Using the HxC Floppy Emulator

[admin]

I can feel the need for another folder in the downloads area with all of the disks I have converted !.... Maybe a project for this weekend.

[prime]

The biggest challenge is getting a 5v power supply to the device - it uses a standard 3.5" floppy power connector so making up a cable to supply 5v from something isn't going to be that hard - might even be possible to get the Dragon to supply the 5v.

How much does it draw, should be possible to add a couple of wires and an apropreate connector to the DragonDos cart, shouldn't tax the dragon PSU too much.

Phill.

[Andrew]

Hi all
Looks to be a very good storage solution for the dragon .
But a few qs
1)How do you connect the emulator to the dragon dos cart.
2)Does have to be a dragon dos cart cos i have a couple of unlabeled not working carts.
3)Because you put cart into the dragon does that mean it acts as a cart ,load image switch dragon on then auto loads into dragon
just like a normal cart.
4)Any tools to take a tape image to convert so it can go on the sd card.
Sorry for the questions just like to know more how it works with dragon 32
Many Thanks
Andrew

[admin]

Hi all
Looks to be a very good storage solution for the dragon .
But a few qs
1)How do you connect the emulator to the dragon dos cart.
2)Does have to be a dragon dos cart cos i have a couple of unlabeled not working carts.
3)Because you put cart into the dragon does that mean it acts as a cart ,load image switch dragon on then auto loads into dragon
just like a normal cart.
4)Any tools to take a tape image to convert so it can go on the sd card.
Sorry for the questions just like to know more how it works with dragon 32
Many Thanks
Andrew

1) The Dragon DOS cart is a large cart that contains both the Dragon DOS rom and the WD2797 disk controller. All you do is connect the ribbon cable to the floppy disk emulator in exactly the same way you would connect it to a real flopy disk.
2) Dragon DOS or Dragon DOS compatible (SuperDOS etc) - must have a working and calibrated WD2797.
3) Yes - All Dragon DOS carts are like that - it starts BASIC as normal and then you see Dragon DOS 1.0 or similar message.
4) There are several tape to disk utilities written back in the 1980s that you could use, but I suspect most of the games have already been converted to disk so its just a matter of converting the disk image using the tool and copying the files to an SD card.

[Andrew]

Hi
Many thanks for the quick reply.
Now i understand how it all connects together .i have never seen a dragon dos cart before
as the penny drops Disk Operating System
and now where to get one? Hmm ebay !
Many thanks for the reply
Andrew

[dragondata]

and now where to get one? Hmm ebay !
Andrew

They do pop up on eBay from time to time. As Simon has hinted at the calibration does tend to drift out over time, this needs an oscilloscope to re-cal. The floppy controller chip isn't very reliable either but they are easily replaced and still available new. So if you can try and find one which has been tested.

Good luck.

[prime]

I've tested the board with the Alpha and it seems to work perfectly with that too.

Cheers.

Phill.

[dragondata]

I've tested the board with the Alpha and it seems to work perfectly with that too.

Did it need a cable mod due to the Alphas different drive select pins?

[prime]

I've tested the board with the Alpha and it seems to work perfectly with that too.

Did it need a cable mod due to the Alphas different drive select pins?

Nope, just worked when jumpered as drive 0, same is true actually of a standard 3.5" drive I hooked up too.

Cheers.

Phill.

[robcfg]

I just tried my HxC with my dragon 64 and it worked flawlessly!

The HxC floppy emulator is indeed a nice piece of hardware.

As most software is on tape format, is there a way to convert it to disk so that it can be used with the floppy emulator?