Members CoolColJ Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 Now my Yamaha VL-1 floppy drive has died and there are no replacements But then I came across this blog detailing this replacement device on a Korg Karma http://synth.me/music-gear/replace-your-synthesizer-keyboard-floppy-drive-usb-drive You can find them on Ebay for around $50. The website has more details, and the software to create the virtual floppies on the USB drive. You can store 100 floppies on each. http://www.floppytousb.net/ From what I gather, if the disk can be read on a PC, then it can be emulated, once the correct jumpers are set, and the USB stick properly formatted and so on. I tried the software on the website and it works on Windows 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zzzxtreme Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 have u bought it? to my understanding, usually early 90s yamaha floppy drives are proprietary, like my EL90 electone. let me know if it works for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted January 27, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 Not yet What gives me hope is that the Yamaha VL-1 disks are just standard MS-DoS format. I can copy onto them from PC no problems. The black ones from Ebay will fit in nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted February 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 A friend has ordered one for his VL1, will update on how it works The other option is to replace the belt on your existing drive. That's what usually dies, it stretches too much http://shop.ebay.com.au/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=floppy+drive+belt&_sacat=See-All-Categories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members juno6 Posted February 10, 2011 Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 Now my Yamaha VL-1 floppy drive has died and there are no replacements But then I came across this blog detailing this replacement device on a Korg Karma http://synth.me/music-gear/replace-your-synthesizer-keyboard-floppy-drive-usb-drive You can find them on Ebay for around $50. The website has more details, and the software to create the virtual floppies on the USB drive. You can store 100 floppies on each. http://www.floppytousb.net/ From what I gather, if the disk can be read on a PC, then it can be emulated, once the correct jumpers are set, and the USB stick properly formatted and so on. I tried the software on the website and it works on Windows 7 This should work... http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted April 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 21, 2011 Well the floppy emulator didn't work, different type of cable Instead of an IDE type cable and separate power supply cable, there is a flat type single ribbon connection I tried replacing the floppy drive belt, and while that worked, the drive functions now, it just won't read the disks Looking for a replacement drive, which I then hope to dump all my patches and other banks from the net into my PC via Soundiver and sys-ex, so that I never need to use the floppy again Or is there a way to convert VL1 .1VC, .1BC, and .ALL files to sysex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sprinklerhead Posted April 21, 2011 Members Share Posted April 21, 2011 The biggest problem is back when floppy drives were standard on synths, the formats weren't. Different non standard floppy drives were the norm and the engineers that decided every new generation had to write in a different format...WTF? If you can get the schematics for the board, you might be able to make a custom ribbon cable to hook it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted April 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 21, 2011 I did a little bit of searching and it seems possible to retrofit an adaptor of sorts, but probably out of my leagues of skills http://www.yamahaforums.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4181 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GaryW Posted April 22, 2011 Members Share Posted April 22, 2011 I was hoping to use one of these on my W-30s, but alas the drive is incompatible. I'd love to be able to replace the floppy drive with something a bit quicker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Floppy disks. Oh, the memories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted April 22, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2011 I was hoping to use one of these on my W-30s, but alas the drive is incompatible. I'd love to be able to replace the floppy drive with something a bit quicker... It won't be quicker since it's an emulator, but it will be more reliable and you can store all your virtual floppies on 1 card they list an S50 here, and the W30 is similar no? http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/ If you have a scsci port, a card reader is the way to go though http://www.scsicardreaders.com/index.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthjoe Posted May 20, 2011 Members Share Posted May 20, 2011 I tried replacing the floppy drive belt, and while that worked, the drive functions now, it just won't read the disks You might still be able to get head cleaning kits for the FDD (usually very cheap - in the range of $1-2), try 3-4 passes or more with that. These FDD things do not break that easily - but they are sensitive and head clogging is a common problem. After cleaning try to format a blank disk first, then read it back and only then move on to disks written with another machine (be it PC or synth). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted May 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 21, 2011 You might still be able to get head cleaning kits for the FDD (usually very cheap - in the range of $1-2), try 3-4 passes or more with that. These FDD things do not break that easily - but they are sensitive and head clogging is a common problem. After cleaning try to format a blank disk first, then read it back and only then move on to disks written with another machine (be it PC or synth). Yeah I found an old disk cleaner thing in my drawer, along with a bottle of isopropnal alcohol, will give it a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoolColJ Posted May 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 28, 2011 Just to confirm - it didn't work Oh well. Someone did send me all the VL1 patches he had found on the net in one Sounddiver format library file, so that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ahelet Posted September 11, 2013 Members Share Posted September 11, 2013 We had the same problem when we tried to use Chinese USB floppy emulators for our plastic injection molding machines. Demag,Engel,Ferromatik,Wittmann,Battenfeld. We worked hard, and result is our own emulator that works and fits perfect for our machines. Our emulator is more simply, just max 72 floppy can be located in one SD card. Only most common 1,44 floppy emulation. Designed for our machines, but I'm sure it will also work with other devices. All floppy signals are implemented, support CP/M and IBM. Our emulator not having any jumpers at all. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCirwbNnuo4c2Qep\_qvPvUGw/videos http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC\_vY4bpVz8wEre-gF6mrV5w/videos http://www.floppydrive.eu/ Price is not final, if necessary, can do for you price that suits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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