AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Hi, As I should be receiving my PEB today, and since the thing is over 30 years old now, I was wondering what 5¼" physical floppy drive are compatible with it? In case the dirve ever goes bad on me and I wanted to replace it. Also how hard is it to modify the controller for 80 tracks like I'm seeing many people have done. I've seen kits on eBay for dual 3½" floppies for the PEB and I could see a use for it as 5¼" disk are becoming less available than 3½" in my neck of the wood. Also, does anybody have the following cart gathering dust (loose is fine even without manuals). I would be interested in acquiring them: TI Extended Basic Disk Manager (ver 2 or 3, or whatever would be compatible with 80 tracks if I can mod the controller in my PEB) TI Terminal Emulator II Thanks in advance to those who'll respond! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Modifying a TI FDC to 80-trk requires a bit of "surgery" to the board itself and some soldering skills. The two DSR chips must be replaced. I have (and am able to provide) the replacement EPROMs for a nominal cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 DM2K is my program of choice when it comes to utility, ease of use and features. Yes, while opinions vary, I prefer 3.5 over 5.25 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Modifying a TI FDC to 80-trk requires a bit of "surgery" to the board itself and some soldering skills. The two DSR chips must be replaced. I have (and am able to provide) the replacement EPROMs for a nominal cost. I have the soldering skill. Is there some documentation on how to do this, if so I would be interested in those eprom of yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+helocast Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 I have the soldering skill. Is there some documentation on how to do this, if so I would be interested in those eprom of yours. Pretty straightforward. I think these were the instructions included when I got with my two sets. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Pretty straightforward. I think these were the instructions included when I got with my two sets. Great! I've dropped a PM to atrax27407 for his offer on the roms. Now, does anybody have the info on what drives are compatible? I was thinking of going one 5¼" and one 3½", both half height, in a dual drive setup in the PEB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+helocast Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 (edited) Great! I've dropped a PM to atrax27407 for his offer on the roms. Now, does anybody have the info on what drives are compatible? I was thinking of going one 5¼" and one 3½", both half height, in a dual drive setup in the PEB. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257849-525-floppy-drive-with-peb/?p=3608895 http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257849-525-floppy-drive-with-peb/?p=3642942 Wish I could help you with a brand that worked for me but I don't have my PEBs apart so I can give you the brand/drive. If I remember, I started down the list with each vendor name (at the first linked document) on ebay by vendor and narrowed my search to half-height drives. Thereare a few that pop up from time to time and you just have to keep looking. Doug Edited December 19, 2017 by helocast 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257849-525-floppy-drive-with-peb/?p=3608895 http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257849-525-floppy-drive-with-peb/?p=3642942 Great! Will be hunting some in eBay tonight :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+adamantyr Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 You'll definitely find a few TI controllers on eBay, but they are, in my own opinion, a bit overpriced. I think the cheapest I saw was $85. For a non-upgraded controller that's a bit hefty. Then a black one for $125 which is definitely way over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Oh, I have the controller... I just want to swap the full height floppy drive and install a half height 5¼ and a half height 3½ instead. It's the drives that I'm going hunting for 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+adamantyr Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Oh my bad! You should have much better luck at that. I got a half-height 5 1/4" myself I may be willing to part with, my Lotharek drive replaced it... Just send me a PM if interested. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Yeah, that Lotharek HxC is an awesome device. Some of the things I like about it... #1 Has to be how freaking easy it is to make a backup of EVERYTHING currently (in progress) on the drive. Remove it from the HxC, stick it in the PC and in mere seconds everything is backed up. #2 Is that it can work as TWO drives, not just one. If he upgrades to 80 track, that will give him 720K available at one time using that one drive. #3 No maintenance or cleaning issues or expenses! There is a little more expense on the front end, but it'll save money on not having to buy multiple antiquated diskettes, which save space as well. For those without an HDX, it sure is an easy way to get stuff onto Real Iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDOS Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Hi, As I should be receiving my PEB today, and since the thing is over 30 years old now, I was wondering what 5¼" physical floppy drive are compatible with it? In case the dirve ever goes bad on me and I wanted to replace it. Also how hard is it to modify the controller for 80 tracks like I'm seeing many people have done. I've seen kits on eBay for dual 3½" floppies for the PEB and I could see a use for it as 5¼" disk are becoming less available than 3½" in my neck of the wood. Also, does anybody have the following cart gathering dust (loose is fine even without manuals). I would be interested in acquiring them: TI Extended Basic Disk Manager (ver 2 or 3, or whatever would be compatible with 80 tracks if I can mod the controller in my PEB) TI Terminal Emulator II Thanks in advance to those who'll respond! I have all 3 of those modules that I'm not using. Make me an offer. I don't know what any of them are selling for, these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Just plugged in my newly arrived PEB. As expected the drive is dead, well it start knocking while formatting a disk around sector 255 and end the process with an error 41. But this isn't unexpected for something that old and for the price I paid for the PEB. The 32k ram expansion work and I have yet to test the RS232 card. The guy also included a Disk Manager 2 cart so I'm good for that for the moment, but will probably go for a more modern version once I get the disk drive problem fixed. One other thing I'm going to replace soon is the PSU or at a minimum the fan! Man, that thing is loud. It sound as if I was in an old server room with a rack of spinning 10k rpm scsi drives... I'll post pictures in the appropriate thread once I get the new drives. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 (edited) I have all 3 of those modules that I'm not using. Make me an offer. I don't know what any of them are selling for, these days. I would be interested in the XB and terminal emu 2 cart. PM sent Edited December 19, 2017 by AMenard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 Okay, I've found both a 5.25" and a 3.5" that are compatible, sold as tested and working for the 5.25" and new for the 3.5" In the meantime I've fixed my full height original 5.25" in my PEB. The shaft were dry and the carriage was squeeky. I lubricated them and cleaned the head with alcohol and I'm presently running the comprehensive test suite from the disk manager 2 cart. Now up to test 5 and no error yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 Oh, and I love those old Shugart drives! So simple yet so massive 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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