+Ksarul Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (edited) Note, if your 720K disk stops at 718 sectors, what you are getting is a 180K output, which tells me the controller is expecting 40-track disks. The 720K drive is 80 tracks, so what you are doing is formatting and using the first 40 tracks on side one and then using the last 40 tracks of side two, as the controller is single-stepping between the tracks. If you are using the TI Disk controller, you need to have one of the 80-track EPROM sets added to it to allow your drive to format all 80 tracks on each side--and giving you a disk with 1440 sectors (1438 usable). That uses exactly half of the capacity of the 720K disk, but all of the tracks. If you ever get a Myarc controller, you'll be able to use all of the capacity and double your sector count again. . . Edited April 2, 2016 by Ksarul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 So I have come to the conclusion that it is in fact NOT the two prong power extension cable. I checked about every cable like this in my house and they are all 125V 7A. When just hooked up alone the drive enclosure light is solid green and the drive light is solid green. As soon as I turn on my PEB or TI console however the green light starts to flash and I can hear the disk drive start and stop repeatedly. It is being turned off/on/off/on/off/on/etc. Any ideas what is going on? Or better yet what can I do to fix it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 So I have come to the conclusion that it is in fact NOT the two prong power extension cable. I checked about every cable like this in my house and they are all 125V 7A. When just hooked up alone the drive enclosure light is solid green and the drive light is solid green. As soon as I turn on my PEB or TI console however the green light starts to flash and I can hear the disk drive start and stop repeatedly. It is being turned off/on/off/on/off/on/etc. Any ideas what is going on? Or better yet what can I do to fix it?? So after some more digging around on the internet it appears the guy sent me the WRONG POWER SUPPLY!!! Argh this is the worst eBay seller, how aggravating! No wonder the stupid thing has power issues! It outputs different V & A than the correct one (also has two extra pins). I sent the guy a message, even though it was a nightmare to get a non-broken case from him in the first place. Aaaand around we go again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Note, if your 720K disk stops at 718 sectors, what you are getting is a 180K output, which tells me the controller is expecting 40-track disks. The 720K drive is 80 tracks, so what you are doing is formatting and using the first 40 tracks on side one and then using the last 40 tracks of side two, as the controller is single-stepping between the tracks. If you are using the TI Disk controller, you need to have one of the 80-track EPROM sets added to it to allow your drive to format all 80 tracks on each side--and giving you a disk with 1440 sectors (1438 usable). That uses exactly half of the capacity of the 720K disk, but all of the tracks. If you ever get a Myarc controller, you'll be able to use all of the capacity and double your sector count again. . . yes, that´s why I asked: . which disk controller do you have ? is it 80-track capable ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (On my Atronic CPS-99 I have more sectors IIRC (+2?) , but I have to review that. It´s long time ago I saw that, but I digged out the machine yesterday ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 (edited) Okay worst eBay transaction ever. I am stuck with the drive enclosure, but not a working power supply. Would anyone be able to help me find the correct power supply like Omega has? Edited April 13, 2016 by budz2355 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Okay worst eBay transaction ever. I am stuck with the drive enclosure, but not a working power supply. Would anyone be able to help me find the correct lower supply like Omega has? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Okay worst eBay transaction ever. I am stuck with the drive enclosure, but not a working power supply. Would anyone be able to help me find the correct lower supply like Omega has? Budz, Who say's you need the power supply? Have you considered using a Y-adapter and branching off the power in the PEB and routing it externallyinto the EZ-135's case? Just an idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 I'll take anything at this point... Just depressing seeing this pile of stuff in the corner of the room that I can't use. Also I did already buy the small to large 4 pin adapter, but like I said I would use anything at this point.... Could you link me to this Y adapter? It would have to be somehow lengthy on the end that connects to the external drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 I see splitters on eBay. I'll buy an extender too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Before I buy this how do you get the splitter out of the peb? Does the disk controller have to be in slot 8? It looks like it would block anything I tried to wire out of the disk bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 You can put the drive controller into slot 7 or any other slot, for that matter, as long as you have an open slot to put it into. With the positioning of the internal drive only slots 7 or 8 really make sense though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 In the manual they write slot-8, but I often saw or read about systems having it in slot 7, and obviously running well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Before I buy this how do you get the splitter out of the peb? Does the disk controller have to be in slot 8? It looks like it would block anything I tried to wire out of the disk bay. No, the disk controller does not have to be in the 8th slot. You could also drill a whole in the back to accommodate the connector, but I think most people would get squeamish at the thought of that. You also do not need a power supply with the exact same plug. You could go onto Ebay and purchase a FILTERED one with the correct rating and wire up your own Molex connector. and feed it through one of the slots in the back of the EZ-135's case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+acadiel Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 FWIW, You can usually go to any computer store (I went to Fry's) and get some 3.5" HD floppy drives. I bought two of them there. Your TI will only use the first 40 tracks unless you have a disk controller mod to use 80. So on a Corcomp DSDD controller, you will still get DSDD 360K out of the thing, with 40 tracks. If you are using the DSSD TI 80 track mod, you will still get 360K, because it's using single density with 80 tracks. You get an adapter from 5.25 to 3.5" for the power supply Get a dual 3.5" floppy ribbon cable (has three connectors on it). Also, get a 34 pin IDC crimp on connector. Install that connector BEFORE the twist at the end. Your goal is to have three connections without a twist. Leave the one with the twist alone, you aren't going to use it. Uncover the bottom of one of the floppy drives if it doesn't have jumpers. You will see something like this. Unsolder the jumper from DS1 and put it on DS0. This particular floppy will now be your DSK1. The other one (the unmodified one) is DSK2. Get some 3.5->5.25" adapters and install them too, if you are able. Obviously, you don't have to do the third step if the thing has jumpers, but just about all the jumper less drives I have purchased the past 15 years had the DS0/DS1 jumper. Usually there's a 0 ohm resistor covering the DS1 jumper. All ya have to do is remove it, and either reinstall it on DS0 or put a small piece of wire on DS0. I've done this mod on two TI-99/4A PEBs, as well as a Tandy 1000. Works great on all of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I see splitters on eBay. I'll buy an extender too. Before I buy this how do you get the splitter out of the peb? Does the disk controller have to be in slot 8? It looks like it would block anything I tried to wire out of the disk bay. hmm, before you mod this cabling-things on your PEB, just in lack of a drives powersupply, maybe you just buy another EZ-135-drive, that is coming with a working powersupply ? At least, you would have a running drive, and one housing as spare.... (or a EZ-135MB-drive) just an idea, and this is not the cheapest solution, of course. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-SyQuest-EZ135-External-Drive-Storage-135-MB-Apple-More-VERY-Nice-/111838861218?hash=item1a0a1d97a2:g:q-wAAOSwwE5WXgbi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 If it were me and I didn't want mess with drilling holes or moving cards, or routing a bunch of junk, I would order << THIS >>. Once it arrived, I would hack off the plug on the end, use my cheap little multi-tester to confirm polarity and solder it directly to the switch leads on the EZ-135 and the correct little plug for the HxC and call it a day. Maybe even add a wire tie . It's rated at 5V 2A which is the same as mine, which works, but more than the others shown in this thread. It never hurts have extra capacity in reserve, but not enough, well you know the problems that causes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) Or just buy one of these. I have a couple of them that I use around here. . .External power supplies with the necessary Molex connector and the right voltages from square one. Edited April 14, 2016 by Ksarul 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Or just buy one of these. I have a couple of them that I use around here. . .External power supplies with the necessary Molex connector and the right voltages from square one. I like your power supply better! He would still need a small adapter because the HxC uses the same type of connector that's used on 3.5" drives. That looks like the type for a 5.25" drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 It is, but the 5.25 to 3.5 adapters are easy to find. . . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 It is, but the 5.25 to 3.5 adapters are easy to find. . . Yep! Apparently cheap too! << CLICK >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 I'll take anything at this point... So, Budz, what did you end up finally doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budz2355 Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 So far I have just purchased the 4-pin molex splitter for the PEB. It is on it's way from China, so who knows when it will arrive. I think I ordered it a weekish? ago. Thanks for all of the awesome ideas, there are truly a ton of routes I didn't even think of. Assuming the molex splitter works, I will most likely buy an extender (another buck?) from China. If the splitter doesn't work (for some reason? ...I seem to be cursed), then I will look at some of those other good power cables. Also I think I might need to look into them in the future anyway if I am going to get an emulated floppy drive. I also still have a half height 5.25" floppy that was recommended somewhere in this thread that I still haven't tried to hook back up (after wanting to blow up my TI in frustration), but I think at some point since I will give it another go and maybe take it nice and slow? I will certainly update once the splitter comes from China 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 I will certainly update once the splitter comes from China Oh yeah, they seem to come over on a slow boat from China. Three weeks is about my average here on the left coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 So far I have just purchased the 4-pin molex splitter for the PEB. It is on it's way from China, so who knows when it will arrive. I think I ordered it a weekish? ago. Scrounge up some old PCs and check for detachable Molex cable parts on the power supply. I've never had a shortage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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