Hi
HD (ie, 1.44MB) floppy disks can be used if they are formatted to DD (ie, 720KB). The following are instructions on how to do it:
“Formatting a 720kB floppy disk with Windows XP
1) Cover the square hole in the corner of the 1.44M floppy with a piece of tape
(there should be two holes - you want to cover the one WITHOUT the
write-protect shutter). If you hold the disk parallel to the floor, with
the label side up and the metal shutter away from you, it will be the hole
on the right.
2) Open a DOS window. (select “Run” in Windows 7 from the Start menu, type
cmd into the box and press enter to open up a DOS box.
3) Type in the DOS command "FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9" and press enter and follow
the prompts.
(Windows XP doesn't even support the /F:720 switch anymore, but explicitly
defining the number of sectors and tracks works just fine.)
4) This works with Windows 7 as well.”
Kind regards
Geoff Ward
From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@...m]
Sent: Saturday, 13 February 2016 7:56 AM
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [disklavier] Re: MX100A floppy drive replacement...
I think you can still get DD floppy drives from Ebay and other places or an older computer. I don’t know if an HD drive would work you could try though and see if it works.
Sent from Windows Mail
From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, 12 February 2016 20:52
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Wow... thanks so much for all the replies so far. I'll definitely try the bypass method when I get home and report back on whether it worked on my MX100A. I've also contacted Yamaha, so hopefully they'll get back to me soon with how I can order a new FDD.
Sam... I'm pretty sure it's not just a standard FDD. At the very least, it's only DD (double density), and most floppy drives available now are HD (high density).
I'll be sure to report back my progress, and if anyone else has had this problem and successfully repaired it, I'd love to hear from you.
~ Will
P.S. Jeff... are you REALLY responding from an Apple Newton?!?