Multicontroller board from Russian Bear Service Crew (RBSC) Questions

Expert (127)

14-04-2021, 11:28

Hi
I have built a second board ( first one had issues with Compact Flash connector) and found a couple of issues, but don't know if these are by design:
- Can you use ANY Floppy drive with the card? I tried a 1.44M floppy drive and was not able to format a disk, as I got a message saying " Write disc protected". I looked at the schematic , and added a +vcc pullup resistor on pin 28 (WP) floppy connector and now I was able to format the drive, but it fails at the end with an error. In fact the software only allows 360k and 720k format. 1.44M was NOT an option
-Are there any options to format a drive on NEXTOR, besides the "format b:" command?
Thanks

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3571)

14-04-2021, 11:38

The 1.44mb capacity was never an option for MSX. You can use the PC drive allright, but you need to make sure that the HD hole is covered with tape on diskettes.

By javiermi

Expert (127)

14-04-2021, 17:24

Alexei, thanks for the tip
I've tried covering the right hole with black take and makes no difference
I've tested with two drives and 2 cables and found out that the WP definitely needs a +vcc pull-up, without it, it always thinks the dis is write-protected, but with the resistor, it detects the change on the drive sensor
Definitely there is something fishy, as if I try to format ( with or without the notch covered) it does all the formatting ( I can hear the stepper motor going 1 by 1 track), but at the end it gives a error ( Illegal operation)
To me looks more a software problem, not a hardware one - unless is trying to tell the drive to do something and the drive does not recognize it
Anyway, I'm using the Compact Flash, so is not a big loss, but still disappointed that is not working 100%
Regards

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3571)

14-04-2021, 18:53

Never had any issues with PC drive and various floppy diskettes. Are you using the twisted or straight floppy cable? And what is your jumper configuration?

By javiermi

Expert (127)

15-04-2021, 09:13

I was using a twisted cable, and the jumpers are all up
I just ordered a gotek drive, so will try again when I get it
Thanks

By javiermi

Expert (127)

26-04-2021, 20:32

I got the gotek drive today ( albeit the "new" model FDD-UDD U144K), and after programming it, It was working fairly well: I copied a couple of dsk files and all are readable. Also able to cpy files to the virtual "disk"
Its' odd that gives me trouble with a "real" floppy drive, but not with an emulator
Anyway, its working so, it was worth all the work involved

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3571)

31-10-2022, 21:21

We've just released an updated Altera firmware for our FDD-IDE Multicontroller. Now you can use a more widespread at the moment FDD controller chip - AIC37C65CL. You can find the updated firmware in the repository:

https://github.com/RBSC/MultiController

By sd_snatcher

Prophet (3645)