Can I install floppy drive1.44 on Amiga 600?

[Mizar]

Can I install floppy drive1.44 on Amiga 600? If can I, which models and brands that ?

You can install a high density floppy drive in an A600.  The specific capacity isn't 1.44(MB) though, that's for PCs.  (Or to be precise it's 1440KB, or 1.41MB.)  But Amiga high density floppys are 1760KB, or 1.72MB.  I have a Sony model MPF920-E high density drive in my A1200.  It doesn't require any special board or driver, it's just plugged in at the usual floppy bay where the original 880KB one would be.  I'd be surprised if this is any different for an A600.

[Mizar]

Hi Mizar, you can't use your Sony MPF920-E at 1.72MB though ?

Yes, I can.  It's a high density floppy drive, so I use 1,760KB floppies in it.  I can also cover the upper left tab hole on high density floppies and use them as low density 880KB floppies too.

[Mizar]

That will only be recognised as an 880k drive.
 
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29589
 
The only way you'll get more than 880k with that drive is using this software:
 
http://aminet.net/package/docs/hard/HiDensity
 
Which doesn't use the standard amiga 1.76mb disk format, it uses gcr and IIRC it trades reliability for space.

No, my high density drive actually is recognized as a 1760KB (1.72MB) drive.  It doesn't use GCR.  I never knew about that software.  In that thread the guy seems to say that the HD MPF920-E is only recognized by the A1200 as low density 880KB... unless he's saying that the hardware reconfig he did fixed that.

But the MPF920-E is indeed a high density drive.  It looks like that Aminet package is used to do a high density format with the original Amiga Tech. internal floppy drive (880KB), not a real HD drive.

If indeed it requires some kind of extra board to use a HD drive as 1760KB, then apparently there must be one in my Amiga.  I originally ordered my system from the dealer with a HD floppy drive in it, so perhaps they installed the necessary extra equipment to use it.  But they never said anything about that and there wasn't any extra cost to do it.  I've also been inside my system recently and didn't notice anything obvious of extra hardware attached.  There is a very thin "board" at the opposite end of where the floppies insert, that has connections to the drive, but IIRC it didn't seem to have electronics on it.  That would be the only possibility of a HD expansion board.  I'll have to get the photos I took developed.  I also do not have any special floppy disk driver on my system.

[Mizar]

Digiman:

Then apparently I have extra hardware, cause I can format 1.72MB disks as well as read them.

The Amiga Tech A1200's shipped with high density drives, however they could only be used as 880kb drives as they don't spin at half speed when you insert a high density floppy disk.

psxphill:

Amiga Tech A1200s already had high density drives in them?  I had to order one specifically instead of having a low density one supposedly.  Then he credited the amount for the low density one off the high denisty one for only including it, as I recall.

Mine must be one of the smart drives, cause it's always worked like a normal high density drive.  And perhaps the dealer did one of those implementations mentioned, like the PLCC.

[Mizar]

(otherwise it ain't worth the ass ache with all the problems the AT A1200 disk drive has loading older/tricky disk formats on original games)

My HD drive can handle older and tricky disk formats on games and what-not with no prob.  (the Sony MPF920-E)

mongo:

Yes Amiga Tech. A1200s can read HD disks... mine can.  I must say I didn't realize mine was so special in this regard.
:hammer: