put the first row of solder points and was wondering why things felt strange. As soon asw I started the second row I realized what I had done. I flipped the board ove and the chip was in crooked, one end touch the board, the other end the pins were barely making it in to the holes. Like a ramp the long way. I had to desolder it all and loosen up the pins enough to get them all to push through.

I didn't take pics, that was the last thing on my mind. I should have though.

I'm a bit rusty.

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The second chip I put in (u27) I didn't check before I put the first row of solder points and was wondering why things felt strange. As soon asw I started the second row I realized what I had done. I flipped the board ove and the chip was in crooked, one end touch the board, the other end the pins were barely making it in to the holes. Like a ramp the long way. I had to desolder it all and loosen up the pins enough to get them all to push through.

 

I didn't take pics, that was the last thing on my mind. I should have though.

 

I'm a bit rusty.

 

I've learned the hard way too! I think all of us have at some point. When i assembled my FlashRom99 i forgot to put a piece of electrical tape between the SD card adapter and the tactile switch. Needless to say it was grounding out and I was not getting any power. Luckily i clicked within a minute or so and realized I forgot it.

 

I did not have to unsolder though, i was able to get a piece of electrical tape in there with no problem.

 

Like I said, we have all pulled Homer's (DOH!).

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Speaking of sockets, are you going to use them?

s-l1600.jpg

 

NOW YOU TELL ME!?!?!

 

LOL, Uhm no. I forgot all about it. I know someone mentioned it somewhere (maybe even you) in case of future updates.

 

No worries, it was pretty straight forward, I wouldn't mind desoldering/resoldering again. Maybe next time I'll remember.

 

:/

 

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Sinphaltimus, on 01 Sept 2016 - 02:37 AM, said:

The second chip I put in (u27) I didn't check before I put the first row of solder points and was wondering why things felt strange. As soon asw I started the second row I realized what I had done. I flipped the board ove and the chip was in crooked, one end touch the board, the other end the pins were barely making it in to the holes. Like a ramp the long way. I had to desolder it all and loosen up the pins enough to get them all to push through.

 

I didn't take pics, that was the last thing on my mind. I should have though.

 

I'm a bit rusty.

 

If you solder the 4 corner pins first then you can check everything is straight before doing the rest of them.

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DM2K? Is that not Disk Manager 2? Same as the cart I have ro something different? OK OK, I got it and I'll load it up in a bit.

 

First, I have some questions:

 

Background: My MOD is DSK1-80, DSK2-80, DSK3-40

I connected a PC Floppy cable unmodified (it has the default PC twist for the second connector, I know I have to change this)

I connected a 3.5" floppy, it comes up as DSK1 - No Problem, that's what I want.

When my GoTek arrives, I will modify the PC floppy cable so that the GoTek is DKSK1.

 

Here's where I get stuck.

 

I have a bunch of 5 1/4" drives. I want one to be my DSK3 but apparently they are not configured that way.

I know about the "terminators" - The drive with the terminator gets recognized as DSK2 connected via the external connection - this conflicts with 3.5" floppy.

So I connected the 5.24" drive without the terminator, it gets recognized as DSK1 on the external port.

How do I change the DSK ID so that it becomes DSK3? I cannot seem to locate any jumpers. This is a half height Tandon TM50-2FS drive. I have two of these.

I also have 2 full height Shugart 400L drives, again, no jumpers to be found nor do these appear to have terminators. Possibly hard coded for DSK1?

 

What can I do to get DSK3 40 track going?

I'd rather have all 3 drive connected at once. However; I'm will to give up the 40 track DSK provided some of my assumptions are true.

 

Can I just copy my Editor assembly 5.25 disk to a 3.5" disk and have it work fine?

 

Can I do that with the very few 5.25" disks I have so that I will no longer need a 5.24" drive when done?

 

What about tapes? Like the E/A cassette, can I just load up what ever programs are o there and save them to DSK so I no longer need the cassette tapes?

If the above are true and I can do all of that, then my final set up will be DSK1 GoTek, DSK2 3.5" floppy.

I do have the FR99 as well.

 

Will I lose any capabilities besides 5.25 floppy use or is getting DSK3 on the external easily remedied?

 

Perhaps I should modify the internal cable so that the second DSK connector is DSK3? Then I would have DSK2 and DSK3 internal (GoTek/3.5") and leave 5.25 external as DSK1?

Edited by Sinphaltimus
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DM2K? Is that not Disk Manager 2? Same as the cart I have ro something different? OK OK, I got it and I'll load it up in a bit.

No, a separate machine language program (Disk manager 2000)

 

How do I change the DSK ID so that it becomes DSK3? I cannot seem to locate any jumpers. This is a half height Tandon TM50-2FS drive. I have two of these.

I also have 2 full height Shugart 400L drives, again, no jumpers to be found nor do these appear to have terminators. Possibly hard coded for DSK1?

 

If you cannot jumper the drive, you'll have to build a special cable. Drives may be hardcoded for DS1 (drive select), but it suffices to route the DS3 line to the DS1 pin of the drive. The drive itself is dumb (remember what I said). This is the reason why you can actually work with twisted cables instead of jumpering.

 

As for teminators, I don't find removable terminators in most of my drives, and I did not know that they are actually relevant. Termination was indeed an issue for SCSI busses.

 

 

Can I just copy my Editor assembly 5.25 disk to a 3.5" disk and have it work fine?

 

Yes.

 

Can I do that with the very few 5.25" disks I have so that I will no longer need a 5.24" drive when done?

 

Yes. Depends on what you'll do then. If you keep your disks and don't exchange with other people, no problem. 3.5" disks may become an issue indeed, because the drives are generally 80-track drives. As I recently said, if you do not configure the controller for 80 tracks, it will just ignore the inner 40 cylinders. Other people with a 3.5" drive who are using 80 track capability will, however, not be able to use that disk.

 

Note that disks from a 40 track drive may be read in an 80 track drive (if the DSR is capable of double-stepping), but once they are written to, they cannot be used in a 40-track drive anymore.

 

What about tapes? Like the E/A cassette, can I just load up what ever programs are o there and save them to DSK so I no longer need the cassette tapes?

 

Depends on whether the program allows for using disks instead of cassettes. For instance, the Adventure module asks for the drive where the program is stored. You can say e.g. DSK1.PIRATE or CS1. If the program does not ask, it will continue to check CS1.

 

 

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Also, a couple of pictures of the boards for your floppy drives would help, as it would let us identify the jumper-like points on the drives, if they do exist.

 

 

Sure..

 

 

Full Height Top

post-47352-0-06593600-1472821474_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

Full Height Bottom

post-47352-0-08904900-1472821423_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

Half Height Top

post-47352-0-83298300-1472821585_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

Half Height Bottom

post-47352-0-89513600-1472821522_thumb.jpg

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R23 looks like it was replaced with a piece of shielded wire as a bridge to keep the signal going. It may not have been needed on your revision of the drive.

 

On the top of the HH drive you will see a blue chip in the lower left corner of the board (RP11). That is your terminator. Right above it, you will see a chip with a bunch of metal strips in it (U19), some of which are broken. That is where your board's jumpers are. Usually the four middle ones are the ones for Drive selection (0 (selected), 1, 2, 3). Notice that they start with 0 on the drive (most drives followed this convention) but that when 0 is selected, it is drive 1 to the computer.

 

On the bottom center of the FH drive, look for C34 (right above the drive connector). To its left is a chip with a set of metal strips again--set to be drive 1 (note the 2, 3, and 4 next to several of the broken jumpers--you break the second one from the top (1) and change it to the third one (2) for drive 2, or to the fourth one (3) for drive 3. Note this drive uses the 1-4 identification for the selected drives. One the other side of C34, you will see a chip from DALE. That is your terminator.

 

I usually replace the metal strip thingies with an appropriately sized switch block. I have thousands of these, of all possible sizes, here at the house.

Edited by Ksarul
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Thank you so much for this info. A switch block would be great for these.

You mentioned earlier the terminators may not be needed? I suppose I could test that.

A switch block would be great. How do I find the one I need on-line, do I just count the pins and search for say 16-pin IC switch block?

I'l probably just break a solder in the short term.

 

Wife is starting to notice the smaller purchases adding up after I said I was done with the big purchases for now. LOL

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... How do I change the DSK ID so that it becomes DSK3? I cannot seem to locate any jumpers. This is a half height Tandon TM50-2FS drive. I have two of these. ...

 

Page 3-10 of the Tandon TM-50 Service Manual shows the jumper-pack configuration for the drive select lines et al. The right drive in your picture from another thread shows DS0 (DSK1) jumpered. I can't see how the left drive is jumpered. In the following clip of your picture, U19 is a jumper pack that includes jumpers for the Drive Select lines. I have labeled DS0 – DS3 of U19:
post-29677-0-49421500-1472823683_thumb.jpg
You can select another drive # by cutting the DS0 jumper and soldering a bare wire to or making a solder bridge of one of the other Drive Select positions.
...lee
[EDIT: I see that @Ksarul beat me to the punch while I was composing this. This should dovetail with his information.]
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If I wanted a dip switch block, do you happen to know the correct one (ratings)

http://www.jameco.com/shop/StoreCatalogDrillDownView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&freeText=dip%20switch&search_type=jamecoall

 

BTW, the only jumpers I've ever known in computer components are the little plastic ones you attach to pins. Never suspected this block was a jumper block.

 

Wait, the TI supports up to 4 drives?

Edited by Sinphaltimus
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If I wanted a dip switch block, do you happen to know the correct one (ratings)

 

http://www.jameco.com/shop/StoreCatalogDrillDownView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&freeText=dip%20switch&search_type=jamecoall

 

BTW, the only jumpers I've ever known in computer components are the little plastic ones you attach to pins. Never suspected this block was a jumper block.

 

Wait, the TI supports up to 4 drives?

 

You want an 8-position SPST DIP switch. The little switches make or break the “jumper” connections.

 

The TI controller only supports 3 drives AFAIK. That is a limitation of the DSR. I believe there are EPROM updates for that, but I'm not sure.

 

...lee

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