HD floppy disks on Amiga 500

[midway]

I have a ton of them, if you are in the USA PM me

[RiP]

You're talking about formatting HD disks as DD?  Yes.

Why exactly? I had no problem before :confused:

I have a ton of them, if you are in the USA PM me

No, not there =/

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Why exactly? I had no problem before :confused:

Some info in this thread that I googled up real quick:

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59623

Of course there's also 938457938754 other threads on this topic on various other retro forums.

TL;DR.  Go ahead and do it if you don't care about your data, or if you're just going to be writing ADF images to the disks and throwing them away if they don't work.  My .02 cents, it's 2016, floppies suck.  If you're just playing games on your system you should look into WHDLoad, or at least get yourself a Gotek or some similar floppy-replacement solution.  Cheers!  

[guest11527]

Is it really risky to use HD floppies such as Maxell in Amiga 2000?

Yes - at least typically. A2000 were equipped with DD drives long before the HD format was established, which means that the typical A2000 drive will not be able to create the strong magnetic field that is necessary to change the magnetization of a HD floppy surface *permanently*. The coercitivity of the HD surface is stronger, requiring a stronger magnetic field.

If, however, your A2000 is equipped with a later, post-HD area drive with a write head that is capable of creating such fields - and some later drives actually are - then there is no such problem. For example, a modded PC HD floppy drive is still unable to read HD floppies on the Amiga because it cannot deliver the data at the rate accepted by Paula, but it can read and write DD floppies, *and* it can write to HD floppies with DD density just fine. That does not hold for the average DD floppy drive.

The question thus is: Do you have the right drive for that? Typically, the answer is "no", but you might be lucky.

[RiP]

For example, a modded PC HD floppy drive is still unable to read HD floppies on the Amiga because it cannot deliver the data at the rate accepted by Paula, but it can read and write DD floppies, *and* it can write to HD floppies with DD density just fine. That does not hold for the average DD floppy drive.

Thanks for the info I don't have enough money to buy Gotek right now
Then modifying PC floppy drive for Amiga can write properly to save data for long time, right?
I use old Maxell floppies, made in japan.

I can only say for sure that the Chinon FB-354 drive is able to write to HD disks, because I have used one of these for years in my A-500 and I have lots of HD disks which I have written to years ago, and they all still work like a dream

I have also heard that it might help with some drives if you cover the HD hole. I assume that some drives adjust the magnetism field strength according to the sensor for the HD hole, so that it will bring up more power if it detects a HD disk.

I have Chinon FB-354 too =/

[paul1981]

Some info in this thread that I googled up real quick:

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59623

Of course there's also 938457938754 other threads on this topic on various other retro forums.

TL;DR.  Go ahead and do it if you don't care about your data, or if you're just going to be writing ADF images to the disks and throwing them away if they don't work.  My .02 cents, it's 2016, floppies suck.  If you're just playing games on your system you should look into WHDLoad, or at least get yourself a Gotek or some similar floppy-replacement solution.  Cheers!  

They don't suck if they're all you've got. Anyway, I like them and I'd never entertain the idea of removing the floppy drive from an Amiga or any other computer that should (by design) have one. It's a bit like having a Les Paul with a Marshall rig and then replacing it with an iPhone Marshall app or something and going through the PA instead. More convenient yes, but not quite as it should be and 'cool factor' lost.

It's also like replacing the engine in a classic car to an electric motor....think a few decades down the line when this may start happening - not good! We should be looking after our floppy drives and disks, not slinging them in the bin and replacing them with flash trash. Once the drives and disks are gone, they're gone for good.

[giZmo350]

@Paul1981

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Once the drives and disks are gone, they're gone for good.

Nah, because the save icon in every word processor, ever, will always be a picture of a floppy disk.  Even if most kids these days have never seen one.  

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheFloppyDiskMeansSaveAnd14OtherOldPeopleIconsThatDontMakeSenseAnymore.aspx

[giZmo350]

[LoadWB]

Yup.  No idea what breasts look like because we're slowly but surely progressing toward total androgyny to avoid offending or shaming anyone.

BUT, more on-topic, I have an Indus GT with an XU1541 sitting on my desk at the office and a drawer with 5 1/4" floppies.  There are a number of youngin's around who think it's pretty cool to see them work, but then also think I'm a little out of my mind for "playing" with them.

[dovegrace]

I couldn't imagine my A500 without a floppy drive.  It just wouldn't be the same, playing cracked games without hearing that hideous grinding noise (when loading) and scaring the kids.

[psxphill]

And what about an external high density drive ?? I used to have slimline black one that worked fine on my A500+ ...

Those were old dell external laptop drives sold with a converter cable and a new badge stuck over the dell badge. They slowed down to 150rpm when you inserted a high density disk, like the Amiga 4000 drives did.