[sdiy] Flash Drive with Floppy Interface?

[Tom Arnold]

On Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 11:29:38PM +0200, ASSI wrote:
> is anybody aware of a Flash Drive that has a standard (PC/MFM) Floppy 
> Interface?  I'd like to retrofit the 3 1/2" drives in my synths 
> (notably the K5000 and the WAVE) before they go the way of the Dodo.  
> I'd prefer SD/MMC cards as the storage medium as I have a good number 
> of (not too big) cards of that format.  There would need to be a way to 
> switch between a number of floppy images on the card (without involving 
> a computer connection) and to preferrably direct any formatting 
> commands to a new image rather than killing off the one that happens to 
> be switched in.

Unfortunatly there is a patent for just such a beast.  I ran into this while
building a flash drive replacement for the Ensoniq mirage.  I still plan to
finish it one day, but after contacting the patent holder and finding out
the general unwillingness of a license agreement, I lost steam.

One simple way around the patent *and* a way thats actually easier to
implement, is to replace the drive back at the drive controller IC, but I
got sidetracked once I took that path.

-- 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
 - Tom Arnold       -  Free Synth DIY webspace http://www.sdiy.org 
 - SynthGeek        -
 - BBD Fanatic      -  "...is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?" 
 - echo evho wjxo   -    Juanita Shrugs. "What's the difference?" 
 --------------------