Floppy Connect Emulator Installation Guide for IBM Model

Floppy Connect Emulator Installation Guide for IBM Model

Overview

The Floppy Connect Emulator emulates your existing floppy drive & acts as if it were never removed. Works with almost any existing 720KB/1.44MB capacity DOS format floppy drive. 28 or 32 pin ribbon cables systems are supported & will connect to your existing power cable. Accomplish USB to Floppy functions with this hardware. This article is for the IBM model only. 

USB Flash Drive Requirements

  1. USB drive must be formatted as "FAT16" or "FAT" How to Format a USB Flash Drive to FAT

Connecting Cables


Looking at the rear of the Floppy Connect Emulator, the smaller power connector is on the left and the larger data connector is on the right. 
  1. The power cable plugs into the power connector with the two wires closest to the data connector
  2. The ribbon cable plugs into the data connector with the red or blue pin 1 wire closest to the power connector

Operating the Floppy Connect Emulator IBM Model

If the green light is constantly on, this is not normal and usually indicates the ribbon cable is backwards. Power down the CNC machine, rotate the ribbon cable, then try again
  1. After powering on the CNC machine, there should be a flashing red light when the USB drive is inserted and a flashing green light whenever the CNC machine is activating the Floppy Connect Emulator.
    1. If there are no lights at all, make sure pin 1 of the 34 pin ribbon cable matches pin 1 of the host motherboard (marked on the circuit board silkscreen, wherever the cable is plugged into in the host machine) and pin 1 of the Floppy Connect Emulator data connector
    2. If there is only the flashing red light, and never a green, then please turn the machine off, flip dipswitch 5, and try again 
      1. There should be a green light on the front panel when it is trying to activate the floppy unit (READ, WRITE or DIR commands)

Dip Switch Settings

The settings of the Floppy Connect Emulator are controlled by DIP switches located on the top of the unit in a narrow slot.


  1. 1st choice for IBM drives is 1, 2, 7, 8 ON and 3, 4, 5, 6 OFF for a 1.44MB emulation
  2. 2nd choice for IBM drives is 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 ON and 5 OFF
    1. DIP switch 5 toggles drive A and drive B; it is OFF for home computers
    2. DIP switch 7 & 8 toggles 720KB and 1.44MB mode; it is ON for 1.44MB and OFF for 720KB
  3. Hurco DIP switch settings are 3, 4, 7, 8 ON and 1, 2, 5, 6 OFF

Alternative Settings

If you are still having issues after trying the above, here are some alternate DIP switch settings to try
Please note the original settings as well as any tried settings
  1. The most common DIP switch settings to try if the shipped settings fail are (from left, DIP switch 4, 3, 2, 1):
    1. 1111 - rdy, low on 2
    2. 1110 - rdy, high on 2
    3. 1101 - rdy, change on 2
    4. 1011 - dc, high on 2
    5. 1001 - dc, open on 2
    6. 0010 - dc, low on 2
   



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