Difference between revisions of "Vortex Disc Drives"

Revision as of 13:09, 25 May 2022

Disc drives from Vortex, with 80 tracks and 720K capacity (704K available).

S- and D-Drives (720K/disk)

These are the first generation of disc drives from Vortex. The interface supports either a single ("S" variant) or two ("D" variant) 80-track drives (BASF 6138). Additionally, a 3" FD-1 can be connected as third drive, ie. unlike most other CPC disk interfaces it supports more than 2 drives. With VDOS only two drives are accessible at one time.

The drives interfacing with their own FDC can be used with the CPC 6128 to use different I/O ports (see below).

Variants

• F1 - S Single 5.25" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
• F1 - D Double 5.25" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
• M1 - S Single 3.5" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
• M1 - D Double 3.5" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11

• 

  Vortex F1-D with CPC 6128 Interface

Z-Drives (180K/side)

These are less expensive low-capacity drives from Vortex, for use on CPC 664/6128 or CPC 464 with DDI-1 (ie. on computers that already have a FDC and AMSDOS). There doesn't seem to be anything special about this product, just an off-the-shelf disk drive, shipped with a CPC-specific connection cable. Since this drive fully relies on AMSDOS, only 40 tracks can be accessed.

Variants

• F1 - Z Single 5.25" drive with power supply with ribbon cable (does not come with interface containing FDC or VDOS)
• M1 - Z Single 3.5" drive with power supply with ribbon cable (does not come with interface containing FDC or VDOS)

• 

  Vortex F1-Z

X-Drives (720K/disk)

These are the latest drives from Vortex for use on CPC 664/6128 or CPC 464 with DDI-1 (ie. on computers that already have a FDC). Only single-drive variants were available. The |S command (for accessing a third drive) is no longer used, the new |X command allows to swap drive A and B (same as X-DDOS from Dobbertin). These drives are well designed and strong. They are housed in a metal case with power supply (which has good protection with fuses) and have good quality drive mechanisms. The drive has jumpers on it that can be configured as needed.

Variants

• F1 - X Single 80 track, Double Sided, 5.25" drive with power supply and ribbon cable which connects to interface containing VDOS 2.0
• M1 - X Single 80 Track, Double Sided, 3.5" drive with power supply and ribbon cable which connects to interface containing VDOS 2.0
• F1 - XRS same as F1-X, upgraded with RS232 interface
• M1 - XRS same as M1-X, upgraded with RS232 interface

• Vortex F1-X
• 

  Vortex F1-X with Manual and Driver Disk

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  Vortex F1-X Backside

• Vortex M1-X
• 

  Front of Vortex M1-X

• 

  Underneath the Vortex M1-X

• 

  Inside the Vortex M1-X showing the drive and power

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  Back of Vortex M1-X showing connectors and power.

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  Back of Vortex M1-X showing IDC connection

• 

  Inside Vortex M1-X with a close up of the drive from above

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  Inside Vortex M1-X with a close up of the back of the drive

Add-ons

• Vortex X-Modul (adding RS232 support to -X drives)
• VDOS 2.0 (upgrading older drives to VDOS 2.0)
• Second drive unit (for upgrading a single -S drive to a dual -D drive)

I/O Ports

 Standard Addresses (same as used by AMSDOS):
   FB7Eh 765 FDC (internal) Status Register (R)
   FB7Fh 765 FDC (internal) Data Register (R/W)
   FA7Eh Floppy Motor On/Off Flipflop
 Special Addresses (secondary FDC):
   FBF6h 765 FDC (Vortex,ext) Status Register (Read)
   FBF7h 765 FDC (Vortex,ext) Data Register (R/W)
   FA7Eh Floppy Motor On/Off Flipflop (nearly same as normal, bit precise)
 (The Special addresses are mentioned in the manual
 for the Vortex -X drives) (but apparently they are referring
 to other/older Vortex drives, not the -X drives)

The Special addresses are used only on CPC 664/6128 and only if the Vortex drive includes an FDC chip.

The X drive has a different PCB than the PCB for the S, the manual describes connecting the DDI-1 interface to the X drive interface and a 'decoder-ROM' which defines the I/O decoding?

• Note1: The -Z and -X drives do not include FDC chips.
• Note2: The -S and -D drives do reportedly work only on CPC 464 (?).

So, not sure if/when the Special addresses are used at all?

 RS232 Ports (for -X drives with RS232)
   FADC/FADD=Serial Data/Control
   FBDC/FBDD/FBDF=Counter 0/1/Mode.
 So it's probably compatible with Amstrad/Pace 
 (and probably also including, but not using,
 Channel B Ports FADE/FADF and FBDE).

Vortex Disk Format

See VDOS

The Vortex -Z drives do not seem to include any VDOS ROM (so they do support only normal 40-Track AMSDOS Formats, but NOT the 80-Track Vortex format).

Pictures

• Vortex Disc Drive Interfaces
• 

  A anonymous box houses the controller

• 

  Look inside the controller, with 765 chip, connection for F1 disc drive, and VDOS (upgraded to v2.0)

• 

  Controller with VDOS mounted

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  F1-D Interface Board (CPC 6128), showing NEC 765 and VDOS

• 

  F1-D Interface (CPC 664)

• 

  F1-D Interface Board (CPC 664) Front

• 

  F1-D Interface Board (CPC 664) Backside

• Drive Accessories
• 

  Adapter to connect an additional 3" disc drive in between a CPC 464 and a F1-D

• 

  Inside the adapter box

• 

  Inside the adapter box (closeup)

Manuals

• Vortex Floppy Disk Station F1 für den Schneider CPC 464 - Benutzerhandbuch (Manual for old drives with VDOS 1.0)
• 3-Zoll-Adapter zur VORTEX-Diskettenstation (Manual for Vortex adapter for connecting a 3 inch floppy drive to the Vortex Disk Station F1 controller)
• Vortex X-Laufwerke (Manual for new X-drives with VDOS 2.0)
• Vortex VDOS 2.0 (Manual for upgrading from VDOS 1.0 to VDOS 2.0)
• Manual de las Unidades Vortex (pdf)
• Vortex RS232-C Manual (pdf)
• NEC drive inside Vortex M1-X NEC drive inside Vortex M1-X