Steve's H5 A3.14 Build (Chicken Pie edition)

[DaveC]

Have you put this in your ff.cfg?

pin02 = ndens

[exxos]

In the H5 I put it in 'force 1.44mb mode' and in 'GAL mode'. It read a 720k disk perfectly (which the Epson did not do) but struggling with 1.44mb disks,

That does not make sense.. If you force 1.44mode then you cannot use 720k floppies unless you "force" 720k mode. It's why you need the bodge wire on the floppy drive to the jumpers to made it switch automatically. If you are forcing one mode and using a different density floppy then of course you will end up with a lot of problems.

[Steve]

In the H5 I put it in 'force 1.44mb mode' and in 'GAL mode'. It read a 720k disk perfectly (which the Epson did not do) but struggling with 1.44mb disks,

That does not make sense.. If you force 1.44mode then you cannot use 720k floppies unless you "force" 720k mode. It's why you need the bodge wire on the floppy drive to the jumpers to made it switch automatically. If you are forcing one mode and using a different density floppy then of course you will end up with a lot of problems.

Yeah but I'm forcing 1.44mb mode and it isn't reading 1.44mb. I think we are having a communication problem here :) (obviously my H5 knowledge isn't any where near yours, I am assuming I need to put it in 1.44mb mode please correct me if I'm wrong) I am only testing a 720k disc for troubleshooting purposes, and in this case it reads it, which is an interesting bit of info? :)

I'll have a go with @DaveC 's suggestion above with the FF config^^

[PhilC]

@Steve if your drive supports 1.44mb. you need rot set the drive jumper to 1.44mb mode, then connect the wire that exxos is talking about to the 1.44mb switch in the floppy drive, so that it can notify the GAL whether the current disk is a 1.44mb or 720k disk.

This then tells the GAL whether it needs to overclock the WD1772 to 16mhz instead of 8mhz IIRC. You can verify this by putting your scope on the CLK line on the WD1772. In 1.44mb mode the WD1772 will switch to 16mhgz whilst accessing the floppy but drop back to 8mhz when idle.

Hope that helps.

[Steve]

@PhilC maybe we can have we can have a chat over the phone to help me understand. I think what you're telling me is that I've modified the Sony drive to 720k with moving that SMD resistor? If that is the case I didn't realise it because the terminology used on the forum and on the guide is 'move the resistor to make it Atari compatible' so I didn't know it referred to the disk size.

If that's the case I'll move it back, and the wire mod is still correct though right? Pin 2 to the select point.

[PhilC]

@PhilC maybe we can have we can have a chat over the phone to help me understand. I think what you're telling me is that I've modified the Sony drive to 720k with moving that SMD resistor? If that is the case I didn't realise it because the terminology used on the forum and on the guide is 'move the resistor to make it Atari compatible' so I didn't know it referred to the disk size.

If that's the case I'll move it back, and the wire mod is still correct though right? Pin 2 to the select point.

No, lemme get the details to you later, am just at work still.

[exxos]

...forum and on the guide is 'move the resistor to make it Atari compatible' so I didn't know it referred to the disk size.

That is the drive ID jumper. The H5 was designed so you don't have to do that mod at all.

What @PhilC is referring to is the jumpers on the H5, JP18 & 19. Which forces the 1772 into 720K or 1.44 mode. If you are in 720K mode, you can ONLY use 720K floppies, regardless of if you have a 720K or 1.44 drive. If you force 1.44 mode, you can ONLY use 1.44 floppies with a 1.44 capable drive. Of course if you use a 1.44mode with a 720K drive it won't work full stop.

[PhilC]

Yes that's what I meant @exxos

[Steve]

Okay guys sorry, I guess I've just been misunderstanding the basics of floppies. I thought that this Sony would be able to read both 1.44mb and 720k disks. But yes at the moment my H5 is set for 1.44mb mode and it isn't reading 1.44mb (pin 18/19 open, in gal mode 1-2 for the other jumper)

I truly appologise if I am making things confusing. I'm trying my best.

[exxos]

at the moment my H5 is set for 1.44mb mode and it isn't reading 1.44mb (pin 18/19 open, in gal mode 1-2 for the other jumper)

Then as said a few posts back you need to check pin 1 of JP22 to see if you're seeing 16Mhz there.

Also check you have 5V on the top pins of JP18 & 19.