Help Getting a 5.25" Drive to Run

[IvanTheNewOne]

Hi guys,

I have an HP (Matsushita) 5.25" drive that I'm trying to get to work with Greaseweazle. The board gets detected by Windows and I can talk to it fine, but I cannot issue any commands to the drive - it just sits there with its LED permanently lit, no sound or movement, and Greaseweazle eventually returns an error.

I have a floppy cable with two edge connectors (working, i.e. none of the leads are broken). I am using the further connector, that comes after the twist and I believe that I have jumpered the drive correctly to be the first floppy (I did try different combinations, though, just in case). Also, the drive is powered independently of the Greaseweazle and it does get both 5 and 12V.

Looking at the setup instructions, I am wondering if the termination could be the issue. The thing is that there is a location for the termination jumper on the PCB of the drive, but the pins are missing. Does that mean that the drive does not need them, or do I need to add it? (Ages ago, when the drive was in use, it was the second floppy in the system, so it would not have required termination.) Also, would I just need to short the pads, or improvise a resistor pack (and how strong, the docs say that they went up to 150Ω, but makes it sound like that was a lot)?

I wanted to keep the post relatively short and get the termination question out of the way first, but if needed, I will supply any additional info (exact error messages, drive model name, schematics from the drive manual, picture of how I have it jumpered...).

[keirf]

Is the drive LED permanently lit even when GW is not in use? Then the ribbon could be the wrong way round and you should flip one end or the other (not both).

[keirf]

Is the drive known good working in another setup?

[IvanTheNewOne]

Can't guarantee that, since it's been ages since it last ran (and I did look into my old parts to see if I could put together a PC that supported floppies, but I'm missing a graphics card). I once accidentally connected the ribbon cable while it was powered on and I must have shorted some pins because the drive spun up, but that's the most life I've been able to get out of it. I guess I should make sure it works. :/

[keirf]

Do you have any other drives to validate the Greaseweazle?

[IvanTheNewOne]

I have two 3.5" drives and I can't find a cable for them, it looks like they were lost when I moved (the one I'm trying with the 5.25" drive only has two edge connectors). I'll try to get my hands on one on Monday or Tuesday.

[andrewbird]

So the cable you are using for the 5.25 drive doesn't have two connectors other than the edge connector? Are you sure it hasn't been shortened? From what I remember most floppy cables of that time had a 5.25 edge connector a 3.5 dip connector and the dip connector for the controller. I think the 3.5 dip connector was crimped onto the other side of the idc cable so whilst it looked like the stripe was at pin one it was actually at pin two or suchlike.