Changes
Besides the "big" brands' disk drives for the Amstrad CPC, there were also user solutions and garage company made disk drives for the Amstrad CPC.
These usually came without their controller and own DOS, or so in order to use the full capacity of such drives, you had to replace the built-in AMSDOS with a DOS like ParaDOS or a patched AMSDOS. But even without a special DOS taking use of the higher capacity of those drives, the use of such drives made sense, as media were much cheaper than 3" media. Today, with supplies of 3" disks draining and company solutions no longer being produced, a self-made 3 1/23½" disk drive is the perfect supplement for every CPC user, especially as it makes the data exchange between CPC and PC much easier.
== Notes ==
** Part Bx, which is also the full cable for the CPC464 with DDI-1, can even be used to connect the PC drive as A: on the DDI-1, though this doesn't work with all drives.
* Although schematics for drives without own RDY-Signal are givenincluded, it is highly recommended to use drives with RDY to ensure maximum compatibility. The only todays drive known to However, drives that can simply be resolderable to output jumpered for a proper RDY-signal is the Samsung SFD-321B and many drives wonaren't work as A: on the CPC464+DDI-1 without a permanent RDY thoughmade any more and can probably only be bought used. Many PC disk Though, some drives that are still be sold or were still be sold recently can be [[Modify PC floppy drives|Modifiedmodified]] to output for a real RDY-Signalsignal. Be aware that some of these drives will, especially on a CPC464 with DDI-1, still only work as drive B: after modifying them for the RDY-signal. Probably this is related to the drive's RDY-conditions during power up, which aren't met by the CPC-controller. To operate a drive under these conditions, you will need a drive which also allows the MOTOR ON conditions to be configured, or again, a permanent RDY as last resort.
* These schematics differ from most existing schematics on the web in that way, that they don't use GND to pull signals active low, but the /DRIVE SELECT line via diode. This ensures that the other drive on the bus doesn't become influenced. You can solder the wire containing the diode directly (without the diode) to a GND-wire and you will get the same as described in other tutorials but the side switch and - if applicable - the permanent RDY will also be in effect for the other disk drive then.
