Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: dougal on October 14, 2010, 09:58:12 PM
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5-1-44MB-USB-SSD-FLOPPY-DRIVE-EMULATOR-Replacement-/230526550725?pt=UK_Computing_FloppyDiskDrives_SM&hash=item35ac7402c5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_hardware_emulator
From Wikipedia:
Old PCs, keyboards and industrial automation equipment such as programmable machinery and industrial robots may not have a USB interface. Data and programs are still loaded from a floppy disk, which can be damaged in industrial environments. This outdated equipment may not be replaced due to cost, or requirement for continuous availability.
A hardware floppy disk emulator interfaces directly to a floppy disk controller (FDC), allowing users
* to plug it in like a common floppy drive
* to load and save data using USB keys / SD cards / MMCs
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Interesting device and quite inexpensive. Hopefully someone has an answer. This could also be quite useful on older PCs and laptops that lack USB ports and the CD/DVD drive is bad. One could use it to boot from a USB stick and recover/repair files on the hard drive.
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Looks like the downside would be that the capacity of your 16 GB usb drive would be reduced to a single floppy (i.e. one floppy per usb drive) ?
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Looks like the downside would be that the capacity of your 16 GB usb drive would be reduced to a single floppy (i.e. one floppy per usb drive) ?
Yes that is a downside.
I think it would be useful on a big box Amiga as a DF1: for transferring between Amiga & PC etc.. Though not the best option as you could always use IDE to CF adapters.
Hmmm... There must be some sort of use for it.
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It'd probably at the very least require the same hacks standard PC drives need to work in Amigas, I'd guess.