Modding floppy drive to take hd cf-28 cf-29 ??? possible SATA?

Hello all, I was wondering is it possible to mod floppy drive to accept HD inside the sleeve, I've already bought extra floppy for $8.00 shipped from ebay, and going to try to modify/convert it to an extra hard-drive, I've read somewhere that there used to be extra hard-drive option available for media bay, so I'll try to gut out the floppy drive and stick either SSD or HD in it... Also read here that some of you tried to stick SATA to PATA adapter in HD-Cage, but do to tight fit gave up on the idea. Media Bay Sleeve is a bit bigger, so it might work, also need to figure out how to implement the shock resistance, maybe will stuff the drive with foam... So here is my question, what kind of interface does floppy have, and would I need to change it? and did Any one tried that already?

Thanks,


Vitaliy

 

It occurred to me a while back that it might be possible to make a Zip drive caddy by combining an IDE>ATAPI adapter, the ATAPI boards from a CD caddy, and the shell from a floppy caddy. (I think that IDE and ATAPI are the same signals, just different plugs...)

Of course, since I have no actual use for a Zip drive I never actually tried it, it was just something to occupy a little time thinking about. (I tend to think up odd things when I get bored and have nothing else to do...)

However, a floppy drive, a desktop internal zip drive, and a desktop HDD are probably about the same size, both the Zip and HDD are usually IDE (unless you get a SATA drive), and you might even be able to squeeze in a SATA>IDE adapter if you use a laptop drive.

Although then you'd have SATA>IDE signal adapter, then IDE>ATAPI pinout adapter, then whatever sort of signal/pinout adaptation the ATAPI boards do. (Pinout adaptation is insignificant, but too many signal adaptations might cause issues... However, an IDE HDD shouldn't need any signal changes past what the CD already gets, just a pinout adaptation.)

So I'd recommend getting it to work with a straight IDE HDD before I tried to adapt it for SATA.

 

You need to check the other 28/29 threads and stickies. This idea has been proposed/attempted/forgotten on several occasions. You could possibly find the media bay hard drive carrier and try to fit an IDE/SATA adapter, but it would probably be a wiring nightmare as if it could be done easily, someone in this forum far smarter than I would have already accomplished this feat. Also, with the advent of the USB/SATA external hard drives and even the SATA/SATA external hard drives (using a SATA adapter in the PCMCIA slot), it is much easier just to plug in what you need when you need it.

 

Certainly it can be done... It is only a matter of how much time and money you want to throw at it. You may end up spending $200 for something you could have made or purchased for parts for only $100. Somewhere around here is a link to a site that is a CD Rom to Hard Drive adapter that would seem to work if you had a CD Rom Caddy for the CF-28/29... It wasn't expensive. I seem to think it was around $45 or thereabout.

 

Thank you guys, I'll let you know how it will be coming along, I've seen the link somewhere here as well, I think it was like $35 or less for pata model, as it was on sale. The only problem is that cd-rom caddy i was looking online (ebay) or cd-rom w/ a caddy doesn't go bellow $75. which is kind of steep for me, plus you add the cost of the drive around $65 and the cost of adapter $35-40, comes up almost to $200, which is kind of steep for what it is. External enclosure with sata pcmci card will be cheaper and probably much faster. I've took the floppy apart yesterday, didn't have a chance to take pictures of it yet, but it doesn't look like it's direct swap w/ pata, as I thought, not sure if the bracket can be used if I get a pin out for media bay, and the flat cable to solder it ... I've read that there used to be an option for media bay based hard drive, I'll dig in manuals today, to see if the connection piece can be ordered, and go from there...

 

There is one other thing to consider, once you got it connected, panasonic requires that anything on the IDE channels be set to MASTER. I have never had anything good happen with two HDs set to master on the same IDE channel back when I had IDE HDs on my desktop. I don't know if this would be a problem with a TOUGHBOOK or not.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the FDD caddy doesn't use the same connections in the mediabay header as the CDROM caddy does. The circuits for both the IDE CDROM caddy and a standard floppy controller are present in the mediabay header connector; but you'll ruin the FDD connector trying to get to the pins, and you pretty much need the connector from a CDROM caddy to figure out the wiring. Then, if you are lucky enough to successfully solder wires to that 100-pin connector which has pin spacing of approx 20 thousandths of an inch, you still can't attach it back to the header PCB because the circuits for the FDD connection are still there and will short out the IDE connections you just spent all day making.

If you're wondering how I know this, it's because I've already done it all, and it still didn't work.

Save yourself the headache; buy the CDROM caddy to start with.

Mnem
Sortof like beating your knee with a monkey wrench, cuz it feels so good when you stop...

 

Conclusion

Modifying a floppy drive caddy to hold a extra hard drive or optical drive is not going to work

It was worth considering 4 or 5 years ago when standard used cd-rom caddies sold for $150
It’s not cost effective now when you can find the same thing for $45

Alex

 

Dangit... You guys are so smart!

 

Thank you guys for all of the suggestions, maybe you are right, and it's not worth it. by the way did anyone have a diagram for cd rom or dvd rom, as I wasn't able to find it in either service manual, just fdd and hdd with part numbers.

Vitaliy.

 

Yeah, that's why we said you needed the CDROM caddy to figure out the wiring...

mnem
*Pours a little Alfredo sauce on that electrical spaghetti*