Emax

Just wondering if anyone did what I did with the CF and the Laptop  
Floppy?

Yes I got the Laptop floppy to work, but when I went to put it all  
together I found it would not fit properly.... and nothing worked. So  
back to the drawing board...

1) The IDE to SCSI converter connected directly onto the back of the  
3.5" IDE CF would not fit due to it getting in the way of keyboard keys.

Solution-

I get my connector parts from mouser.com - no minimums.....

a) get a double ended header (pn 517-665-08-36) and use a standard  
IDE cable to extend out past the keys. But then the connector pins  
are reversed, so you need a 40-pin IDC connector (pn#517-89140-0101)  
and twist each pair of wires so 1 becomes 2 and 2  becomes 1, 3=4,  
and 4=3... --- on down the line. took me about 40 minutes to do...

b) Later I found there is a plug, which would mean no header is  
needed, and no need to twist the wires (I haven't tested this, but it  
should work) price is a bit steep $8+, wire twisting . (IDC plug...  
pn#  517-4640-6000). If you haven't ordered the stuff for #1, I might  
suggest this route for easier solution.

2) My laptop floppy is not the same width as a standard 3.5" drive  
so, there would be side to side gaps, used some spacers and made some  
mounting brackets... but also I didn't have the proper screws to  
mount that floppy. Yes you could just rethread or strip out the  
threads on the laptop drive, but I like my stuff to be solid. I found  
that my TEAC FD05G had 2.6M screws. A little difficult to find here  
in the US, even at the specialty fastener stores I had access too.  
You really need 2.6Mx6mm. I found that the 2.6M screws are available  
from hobby stores as they are used in RC car motors..... Duratrax  
supplies a kit of screws (cost $4) that had a bunch of lengths. I was  
able to make 1 set work for the 4 screws I needed. Duratrax part  
number DTXQ0283 (might be available via the web)....

Bracket info- brackets were about the length of the 3.5" drive, about  
3.25cm tall. From the mounting screws for the standard drive, measure  
2.3cm up from hole centers  where the CF drive side mount holes are,  
and drill your holes for the Slim floppy.

3) The itx adaptor for laptop floppy (mentioned previously in past  
emails) was going to flap around, so I added a metal extension  
bracket to the HD bracket and mounted it to that.

4) For some reason, about the time I had this all working, the laptop  
floppy stopped working for me. I had to retrace my steps as far as  
the ITX floppy adaptor.

What I found in the end....(cut trace previously mentioned in  
email).....I also cut an additional trace on the ITX which connected  
to pins 10 & 16 on the 34 pin Floppy side to pin 10 of the 26 pin ITX.
So then I jumpered 34pin #10 to 26pin #4, and 34pin #16 to pin 10....  
my previous instructions may have worked too, but I did something to  
make it not work (solder cleanup unsoldered something after last  
attempt- not sure).... but this works. So it is all put together....

I have some really poor pictures of this and the final result. If  
people would like, I can upload them to the files.....


Now I have a question- when I go to put all these disks on the CF, if  
I copy a floppy, does that also copy any supermode or sequences that  
are on the floppy too?



Regards,
Ted