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I'm programming a floppy disk-extractor/manager for an old synthesizer/keyboard instrument (made in 1980's). My Problem: This software should support USB-Floppy drives. It needs to read and write images to a 10-sector track formats. But USB Floppy-drives only support 9 or 18 sector track. I wasn't able to find a way to control this with my software (it seems like it is hard-coded into the drives firmware).

Has anyone successfully done this before? I would appreciate any hints

Ross Ridge
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Narek
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  • What operating system is this program supposed to run under? MS-DOS doesn't natively support USB drives of any sort, – Ross Ridge Feb 25 '16 at 16:59
  • I'm trying to make it run under win7. I know this is going to be challenging, but I'm sure there should be a way. – Narek Feb 26 '16 at 21:37

1 Answers1

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If the track format isn't standard PC format then it wouldn't work anyway. You'll need to make a floppy controller of your own in order to read a differently formatted disk.

imqqmi
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  • Let's say I would want to make my own floppy controller, where would I start? It would be very helpful if you could give me some directions :) – Narek Apr 05 '17 at 18:58
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    Always consider the existing options first unless you want to learn about the subject. Kryoflux has a device that may support the floppy format as standard. As for creating your own floppy drive controller, you'd need a 80MHz MCU (most arduinos are out) and a fast serial to USB or direct USB connection with 500KB/s minimum. There are datasheets from floppy disk controllers that contain much info about how to control the floppy drive as are many websites like the atari oriented info coach. – imqqmi Apr 07 '17 at 07:33