Changes

Suggest u also get:

- pins & jumpers or maybe some real switches.

- tape

But let give you a hand. BELKIN still sells this cable, I got mine locally but this one looks like its the one:

This is the 5 connector one, but a 3 connector one may also work if it has the right

kind/amount of connectors.

So far all the 3.5" drives ive tested all worked. The question is if you want a drive that is both compatible with 720kb floppies AND 1.44mb floppies.

Quick fix: Use 720kb floppies only. 720kb floppies are hard to get, so just make some yourself from 1.44 floppies. Tape over the little "High Density" hole in the top left (both sides). That way the drive will think the floppy is 720kb only and act accordingly. Works Great.

I say: a old TEAC FD-235HF drive works with both size floppies.

Hearsay from other sites: Alps & Mitsumi drives MAY work fully.

One way or the other i use the tape mod on all my 1.44mb floppies because it makes them compatible with all the drives i have.

All you really need is one piece of paperclip (the metal kind) to be able to make a single short on the floppy cable, but it would probably be better to get some proper pins and jumpers or some real small wires. Also if you wanna do some really fansy stuff, you might wanna get at least 3 paperclips/wires/pins/jumpers. (se later)

Motherboard pins are usually sold in long rows where you can break of smaller parts, like a set of 2 pins, then use normal pc jumpers on em to quickly set on/off.

You need to power the 3.5" floppy drive somehow. A normal pc powersupply will do this quite nicely but there are "complications". A modern powersupply dosnt turn fully on unless it detects a motherboard is present.

The newer 24 pin powersupply can be fixed just like that, but note that the green wire is pin 16 on the 24 pin one. So a possible setup on the 24 pin setup could be green pin 16 connected with black pin 15.

20pin: http://www.hardwarebook.info/ATX_Power_Supply

Note that VERY old powersupplies USED to turn on fully by themselves, so if u have a REALLY old pc u can see if it works.

All u do is basicly the same as if you would hook up a FD1 drive to a cpc 6128. No soldering or disassembly required. Just hook up the cable to the DRIVE connetor on the Amstrad and the Floppy drive to the next edge connector on the cable.

Note that this type of pc cable usually has some internally twisted cables .. make sure the CPC/PC does NOT have the twisted bit between them.

Last thing you need to do is set the ready signal. This is done by connecting pin 33 and 34. Its the last 2 pins on the cable. Use a bend paperclip or a small wire to short the 2 pins like so (Marked in WHITE):

2. Then turn on the cpc.

- You turn on the cpc but get a blank/rolling screen? Most likely the pc cable connector needs to be flipped over (pins are upside down).

Type "|B" to change to drive B in basic (where ø is the rsx char). A simple CAT will show if the disc/drive works.

- Bad Command? Floppy drive detected by cpc but is not powered. Recheck your powersupply is connected and working.

- Disc is write protected error? Make sure the write tab on the disc is down (move tab down on right side of disc).

Ok, everything is working so far? Want to do some more advanced stuff like using 2 sides on your floppy?

Easy enough .. right now your floppy is using head 1 (aka side 1).. if you also connect pin 31 and 32 it will change to side/head 2. Remove the short again to get back to side/head 1.

I must admit that i myself only use one side/head because i cant be bother with the switching sides/heads. But it might be worth it if you buy one of them fansy on/off switches from a electronics shop.

Donno if you have ever tried running software straight from a B drive, but it usually sucks badly (software freeze up). Wouldnt it be nice to if you could turn drive B into drive A (and A into B)? Connect up pin 11 & 12 while the drive is on to do the drive switcheroo. Marked in BLUE (sixth pair of pins from top).

Another closeup of all 3 pairs of pins without doodlin:

Transfering software between CPC and PC:

3. Not a tech wizz at all, but all u need to power a floppy is 5V ?? or do you also need the 12V too? Anyways, a couple of batteries on row might do that easy-ish.

what if i hook something up wrong will my Amstrad break? Nah, dont think so, I mean I did EVERYTHING wrong at least twice and both 6128 & 664 is still alive and running. Also I tried a LOT of things myself before with a FD1 cable and such.

OMG OMG my precius 20+ year old gem of a Amstrad just blew up in my face, will you takes full responsibility and buy me a new one? Eh?, sure i will .. not.

Q: Can I use a FD1 cable to connect a 3.5" floppy drive?

- Executioner, UKmarkh, JMD, Wanderer, Zeropolis79, Gryzor and Ptr for great help and contributions to the guide.

- Anyone online who i stole info from

I may have made a few assumtions .. especially about the floppy compatability based on from my own experiences and such. If im wrong let me know

My eeiiieenglish isnt the most fluid and correct spelled and all that, but is readable I hope.

http://www.cpcmania.com/ (Spanish & English)

http://usuarios.lycos.es/putusoft/emucpc/softwaree.htm (Spanish)

http://genesis8.free.fr/amstrad/faq/index.php or

http://www.amstrad-cpc.de/ (German)

CPCDiskXP: http://www.cpcmania.com/