[{"element_type":"user_image","content":"https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/user_assets/assets/000/000/928/original/PXL_20240620_143257338.MP.jpg?1718894154","metadata":{"caption":""}},{"element_type":"text","content":"\n        \u003cp\u003eMy Xerox 820 CP/M computer has a large external drive enclosure with two 8\" SS/DD floppy drives in it. They have a \"shugart\" interface inside, brought out to a proprietary-but-documented 37-pin D-style connector. Because the data signals used by floppy drives changed very little over the decades (at least in the CP/M and PC worlds; Commodore and Apple users, don't @ me) all the signals mostly map closely enough onto IBM PC 34-pin connector.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI \u003ca href=\"https://adafruit-playground.com/u/jepler/pages/xerox-820-gotek-adapter\"\u003epreviously made a passive adapter board\u003c/a\u003e so that a \"Gotek\" floppy drive emulator could replace the drive enclosure, and it worked! (and is a LOT less loud than 2 8\" floppy drives spinning all the time!!!)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat got me thinking: could I make a 2nd adapter board that would let me archive 8\" floppies? Then, inspiration struck: I didn't even need a 2nd board design. Instead of fitting a plug (\"male\") connector on the board's \u003cstrong\u003etop\u003c/strong\u003e side, I could simply fit a socket (\"female\") connector on the board's \u003cstrong\u003ebottom\u003c/strong\u003e side.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince I'd gotten 5 boards in my PCB order, I just had to wait for delivery of the connector and solder everything up.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth archiving and writing worked on the first try, with greaseweazle host software and an Adafruit Floppsy prototype board; a genuine GreaseWeazle should work just the same.\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","metadata":{}},{"element_type":"user_image","content":"https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/user_assets/assets/000/000/927/original/PXL_20240620_143224219.MP.jpg?1718894098","metadata":{"caption":"Left: Greaseweazle adapter    Right: Gotek adapter"}},{"element_type":"text","content":"\n  \n  \n        \u003cp\u003eYou can grab the kicad design files from my \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/jepler/xerox-820/tree/main/gotek-adapter\"\u003exerox 820 repository on github\u003c/a\u003e and order them from the board house of your choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSoldering the PCB\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTake a 2x36 pin header strip and snip off a 2x17 portion of it, reseving the rest for another project\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSolder this header on the\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003etop\u003c/strong\u003e side of the board (where the silk is visible)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSolder a 37-pin receptacle (\"female\") connector on the\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003ebottom\u003c/strong\u003e side of the board (opposite the silk)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe \"mod\" area is unused\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe 4-pin floppy power connector is ununsed\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eConnecting the board\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlug the floppy enclosure into the \"D\" connector; this is polarized so it can go only one way. Then, noting the \"pin 1\" location on both the GreaseWeazle/floppsy and the converter PCB, connect a straight through 34-pin ribbon cable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eInvoking greaseweazle\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, install greaseweazle host software according to the directions, and install a greaseweazle-compatible firmware on your device. Check that \"\u003ccode\u003egw info\u003c/code\u003e\" can find and report your device info; you may need to provide a \"\u003ccode\u003e--device\u003c/code\u003e\" flag to all greaseweazle commands if you are using a greaseweazle-compatible device, not a genuine greasweazle. (e.g., \"\u003ccode\u003egw info --port COM31\u003c/code\u003e\")\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo archive a floppy:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor safety against unintentionally writing to a floppy, the Adafruit Floppsy has a write enable switch. Slide it to the \"OFF\" position.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInsert a floppy. For Floppsy, use the \"B\" drive. For a genuine GreaseWeazle you can use either \"A\" or \"B\" via the \u003ccode\u003e--drive\u003c/code\u003e flag.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreate the disk image: \u003ccode\u003egw read --format dec.rx01 cpm.img\u003c/code\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the process completes, you will be shown a summary of any parts of the floppy that could not successfully be read.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo write a previously read floppy image \u003cstrong\u003enote that this will irrevocably destroy the data previously on the floppy\u003c/strong\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIf you're using an Adafruit Floppsy, make sure the write enable switch is in the ON position\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe floppy must also be write-enabled. On 8\" floppies, this is done by covering the \"write protect\" notch on the right side of the bottom edge. Some 8\" floppies were manufactured with no notch, in which case they are never write protected (this is opposite to the situation with 5.25\" floppies)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInsert the floppy you want to write to. For Floppsy, use the \"B\" drive. For a genuine GreaseWeazle you can use either \"A\" or \"B\" via the\u0026nbsp;\u003ccode\u003e--drive\u003c/code\u003e flag.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrite the disk image: \u003ccode\u003egw write --format dec.rx01 cpm.img\u003c/code\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the process completes, you will be shown a summary of any parts of the floppy that could not successfully be verified. All 8\" floppy media is decades old, and unreadable/unwritable sectors are an unfortunate fact of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eOn the internal organization of image files\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese images come out in the correct format \u0026amp; organization to use with the flashfloppy configuration I posted on \u003ca href=\"https://adafruit-playground.com/u/jepler/pages/xerox-820-gotek-adapter\"\u003emy earlier playground note\u003c/a\u003e. CP/M had some complicated rules relating to sector numbering \u0026amp; interleaving, and each manufacturer could actually use different formats \u0026amp; organizations from every other manufacturer! Different conventions for archival images can place the sectors in a different organization, so when it comes to using images from the internet you may have to use conversion software to make sure the data is in the correct order. Unfortunately, the only way to do this is by trial and error.\u003c/p\u003e\n      \n\n","metadata":{}},{"element_type":"text","content":"\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n        \u003ch2\u003eParts\u003c/h2\u003e\n      \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","metadata":{}},{"element_type":"parts","content":"\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-details\"\u003e\n    \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003cspan class=\"parts-quantity\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e x \u003c/span\u003e\n        \u003ca href=\"https://www.tindie.com/products/emmybear/greaseweazle-v41-fully-assembled/?pt=ac_prod_search\" class=\"parts-name\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGreaseWeazle V4.1\u003c/a\u003e\n      \u003cdiv class=\"parts-description\"\u003eGreaseweazle V4.1 USB Floppy Adapter Flux Reader Writer Amiga Atari PC\u003c/div\u003e\n    \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-action\"\u003e\n  \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003ca href=\"https://www.tindie.com/products/emmybear/greaseweazle-v41-fully-assembled/?pt=ac_prod_search\" class=\"parts-url btn-secondary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBuy Now\u003c/a\u003e\n\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n  \u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n","metadata":{"name":"GreaseWeazle V4.1","url":"https://www.tindie.com/products/emmybear/greaseweazle-v41-fully-assembled/?pt=ac_prod_search","description":"Greaseweazle V4.1 USB Floppy Adapter Flux Reader Writer Amiga Atari PC","quantity":"1"}},{"element_type":"parts","content":"\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-details\"\u003e\n    \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003cspan class=\"parts-quantity\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e x \u003c/span\u003e\n        \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/jepler/xerox-820/tree/main/gotek-adapter\" class=\"parts-name\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e34-pin to 37-pin floppy adapter PCB\u003c/a\u003e\n      \u003cdiv class=\"parts-description\"\u003elink to design files; order from the board house of your choice\u003c/div\u003e\n    \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-action\"\u003e\n  \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/jepler/xerox-820/tree/main/gotek-adapter\" class=\"parts-url btn-secondary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBuy Now\u003c/a\u003e\n\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n  \u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n","metadata":{"name":"34-pin to 37-pin floppy adapter PCB","url":"https://github.com/jepler/xerox-820/tree/main/gotek-adapter","description":"link to design files; order from the board house of your choice","quantity":"1"}},{"element_type":"parts","content":"\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-details\"\u003e\n    \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003cspan class=\"parts-quantity\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e x \u003c/span\u003e\n        \u003ca href=\"https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/assmann-wsw-components/A-DF-37-A-KG-T4S/1241826\" class=\"parts-name\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eXerox floppy connector (receptacle / \"female\")\u003c/a\u003e\n      \u003cdiv class=\"parts-description\"\u003eCONN D-SUB RCPT 37POS R/A SLDR\u003c/div\u003e\n    \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-action\"\u003e\n  \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003ca href=\"https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/assmann-wsw-components/A-DF-37-A-KG-T4S/1241826\" class=\"parts-url btn-secondary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBuy Now\u003c/a\u003e\n\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n  \u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n","metadata":{"name":"Xerox floppy connector (receptacle / \"female\")","url":"https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/assmann-wsw-components/A-DF-37-A-KG-T4S/1241826","description":"CONN D-SUB RCPT 37POS R/A SLDR","quantity":"1"}},{"element_type":"parts","content":"\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-details\"\u003e\n    \u003cdiv\u003e\n      \u003cspan class=\"parts-quantity\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e x \u003c/span\u003e\n        \u003ca href=\"https://www.adafruit.com/product/1541\" class=\"parts-name\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eRight angle header\u003c/a\u003e\n      \u003cdiv class=\"parts-description\"\u003eBreak-away 0.1\" 2x36-pin strip right-angle male header (5 pack)\u003c/div\u003e\n    \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"parts-action\"\u003e\n  \u003cdiv\u003e\n        \u003ca id=\"1541-product\" class=\"product-buy btn-primary parts-url\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.adafruit.com/product/1541\"\u003eAdd  to Cart\u003c/a\u003e\n\n\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n  \u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n","metadata":{"name":"Right angle header","url":"https://www.adafruit.com/product/1541","description":"Break-away 0.1\" 2x36-pin strip right-angle male header (5 pack)","quantity":"1","featured":false}}]