[Coco] FD-502 drive

[J.P. Samson]

>> No, you are right, they aren't quite the same. But I successfully
>> plugged in a 3-1/2" drive using the existing power connector in the
>> FD-502. It's a tight squeeze since the pin sizes are different, but
>> the spacing and layout is the same, so it works.
>>
>
> Ahhhhh.... NOW I see the point you were making....
> That's not bad, though - stuffing a 3.5" 720kb disk in  
> there.....hmmmm...

The big problem with putting a 3-1/2" drive in the FD-502 case is the  
existing data ribbon cable is too short--the 3-1/2" drive is shorter  
than a 5-1/4" and sits in the front center of the case.  Plus you need  
to get a 34-pin card edge to IDC converter.  Just be sure to get a  
3-1/2" drive with some jumpers on it so you can change the drive  
number, etc. on it.

The easiest thing would probably be to just build yourself a new  
ribbon cable.  In my case, I kept the existing cable and just added a  
short bridge cable with IDC connectors on both ends to make up for the  
shortfall.

Here's a couple of the items I bought to put this together:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Teac-19307763-91-3-5-Floppy-Drive-Internal-FD-235HF_W0QQitemZ200256073014QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item2ea0312d36&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/ABC-5-25-Mounting-Frame-for-3-5-Floppy-Ivory-q2-STSI_W0QQitemZ370089869099QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Cables_Adapters?hash=item562b133f2b&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A30

Supposedly if you restrict yourself to 3.5" DS/DD floppy disks in the  
1.44MB drive, it'll work correctly as a 720kB drive.  That just leaves  
finding the parts at a good electronics store to create the bridge  
cable with IDC connectors.

-- JP