Laptop floppy drive in A1200?

[Orjan]

I found a guy selling a CD-ROM/Floppy combo drive intended for a laptop computer and I immediatly thought about putting it in my A1200...

Now, the CD-ROM probably has a standard connector, so I can just get an adapter for it and connect to the IDE-connector or a Catweasel, if I can get my hands on one...

But does anyone know how the floppy connector would look like? Does it look like a normal one, or is it a standard used in laptops, or is it up to every drive manufacturer to develop an interface of their own?

[blobrana]

Hum,
It’ll be a `socket type` and no doubt not compatible with the disk driver controller in the amiga...

catweasel? >

(but, there are hacks on aminet that can convert an escom 1200 to read pc drives)

Best left alone...

[Orjan]

I was actually thinking about connecting it to a Kylwalda, since I know PC drives arent compatible with the Amiga straight up... If I have to build an adapter cable between the drive and the Kylwalda, so be it, but can I find the pinouts anywhere?

So my original question stands; is it a "normal" floppy interface or a proprietary which every manufacturer changes after his will?

[Holley]

Most standard slimline floppies use a high density version of a standard floppy connector, and standard slimline CDRoms use standard IDE connectors. However many laptop CDRoms arn't 'standard' and use something proprietary but will have the equivalent of 40-pin IDE leads in some sort of order.

Carefully check before buying! It could be dead easy, or it could be near impossible ;-)

[blobrana]

Hum,
Well my Jedi powers are weak just now, but if it is a socket type then you can disassemble it from the housing and you'll probably find that its a ribbon type connector (almost impossible to solder) (but perhaps it'll connected to a standard pin pc connector...)

[i once fitted a 2.5 HD that had a socket, disassemble it and found that it had a standard 44-pin connector...]

Do a search on the net for the model number and you may be luckily...

Good luck.

[Orjan]

The CD interface is not a problem, since I found an adaptor for it in a computer store... It´s the floppy interface I´m worried about...

Ah! I´ll just buy it, and go from there...

[Holley]

Fair enough, some wierd ones have the flexible see-though plastic type leads, which would be tough to sort.