Date   : Wed, 08 Jul 1992 03:20:58 GMT
From   : agate!spool.mu.edu!wupost!waikato.ac.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!cc-server4.massey.ac.nz!PPlane@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (USENET News System)
Subject: Re: Any AMSTRAD users out there?

In article <1992Jul7.164358.1@woods.ulowell.edu> welchb@woods.ulowell.edu
writes:
>
>I got several well-meaning responses to my request about drives; I was 
>hoping to replace the 3.0-inch with a more conventional 3.5-inch.  Again,
>I do not have the responses with me; they are in a notebook at home.  But
>I received contradictory messages about what drives could replace what.
>I stopped in at a parts store; from their response I am sure that 
>convention 5.25 inch IBM drives would not work, because they all have
>card-edge fingers (I am told).
>
The connector has the same pinout, it's just physically different. You can
crimp a card edge connector onto the cable beside the header and it will
work.

>FYI, the drive has 2 connectors. The power cable has 4 pins.  The "data"
>cable has a double row of 13 pins each = 26 pins.  The Amstrad already
>has the B drive connectors in place, so I presume you can just pop the
>drive in (maybe needs a dip-switch setting to tell it whether it is
>A or B).
>
This is a 'standard' setup. Before the IBM PC came along and did things
incorrectly :-) floppies had a jumper on the drive to select drive
0, 1, 2, or 3. Plus a MX setting. You just select 0 for the first
drive and 1 for the second. The IBM PC used a twist in the cable
between A: and B: to select the drive. Both drives have to be set to
position 1. If the drive cable is flat all the way it will be the
proper way of doing things and you find a jumper on the drive and
set it to whatever is appropriate.

>To complicate things even further, the main "A" drive pooped out on me.
>Even if I were to successfully install a 3.5-inch as "B", I would have
>to get the "A" drive going, at least once, to copy the system stuff over
>to "B", and then (hopefully) change B to A.
>
>The reason I brought the computer in to work, was that a student here told
>me he could figure it out.  After taking it apart, he says that no standard
>3.5-inch drive has the correct connectors.  This is contrary to someone here
>on News who said that a 3.5 from an XT will work; student says there is no 
>difference between XT and others.   Student also spoke of the possibility of
>picking up a Rainbow (with hard disk) because he thinks the Amstrad
>keyboard will work with it.
>
A 3.5 inch drive should plug in. They use the same connectors as the 3.0.
The 3.0 drive used by most Amstrads are single sided, so you will get
smaller capacity than the 3.5 normally offers. The 3.0 let you flip
the disk to use the other side, 3.5 aren't set up for that.

>[unless you want to sell yours, or your A drive].  Note: I do not
>want to be self-serving to talk you out of your machine, but if you want
>to seriously expand into spreadsheets and databases etc., you should perhaps 
>ask the advice of the net here.  My opinion would probably be that it is
>time to go to an IBM compatible.

But they're so boring.



-- 
Philip Plane
P.J.Plane@massey.ac.nz