Micro peripherals Drive controler?

[cybervet]

Thanks Tobias, I will try tonight and let you know how it went.
Tassos

[cybervet]

I played a little with flp_opt although I could not find any documentation but the result was the same , when I give the format or dir commands I can listen the floppy head making noise but I am not sure if the motor is going or not.
Anyone here that has the sinclair disk extension with the Qflp eprom can share his dip switch settings?
Thanks Tassos

[cybervet]

I checked with 3 pc drives 1 old and 2 newer models ( the old one had a jumber for DS0 and the other 2 solder jumbers for DS0) all of them set as DS0 connected with a straight cable.
The result was the same, when I give the dir command I get back "not found" and when I give format "format failed". In both cases the drive led is lighting, motor and head moving and I hear noise.
One strange thing is that the same happens when I give "dir flp1_" or "dir flp2_" , ie led, motor, head , noise.
Can a hardware problem cause that behavior? So far I have tried on double and 3 single FDDs .
Tassos

[RWAP]

Well at least you know the drives are working - the MicroP should work with the same drives as the Cumana interface which is therefore not a problem.

The QJUMP upgrade ROM does not affect any of the jumper settings on the MicroP - it only affects the commands (ie. support for FLP device instead of FDK) and adds direct sector access.

I presume you have checked and double checked the jumper settings on the interface ?

The main culprit is probably DIP Switch 3 which sets the access time between 6ms and 3ms.
See http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/manuals/mi ... erface.pdf

The other thing to try may be (don't laugh) to turn the drive cable upside down. I know I had a MicroP interface in the past and I think the drive light was on all the time(!) and yet it worked somehow. See if Pin 1 is marked on the board at all.

[Dave]

In order of likelihood, descending order:

Bad floppy jumper settings - tested
Bad floppy timing settings - tested
Bad floppy cable
Bad logic on interface
Failing PSU in floppy enclosure
Incompatible EPROM (it could be trying to use a different version of hardware, and getting what it interprets as nonsense responses)

From here, I would but the original EPROM back, then re-orient the floppy cable or try a different one until it works.

The rule here is 'only change one thing at a time'...

[cybervet]

So far I tested both in the cumana and MicroP
1) 3 old single drives and a double new one
2) SD HxC floppy emulator
The above all function in the cumana but don't work in the MicroP and they all use the same PSU.
3) Changed the cable ( reversed it) and tried other cables, no go.
4) tried every possible combination in the dip switches, no go.
5) I checked for continuity in the I/F pins (in case there was a bad soldering) , everything checked out.
Unfortunately I don't have the original EPROM since I got the I/F with the QFLP installed, no manuals for the QFLP and no schematics for the MicroP/Sinclair I/F.
The I/F recognized correctly in the initial boot screen , QFLP also.
One strange thing is that the dip switches in the manual seem to be reversed with the on position down while on the actual board the on is in the up position (pictures from the net show the same configuration also) but in any case I checked that case also.
Another thing worth mentioning is that while trying the SD HxC floppy emulator it seems that the head does not seek (checked it on the lcd screen where it shows traks and sectors) although the drive is recognized correctly (I know that the drive motor works since I checked it in the actual drive that the magnetic surface turns).
I am baffled ............
Tassos

[Dave]

Then it seems you have some faulty logic driving the lines to the interface.

[RWAP]

If the board has a set of jumpers (rather than DIP switches), you could try a new set of jumpers (!)

I have an original MicroP ROM here which I could send to you for £4 including postage so at least you could eliminate the QFLP ROM upgrade.

Unfortunately, it sounds more and more as though it is an issue with the board and how it communicates with the drives - for a normal interface, I would recommend changing the WD1770 / WD1772 controller - but I think you said that the MicroP does not use this.

Just another thought - have you checked that none of the PINs on the QL expansion bus are bent - it could be that the MicroP interface is missing a signal from the QL !

[tofro]

One strange thing is that the same happens when I give "dir flp1_" or "dir flp2_" , ie led, motor, head , noise.

Tassos,
this very much hints to the cable - Looks like the drive select lines are not connected properly.
What type of measurement are you able to do? Could you check what signals show up at the drive end?

Tobias

[cybervet]

@ Tobias I can't really make any serious measuring since the only instrument I have is a multimeter, what I did was a simple continuity measurement to rule out shorts.
If I there is any measurement that I can do with a multimeter please tell me what to do.
@Rich I checked the pins on the QL side and there are no bend ones, please keep for me the MicroP Eprom , I will get it in a couple of days when I send you the order for the QL PSU, I might also need a disk drive I/F , do you have any available?
Tassos