Fixing up my MEGA STE

[exxos]

I am now seeing if I can figure out how to do the media detect thing Alison did on other drives..

http://atari.8bitchip.info/flomodam.html

flocir.gif

What I did with my floppy mod was to use motor on and set WP low when motor on=off. Maybe a tri-state buffer 74HCT125 would work as a simple mod...

simple with a bit of GAL code..

WP.OE = !MOT_ON ;
WP = 'b'0;

[Bikerbob]

So her mod on the mfp920 was just that one simple wire ..

So the 920 can do the DD/HD and with that one simple wire media detect.

Where as with many other drives I am going to have to build the circuit ala PPs page??

Hmmmm Ok, lets find some beige, creme plastic paint :)

James

[exxos]

Don't know what that single wire you talk of is.. but my mod will work will all drives, you can get single tri-state gate IC's most likely, but SMT packages.

[Bikerbob]

Chris you even commented on the thread, it was her thread, its still up on Atari-forum. Where she did the one line from WP to pin 2. Several other people commented that it worked great for them.

I am looking to use this on the mega STE.. not an STF. SO the 920 needs that circuit? It is so confusing. if her mod was wrong, why has it not been taken down?

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10873

James

[exxos]

Chris you even commented on the thread, it was her thread, its still up on Atari-forum. Where she did the one line from WP to pin 2. Several other people commented that it worked great for them.

I am looking to use this on the mega STE.. not an STF. SO the 920 needs that circuit? It is so confusing. if her mod was wrong, why has it not been taken down?

Well there ya go, 10 years ago...... I don't know if those mods worked or not. I remember a lot of people wiring up wires to the ribbon connector, mostly on a unused pin on the motherboard and claiming it worked.. of course it never will but lots of people did it. It may have come from Amiga guys, maybe it worked with Amiga, no idea.

Unless I have seen something work by my own hand, I am very skeptical on what anyone says. I have a program on my site which reports MD status, if you try her mod before and after on the drive then we will know for sure.

AF is full of talk and nonsense, I really would just suggest not going there at all. Its ok for ideas, but generally its just a waste of time. I was taking down nonsense posts when I joined as moderator, I went back about 2 years, certainly not 10, trying to clean up AF.. then the "armchair experts" flooded it with nonsense, so I quit. As you find, you only end up in confusion. I really would just not bother with it.

Unfortunately you are just going to have to try this stuff out yourself and see if it works. If it does, great, do a guide to help others, then we have something verified and useful for people in the future.

If that mod only works on one particular drive, then another reason not to bother IMO. Stick to what is universal and already tested.

[Bikerbob]

So Chris, the 25pound mpf920s you sell all have this mod done to them?

This is a mod you do regardless of what model it goes in.. your other floppy board is extra if you put it in a non 1.44 ready machine?

Any pics of your mod? I guess I will try and do it.

James

[exxos]

So Chris, the 25pound mpf920s you sell all have this mod done to them?

This is a mod you do regardless of what model it goes in.. your other floppy board is extra if you put it in a non 1.44 ready machine?

Any pics of your mod? I guess I will try and do it.

Which mod ? I only mod the drive select ID on them.

https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... ?f=12&t=49

[Bikerbob]

Im lost, I thought we just did 5 messages back and forth saying there was more to using the mfp920 than just the id mod.

SO what the diagram above for? is it not needed on a 920?

I am looking to put the 920 into a megaSTE which has all the 1.44 setup built in.. is there anything else besides the id mod I need to do? or will it just work?

Im confused.

James

[exxos]

What you/we was talking about was "media change fix". Which isn't required to get the drive working. It is recommended to do yes, required, no.

As for the Sony drive, and indeed other drives, you have to change the drive ID to zero to work on Atari internally. I use the MPF920 as its easy to change and drive works really well.

As for any other steps for getting it working on the MSTE, like adding the PAL, dip switch 7 etc.. That is all I know. I don't own a MSTE so never tried it personally.. So maybe someone else here can verify if any other steps are needed ?

[troed]

What you/we was talking about was "media change fix". Which isn't required to get the drive working. It is recommended to do yes, required, no.

As for the Sony drive, and indeed other drives, you have to change the drive ID to zero to work on Atari internally. I use the MPF920 as its easy to change and drive works really well.

As for any other steps for getting it working on the MSTE, like adding the PAL, dip switch 7 etc.. That is all I know. I don't own a MSTE so never tried it personally.. So maybe someone else here can verify if any other steps are needed ?

No other steps needed. TOS 2.06 in MegaSTE works differently compared to HD mods in regular STs, since it tries 8MHz and 16MHz and sees what works (i.e, whether the inserted disk is DD or HD). It does not use any HD detect lines from the drive at all (neither reading a value or setting one).

/Troed