Using a 1.44MB FD to fix a SF314?

[rcgldr]

Although the eject button would probably not line up, it looks like it might be possible to replace the floppy drive inside a SF314 with an internal 3.5 inch 1.44MB floppy drive (you can still buy these for PCs), even though it would only be used as a 720KB drive. I'm wondering if anyone here has tried this to replace a failing drive mechanism in a SF314.

 

[bfollowell]

Floppy drives are getting harder and harder to find and new ones are extremely rare and extremely expensive. You'll likely need to buy a used/reclaimed one from ebay. When I think of all the old drives I literally threw away in the 90s, every time I built myself a new computer. I wish I still had those, especially the 5.25" ones.

 

I have never replaced the drive mechanism with another real drive. I recently replaced a dead mechanism in an SF314 with a Gotek in a 520STM system I was selling. I'd looked into it years ago, before solid state emulator options came around and before you could literally download almost every piece of software ever published on floppy as disk images, but I never actually did it. I know there were resources and information out there then, and I'm sure they're still on the Internet for those that are interested. Google should help you out there if no one else with more information volunteers here. Hopefully, someone else will pipe in here before too long.

 

 

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Surely, floppy drives are now hard to find. But there is still lot of it around - from used, older PCs mostly. For instance, 2 years ago I found in front of my house 2 ditched PC cases, everything removed except floppy drives. So I picked them and tested - both work, even that one was pretty much rusty.

However, using some PC floppy drive with Atari ST machines is not 100% simple drive replacement.  Simpler and better known thing is that drive selection lines are nor same - PC drives are set as drive B: as default - and in case of later ones there are no jumpers to set them as A: , what is how it needs to be with Atari ST.

Less known is WP line - write protection line.

Here is little more about exact problem, and how to solve it:  http://atari.8bitchip.info/flomodam.html

 

[anzac]

I don’t think it would work... AFAIR, don’t the HD drives work with a 16mhz clock and different step times?

 

even in built in ST drives there was some modifications needed to make it work with those setting, but like was said, research is the best option

[bfollowell]

22 minutes ago, anzac said:

I don’t think it would work... AFAIR, don’t the HD drives work with a 16mhz clock and different step times?

 

even in built in ST drives there was some modifications needed to make it work with those setting, but like was said, research is the best option

 

Well, I know, back in the day, you could upgrade your internal drive to an HD drive, at least on an STE with TOS 2.06, and I don't believe Atari ever came out with their own HD drive, so we would've just been using whatever was available.

 

[ParanoidLittleMan]

All HD floppy drives can work in DD mode. There is even line on cable for setting desired one.

True, HD mode needs 16 MHz for FDC chip in Atari ST, and step time must be same - 3 mS . But because doubled clock steprate parameter in commands must be for virtually 6 mS - what will be 3 mS because of double clock rate.

Written based on my experiences - I used 'PC' HD floppy drive with my 520 ST back in 1991 .

[tjlazer]

I did it with a Chinon FZ357 and it works as 720k no problem. Had to hack the case though.

[tjlazer]

Here on the bottom

[bfollowell]

Seeing your pictures made me want to show of the SF314 I put the Gotek in. I think it turned out pretty well, even if I do say so myself, and I do.

 

 

[anzac]

That was a couple of really nice posts... makes me want to get an external drive just to mod it