Adding USB on Agilent 54621A - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: brabus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2014, 12:46:41 pm
content: Good morning everyone,A sincerethank youif you are willing to spend time on my question. You're great.My idea is to replace the FDD drive on my Agilent 54621A. I made a teardown video (unluckily only in Italian, by now):I did some reverse engineering on the main board and on the FDD drive, the results are in the picture below:I would like to use an FDD-to-USB converter like this:MY PROBLEM:I believe that I can get a way with a simple adapter between the FFC cable and the classic ribbon cable, the question is: which is the pinout of the proprietary Agilent FFC?I searched the web from North to South, with no results.So I thought of finding out by my own, analyzing the pinouts of the controllers. I already have the datasheet of the PC87338VJG, but it's pretty messy to reconstruct the connection between it and the connector.It would be A LOT easier if I could retrieve the pinout of the NN8863FAW, since the pins are directly connected to the FFC connector on the FDD drive. Really, the connector is about 5 mm from the chip, and the tracks go straight.Unluckily, I could not retrieve any datasheet of this IC, nor even a pinout.Does anybody have a link, an idea, a suggestion?Thanks again for your time.--Alberto

author: brabus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2014, 01:13:10 pm
content: I reply to myself, luckily I found something!Seems that the internal FDD of the Agilent 54621A is a TEAC FD-05HF....and here is the DS of the drive:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvak.ru%2Flib%2Fexe%2Ffetch.php%2Fproj%2Fdatasheet%2Fteac-fd05-hf8630.pdf%3Fid%3Dproj%3Abk%3Abk-floppy-cable%26cache%3Dcache&ei=pqEIU_7QDZSS7Ab5xIHAAg&usg=AFQjCNE7wkeWzKmlgDVqoPvjZFvOw29luA&sig2=JXsH02Jam6fLCD7AHHYITwp.s.: what a link. In any case, first Google search and you find it.I am going to try and build the converter... wish me good luck! I keep you posted, if interested!

author: D. Head
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2014, 03:13:30 pm
content: Maybe this could be interesting for you?http://www.ipcas.com/blog/2012/10/oscilloscope-usb-floppy-emulator-slimline/http://www.ipcas.com/products/floppy-disk-emulation-floppy-emulators.html

author: brabus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2014, 06:56:18 pm
content: Thank you for replying D. Head!Wow, you found the right product for me! Even with the 26-pin FFC!What a pity it costs EUR 249,00...I already ordered a standard FDD-to-USB full size drive, just about 30$ on the bay. Let's see if it works!

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2014, 10:49:51 pm
content: Excellent! I didn't know these USB floppy emulators existed. Should have realized they would.This solves a problem of mine too.Also, related searching finds nice 3.5" USB + Floppy + flash card units, which I'll get for my PC.Next: finding an equivalent for 5.25" floppies, PC + AppleII. Somehow I'm not optimistic.Here's something amusing - some people make a lot of profit margin on ebay, from people who don't search for similar before buying. $19 vs $123 for the exact same thing!

author: brabus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2014, 11:36:29 am
content: I'm glad this idea is interesting to someone else, other than me! I will do a video (maybe in English) on the mod!Terrahertz, I also noticed the bogus prices.I think there is a reason: for 15- 30$ you have the item sent from China, which takes aboutfour weeksto arrive (here in Europe).Sellers in UK, for example, charge a lot more, but you have your item in a matter of days.IMvHO, obviously.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2014, 12:00:18 pm
content: They do that when they're out of stock, so they don't have to relist.

author: D. Head
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2014, 07:33:40 pm
content: Quote from: brabus on February 22, 2014, 06:56:18 pmYou're welcome.