Date   : Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:08:35 -0000
From   : bbcmicro@... (bill carr)
Subject: BBC Disk Drive?

Hi

> Is this a D-type connector (a la the analogue port)? If so it could an
> Amiga-type floppy disk interface. It would be the first time I've seen
> such a thing used in the context of a BBC micro though.
>
Yes, that's the one!

> Is the socket fitted to the casing of the drive unit, or to the drive
> circuit board? If the former, you may find the traditional edge connector
> inside to which you can attach a standard BBC floppy cable.
>
> -- Richard

> Is there a seperate power connecter on the drive? I suspect that the 37
> way
> connector may be a combined data and power connector and it should be
> possible to get or make an adapter cable. Hopefully someone else with
> more concrete information will chime in.
>
>
>
>                            Regards,
>                              Peter Coghlan.

I've unscrewed one of the units and discovered that the last few inches
contains an adaptor from a traditional edge connector and 4 pin "PC style"
power connector, ie not the 2x2 that connects to the underside of a BBC, to
the 37 pin D connector.
The situation now is that I've disassembled a known working drive, attached
the edge connector to bbc ribbon and the power cable, so that it's in the
same BBC friendly state as the other drive.  However, when I attempt to *CAT
a disk, I receive a Drive fault 14 at FF/FF (and I think I also got same
error at FD/FF too).
I've also tried a 2nd drive, which appears to have power, but the green 
light at
the front doesn't come on to show it's reading the disk.
Does this mean that the newly connected drive may still be imcompatible with
my BBC, fitted with 8271 Watford DFS 1.30?

Thanks for helping out so far!

Michael...