Vortex Disc Drives

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.

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

TO BE CONFIRMED: Does the interface fully decode US0/US1 from NEC765 and if you select unit 3 which drive is accessed.

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
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
Back of Vortex M1-X showing connectors and power.
Back of Vortex M1-X showing IDC connection
Inside Vortex M1-X with a close up of the drive from above
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
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