Emax

64-bit PCs can run 32-bit software. That’s not an issue. But newer motherboards won’t have a floppy controller or parallel port.
I ran into this when I built my last PC.

I got a motherboard with Intel 865PE chipset.
Intel Socket 478 I believe.
Running Windows 7 32-bit.

Just go to any goodwill or second hand used computer parts shop / computer “recycler” and get an old PC for about $20-$40.
I would expect it to be 32-bit, and already have a floppy drive in it.
I would not recommend a laptop, as the floppy could still be USB internally.

As long as it’s not an eMachine or Packard Bell.
But Dells or HP pavilions, or compaq any of those would work, or they may have some built that are old no-name.
No name are easier to repair / get parts for then Dell or HP because then for some things you may need a specific part- generic parts may not fit in some circumstances (including the floppy drive itself may have some weird mounting).
If you simply tell them what you need (32-bit with a floppy that is NOT USB), they should be able to set you up with something relatively cheap.

As to reliability- it’s an old PC- for that price, I am not sure what you are expecting, it’s going to be old / obsolete.
The things that fail are CPU fans and hard drives, and power supplies usually due to moving parts… nothing you can do about that, really.

As to EmuSer, my opinion is that you should invest in that project ONLY if your Emax is a REV1 board and doesn’t have SCSI.
It would be cheaper and less work to get a SCSI2SD and use flash memory, or secondarily, the HXC floppy emulator.

Again- in my opinion, SCSI is the better solution.
*** DISCLAIMER - I sell SCSI kits recreated from the factory binaries and instructions to update the Emax with the feature.***

SCSI drives were an addon at the factory, and the banks load directly from the Emax menu, etc. 
HxC you navigate the banks via the extra interface, and you have to create files on the PC, which some members of the group have had some issue doing.

Just my .02

Regards,
Ted
Co-Moderator





On Mar 21, 2016, at 7:15 PM, synthbay@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Hi,

I'd like to be able to burn disks for use in my Emax I, including the SE upgrade disk, and other Emax sound files I've pulled from the web, but as I understand it, the cheap USB floppy drives currently available don't work (for some reason?).

From what I've read under topics in this group, I understand that I need a Windows 32 bit PC with an internal disk drive to successfully burn Emax files onto floppies that my Emax I can read, right?

Knowing very little about PCs in general-- I'm hoping someone here can recommend a particular PC model that I could look for? Like, are there any particular models that are cheap and reliable and will make a good dedicated Emax computer. 

I think it would be cool to build one of these EmuSer devices once I have the right computer, assuming it requires the same type of Windows 32 bit PC.

What models are people here using>?








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