A series of external 3,5" and 5,25" floppy disc drives from Vortex providing up to 720K capacity (704K available). The Vortex drives were most popular in Germany. For more information regarding VDOS and the Vortex Disk Format, see the dedicated VDOS Wiki page.
S- and D-Drives (720K)
These are the first generation of 720K floppy disc drives from Vortex. They came in variants having either a single drive ("S" variant) or two drives ("D" variant). The "S" variant (as well as the less expensive "Z" variant) was delivered with the same double-height casing as the "D" variant, so that a second drive could be retrofitted.
F1-S and F1-D (5,25")
The F1-S and F1-D models are based on BASF 6138 (81690-001) type 5,25" disk drives, i.e. double-sided, 80 tracks per side, 96 tpi density.
F1-D
F1-D front view
F1-D backside
F1-D interface
(CPC 664)
F1-D interface board (CPC 664)
F1-D interface board (CPC 664)
F1-D interface board (CPC 6128)
F1-S/D manual
F1-S/D system disk
(CPC 464)
F1-S/D system disk
(CPC 664/6128)
M1-S and M1-D (3,5")
The M1-S and M1-D models are based on 3,5" disk drives.
A1-S Upgrade Kit
Vortex offered an upgrade kit consisting of a single bare drive and an installation manual, allowing to upgrade a single F1/M1-S drive to a dual F1/M1-D drive. To do this, one simply had to install the additional drive in the free slot of the drive case.
FDA-1 3" Drive Adapter
This adapter makes it possible to connect an external FD-1 3" drive on Vortex F1/M1 setups on the CPC 464. Since only two drives can be used at the same time, the external 3" drive first had to be selected manually with 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) |
FDA-1 Adapter
Inside the adapter box
Inside the adapter box (closeup)
Plug (cable side)
FD-1 3" floppy drive plug
FDC I/O Ports
All types of floppy disk controllers for the F1-S/D and M1-S/D series are based on the NEC 765 chip. The manual states that on "controllers having an integrated ROM module/eprommer" (probably the later 6128 interfaces?), the port addresses can be freely configured using a decoder ROM.
CPC 464:
| Address | Description |
|---|---|
| 0xFB7E | uPD control |
| 0xFB7F | uPD data |
| 0xFA7E | motor on/off |
CPC 664/6128:
| Address | Description |
|---|---|
| 0xFBF6 | uPD control |
| 0xFBF7 | uPD data |
| 0xFA7E | motor on/off |
Downloads
- Benutzerhandbuch für die Vortex Floppy Disk Station F1 für den Schneider CPC 464
(Vortex F1 user manual) - Benutzerhandbuch für das Diskettenbetriebssystem VDOS 2.0 (VDOS 2.0 user manual)
- Benutzerhandbuch für den FDA-1 3"-Adapter (3" adapter user manual)
- Vortex F1-S/D Systemdiskette für CPC 464 (system disk, 720k image, bootable)
- Vortex F1-S/D Systemdiskette für CPC 664/6128 (system disk, 720k image)
- VDOS 1.0 ROM
- VDOS 2.0 ROM
- BASF 6138 Datasheet (F1-S/D/Z Floppy Disk Drive)
Z-Drives (180K/side)
These are less expensive drives and were meant to be directly connected as B drive to a CPC 464 with DDI-1 or a CPC 664/6128. Since these drives ship neither with an own controller nor a VDOS ROM, they do rely fully on AMSDOS and thus only 40 tracks on one side can be accessed, resulting in the same capacity (180K/side) as the 3" drives.
F1-Z (5,25")
The F1-Z model is based on a later revision of the BASF 6138 type disk drive (81757-001), which offers more configuration options using jumpers. The drive was shipped in a "double step" configuration to use only 40 tracks, and thus the cheaper and more widely available DS DD floppy disks (48 tpi, 180K/side) could be used.
BASF AG 6138 (81757-001) drive
BASF AG 6138 (81757-001) 40 track jumper configuration
M1-Z (3,5")
The M1-Z model is equipped with a single 3,5" disk drive.
A1-Z Upgrade Kit
Vortex offered an upgrade kit consisting of a controller, manual, CP/M license and an utility disk which allows a Z-Drive to be upgraded to a S-Drive.
X-Drives (720K)
These are the latest drives from Vortex for use with a CPC 464 with DDI-1 or a CPC 664/6128 (ie. on systems that already have a floppy disc controller); no additional controller 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).
F1-X and F1-XRS (5,25")
The F1-X model is based on a single BASF 6138 (81690-001) or 6139 type 5,25" disk drive. These are improved revisions of the BASF disk drives which are designed slightly more compact (~1cm shorter), and also a number of mechanical design flaws that affected durability were corrected. The F1-XRS variant is equipped with an additional RS232-C interface.
F1-X
F1-X backside, showing IDC connector (CPC 464)
F1-X backside, showing edge connector (CPC 664)
F1-X inside view, showing a BASF 6139 drive
F1-X/M1-X manual and system utilities disk
M1-X and M1-XRS (3,5")
The M1-X model is based on a single NEC FD1035 type 3,5" disk drive. The M1-XRS variant is equipped with an additional RS232-C interface.
M1-X
M1-X backside
M1-X backside, showing IDC connector (CPC 464)
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. In order to provide VDOS, the "X-Modul" (sometimes also called "VDOS module") must be connected additionally to the expansion port. This contains a ROM board that provides a VDOS 2.0-X ROM. The ROM board supplied for the CPC 464 came together with a chunky housing in which both the "X-Modul" and the DDI-1 controller were installed. All variants were also available with an additional RS232-C interface (in this case called either "XRS-Modul" or "X-Modul/RS").
XRS-Modul (CPC 464)
XRS-Modul with built-in DDI-1 visible (CPC 464)
XRS-Modul board beneath the DDI-1 (CPC 464)
XRS-Modul board backside (CPC 464)
X-Modul (CPC 6128)
X-Modul board (CPC 6128)
RS232 I/O Ports
The RS232-C interface of the "XRS-Modul" was advertised to be compatible with Amstrad/Pace interfaces, but offers only one channel (so no channel B).
| Address | Description |
|---|---|
| 0xFADC | SIO data (R/W) |
| 0xFADD | SIO control (R/W) |
| 0xFBDC | 8253 counter 0 (R/W) |
| 0xFBDD | 8253 counter 1 (R/W) |
| 0xFBDF | Mode word (W) |
Downloads
- Benutzerhandbuch für die Vortex X-Laufwerke (manual)
- Benutzerhandbuch für die Vortex RS232-C Schnittstelle (RS232-C user manual)
- Manual de las Unidades Vortex
(manual) - Systemdiskette für Vortex X-Laufwerke (system disk, 720k disk image, original)
- Systemdiskette für Vortex X-Laufwerke (system disk, 720k disk image, modified to boot CP/M 2.2)
- VDOS 2.0-X ROM (German VDOS 2.0-X ROM for CPC 664/6128)
- NEC FD1035 Datasheet (M1-X Floppy Disk Drive)
Software Accessories
DOSCOPY
DOSCOPY is a CP/M 2.2 utility which allows to read and write files from IBM and Atari ST formatted 5,25" disks. It was written in 1987 by Peter Höpfner.
DOSCOPY physical manual
DOSCOPY 5,25" disk
DOSCOPY screenshot
Downloads
- DOSCOPY 1.1 (Vortex 360k disk image)
- DOSCOPY Benutzerhandbuch (manual)
PARA 3.0
PARA 3.0 is a CP/M 2.2 utility allowing to exchange files between the CPC and other CP/M based systems. It claims to support "reading, writing and formatting of 99% of all CP/M formats" and provides a comprehensive disk format analzer. It was written in 1987 by Peter Höpfner.
PARA 3.0 physical manual
PARA 3.0 5,25" disk
PARA 3.0 loading screen
PARA 3.0 format analyzer
Downloads
- PARA 3.0 (Vortex 720k disk image)
PARA PLUS
PARA PLUS (or PARA 3.0 PLUS) is a bundle consisting of PARA 3.0 and DOSCOPY.