Difference between revisions of "Vortex Disc Drives"
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=== FDC I/O Ports === | === FDC I/O Ports === | ||
| − | All | + | All types of floppy disk controllers for the F1-S/F1-D/M1-S/M1-D range are based on the NEC 765 chip. |
'''CPC 464:''' | '''CPC 464:''' | ||
Revision as of 08:29, 26 May 2022
A series of 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disc drives from Vortex providing up to 720K capacity (704K available).
Contents
S- and D-Drives (720K)
These are the very first generation of floppy disc drives from Vortex. They came in variants having either a single ("S" variant) or two ("D" variant) DS/DD 80-track drives installed (BASF 6138).
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
An anonymous box housing the controller board
Look inside the controller, a NEC 765 chip and VDOS upgraded to v2.0
Controller with mounted VDOS chip
F1-D Interface (CPC 664)
F1-D Interface Board (CPC 664)
F1-D Interface Board (CPC 664)
F1-D Interface Board (CPC 6128)
Second Drive Upgrade
Vortex offered an upgrade option that allowed an F1/M1-S single drive to be upgraded to an F1/M1-D dual drive. To do this, one simply had to install an additional drive in the free drive slot of the S-drive housing.
FDA-1 3" Drive Adapter
This adapter allowed to use an Amstrad 3" drive on Vortex F1/M1 setups connected to a CPC 464. Since only two drives can be used simultaneously, the 3" drive had to be manually selected first using RSX commands.
| RSX | Description |
|---|---|
| |S,1 | Use 3" drive as drive A, upper Vortex drive is disabled |
| |S,2 | Use 3" drive as drive B, lower Vortex drive is disabled |
| |S,0 | Disable the 3" drive (default) |
Adapter to connect an additional 3" disc drive in between a CPC 464 and a F1/M1
Inside the adapter box
Inside the adapter box (closeup)
FDC I/O Ports
All types of floppy disk controllers for the F1-S/F1-D/M1-S/M1-D range are based on the NEC 765 chip.
CPC 464:
| Address | Description |
|---|---|
| 0xFB7E | uPD control (R) |
| 0xFB7F | uPD data (R/W) |
| 0xFA7E | motor on/off |
CPC 664/6128:
| Address | Description |
|---|---|
| 0xFBF6 | uPD control (R) |
| 0xFBF7 | uPD data (R/W) |
| 0xFA7E | motor on/off |
Z-Drives (180K)
These are basic and less expensive low-capacity drives and were meant to be directly connected to a CPC 664/6128 or CPC 464 with DDI-1 (ie. on computers that already provide a floppy controller). Since these drives do not ship with a special controller, they do rely fully on AMSDOS and thus 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)
X-Drives (720K)
These are the latest drives from Vortex for use on CPC 464 with DDI-1 or CPC 664/6128 computers (ie. on computers that already have a FDC), so no own FDC was required anymore. Instead, a ROM module was supplied together with the drive, which provided VDOS 2.0-X. 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.
- Vortex X-Laufwerke
(manual) - Manual de las Unidades Vortex
(manual) - NEC drive inside Vortex M1-X NEC drive inside Vortex M1-X
Variants
- F1 - X Single 80 track, Double Sided, 5.25" drive with power supply
- M1 - X Single 80 Track, Double Sided, 3.5" drive with power supply
- F1 - XRS same as F1-X, upgraded with RS232-C interface
- M1 - XRS same as M1-X, upgraded with RS232-C interface
F1-X
F1-X backside
F1-X inside view
F1-X/M1-X manual and utility disk
M1-X
M1-X backside
M1-X backside, showing IDC connection
M1-X underside
M1-X inside view, showing the drive and power
M1-X inside view, close-up of the drive from above
M1-X inside view, close-up from the backside
X(RS)-Modul
The X-drives for the CPC 664/6128 are connected directly to the floppy port. To provide VDOS, a "X-Modul" had to be installed. This was a single-ROM board with VDOS 2.0-X and came in two versions, one of which providing an additional RS232-C interface ("XRS-Modul"). The version for the CPC 464 came with a chunky housing in which both the X(RS)-Modul and the DDI-1 had to be installed.
F1-XRS Interface (CPC 464)
F1-XRS Interface with DDI-1 installed (CPC 464)
X-Modul (CPC 6128)
X-Modul (CPC 6128) board
RS232 I/O Ports
The RS232-C interface of the -XRS modules are suspected to be at least partially compatible with Amstrad/Pace interfaces.
- Vortex RS232-C Manual (pdf)
| Address | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|
| 0xFADC | Channel A data | Channel A data |
| 0xFADD | Channel A control | Channel A control |
| 0xFADE | Channel B data | Channel B data |
| 0xFADF | Channel B control | Channel B control |
| 0xFBDC | 8253 Load counter 0 | 8253 Read counter 0 |
| 0xFBDD | 8253 Load counter 1 | 8253 Read counter 1 |
| 0xFBDE | 8253 Load counter 2 | 8253 Read counter 2 |
| 0xFBDF | Write mode word | - |
VDOS
- Benutzerhandbuch für das Diskettenbetriebssystem VDOS 2.0 (VDOS 2.0 user manual)
