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HP4145B floppy problem

Hi,

we have an old HP4145B parameter analyzer sitting around because the floppy drive is broken and we cannot boot it anymore. If I am correct it does not have a hard disk, therefore the floppy drive is mandatory. Since we have another HP4145B that is still in use, I was wondering if we could actually use the functioning floppy drive from the first equipment and just use to boot the second equipment. However this only works if the HP does not need write access during measurements or when changing configurations. Does anyone know it this is the case? Also, is there a possibility to connect one floppy drive simultaneously to two different pieces of equipment? I am afraid that there will be problems about the potentials floating around, but maybe there is some easy trick? By the way the broken floppy is a MP-F52W-20 from Sony. Does anyone know the pin layout?

Thanks in advance!!!

David

Reply to
sunshine
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Try it with the write-protect notch/slider on the floppy itself.

No.

See the links, however the biggest problem is, that hp used special drives with 600RPM, not the standard 300RPM.

Google: MP-F52W-20

Not so good news:

formatting link

And worse:

formatting link

Saludos Wolfgang

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Reply to
Wolfgang Allinger

On 19 Aug 2008 08:21:00 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@brain.net (Wolfgang Allinger) put finger to keyboard and composed:

I notice that the original drive is spec'ed for DS DD 3.5" 630KB diskettes. If the drive rotates at 600RPM, then the interface transfer rate would be roughly equivalent to a HD diskette spinning at 300RPM. So would it be feasible to increase the speed of the motor of a PC-compatible 300RPM (5 revs/sec) drive to 600RPM (10 revs/sec) and expect it to function correctly when attached to HP's controller?

Depending on the design of the motor controller, the OP could try doubling the frequency of the ceramic resonator, or removing every second Hall effect sensor, or passing the speed sensor's output through a flip-flip.

The OP may also need to defeat the microswitch or optical sensor that senses the diskette's hi-den/lo-den tab.

- Franc Zabkar

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Reply to
Franc Zabkar

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