[iyonix-support] Re: Floppy Drive Cable

  • From: Kade Hansson <kade.hansson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: iyonix-support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:14:51 +1100

list@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Images shown here:  http://www.frontx.com/pro/c205_016.html
http://myahead.com/go/look/product.show_product?v_id=5614

Can I use such a cable in the Iyonix?
I imagine not.
I think you can, but you will need to make sure your drive has a jumper so that you can make it pretend to be drive 1 (which will then get turned into drive 0 by the twist.) The twist reverses the drive/motor select signal lines. In crazy PC-land, because drive 0 was historically expected to be a 5.25" drive, many early release 3.5" drives were hardwired to be drive 1 to simplify the fitting of the unit as a second drive. When 3.5" became the floppy drive of choice (read drive 0) in the early 90s, instead of forcing the manufacturers to put a jumper on their drives, PC manufacturers issued these weird cables. Unfortunately, they caught on, and as you now find, they are the only ones available in your local store. These days pretty much all new 3.5" drives are jumpered: but they are typically set to drive 1 so as to maintain compatibility with the screwy cables.

I'd find a PC with a floppy cable and try it out. The worst that will happen is that the drive will not be recognised (because it is responding as if it were drive 1 thanks to the twist.)

HTH,

Archer

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