Replace Floppy drive on HP5462x HP5464x Oscilloscope with USB or memory card bay - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: euzer
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2015, 12:05:56 pm
content: Can anyone recommend a suitable replacement for the floppy drive on a HP5462x HP5464x oscilloscope, specifically HP54622D that supports a USB host of memory card slot to support saving of images and data to?The current drive in the scope is a TEAC FD-05HF-5630U Micro Floppy Disk Drive.

author: pascal_sweden
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2015, 12:53:45 pm
content: You have to look for a floppy emulator.There are several options:Consumer options:http://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-gotek-floppy-emulator.html?initiative_id=SB_20150611050713&site=glo&groupsort=1&SortType=price_asc&shipCountry=no&SearchText=gotek+floppy+emulatorhttp://www.benl.ebay.be/sch/i.html?_odkw=floppy+emulator&LH_PrefLoc=2&_sop=2&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=floppy+emulator+1.44&_sacat=0http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=floppy+emulatorProfessional options:http://embeddedsw.net/EMUFDD_Floppy_Hardware_Emulator_Home.htmlhttp://www.ipcas.com/products/usb-floppy-emulator-fdd-to-udd.htmlhttp://www.floppyemulator.com/?gclid=CJTelJDXh8YCFWIDcwoddLQALA

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2015, 06:57:56 pm
content: You need to do your homework on such floppy emulators as I have been told many cheap ones are less than great to use. I was considering fitting one in my Advantest R3132 spectrum analysers but was put off by several members of this forum warning against them. I ended up buying some spare TEAC drives for the SA's and USB floppy disk drives for my PC's.Jean-François Del Nerohas has a good reputation for his floppy disk emulators, but they are more expensive than Chinese offerings. Yer pays yer money, and takes yer choicehttp://www.lotharek.pl/category.php?kid=7http://www.lotharek.pl/category.php?kid=25http://www.lotharek.pl/category.php?kid=24If I was buying one, it would be one of the Lotharek models that best suited my needs.Aurora

author: wreeve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 11, 2015, 08:14:06 pm
content: Double check it's a floppy interface. My inffinium scope has it's floppy on the IDE bus.

author: IanJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 11, 2015, 10:35:54 pm
content: I've used the Lotharek floppy emulators on both a PhilIps PM3585 logic analyzer and a Sinclair QL, works a treat.The versions with the lcd do make it easier to switch images etc etc.Ian.

author: nAyPDJ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2023, 07:55:48 pm
content: Probably won't be helpful to OP, since it's been a few years, but I ran into this thread while trying to figure out if I could mod my Agilent 54622A with a USB floppy.Turns out the answer isYES. The Gotek SFR1M44-DU26 specifically works great with a little modification.Full details here, but in short:Buy the Gotek SFR1M44-DU26 (I got it for $35)Remove the RA, RB & RC jumper resistorsRemove JD and JE jumpers from the backhack together a USB-A to USB-A cable andfollow the instructions to install the latest version of the FlashFloppy firmwaredownload and copy a base floppy image onto the flash driveEdit: Someone asked PM'd me asking where I got the drive:Quote from: nAyPDJ

author: CzarAlex
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 20, 2024, 09:49:17 pm
content: Thank you so much for posting this! I have this exact unit and looked a couple years ago on how to do this mod but there wasn't anything concrete. This guide looks very promising especially given the fact that you did it and posted about it! I think I will go ahead and grab the parts and give it a go.

author: button.ch
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2024, 12:54:40 pm
content: The answer is affirmative! I bought a second-hand 34 pin floppy disk emulator in China based on some tips from this forum. It is very cheap, including shipping, and it is less than $5. Then I modified it myself into a 26 pin flexible ribbon cable interface and successfully installed it on my TDS3000 and TDS3000B oscilloscopes. They both worked very well, but I am not satisfied yet and want to build a real USB platform on the oscilloscope. Please refer to the following link for detailshttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/the-possibility-of-installing-usb-platform-on-tds3000-oscilloscope/

author: Ricotjuh
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 10:45:59 pm
content: I have just taken the plunge and want to convert my Agilent 54621A after the story I read above by nAyPDJ. But now I am running into a number of issues.The Gotek Floppy emulator has been reflashed with FlashFloppy firmware. But when I want to write my scope image as a BMP file it says: "Disk Write Error"However, when I change the format to TIF it works.But when I put the USB in my computer, I only see the formatted floppy image. And a file called IMAGE_A.CFG.When I put the USB stick back in the Gotek floppy emulator, and I go to Recall function, I only see INTERN_0, INTERN_1, INTERN_2. But not my saved files from my floppy. That can be seen in the image of nAyPDJ in post #5.When I look under Utility -> Floppy -> File, I do see my saved images. What I also notice is that the 2 Tektronik images in the folder TDS3000-Series-Gotek-FlashFloppy-main are also displayed here. I expect them to be somewhere in the image of 1m44_fat12?! I also tried another image, namely file "BlankFloppy" the result is the same except that I see those 2 TEK files in Floppy file manager.Long story, but briefly summarized a few points:- Is it true that I can only save snapshots as TIF and not as BMP?- What does that IMAGE_A.CFG file do?- Do the 2 keys next to the USB port on the Gotek do anything?- How do I finally get the images from my USB onto my computer?

author: nAyPDJ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2025, 11:15:38 pm
content: Quote from: Ricotjuh on July 08, 2025, 10:45:59 pmI'm able to do both, and csv, but I don't think being unable to use BMP is a big deal. TIF files are smaller anyway, which is nice on the limited 1.44MB of emulated storage. It's pretty easy to convert the files, I think the built-in Paint on Windows would have support for TIFF.Quote from: Ricotjuh on July 08, 2025, 10:45:59 pmMine just contains "1m44_fat12.img", so I guess it specifies the name of the flash image.Quote from: Ricotjuh on July 08, 2025, 10:45:59 pmProbably emulate ejecting the floppy or something! I've never pressed them.Quote from: Ricotjuh on July 08, 2025, 10:45:59 pmOn Linux, I just double-click the "1m44_fat12.img" file and it opens it with "Disk Image Mounter".I don't use Windows, but if it doesn't have this "Mount" feature built-in, you might be able to look intohttps://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/. I don't have experience with this so I can't really help if it doesn't work out.

author: Ricotjuh
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 11, 2025, 08:38:20 am
content: Okay, so if I understand correctly, it saves the pictures in the "1m44_fat12.img" file. So with an image mounter, I have to mount the image every time to extract the pictures?That might explain why the TEK00000 and TEK00001 images are already visible in the file menu by default.I'll try mounting the "1m44_fat12.img" and see what's in there.BMP files aren't a deal breaker for me. But for completeness, it would be nice if all the functions worked. Especially since they do for you.

author: Ricotjuh
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 11, 2025, 08:46:39 pm
content: A quick update. I've now managed to get screenshots from the USB drive.Apparently, the screenshots are saved under the image file. So, I open the .img file with 7-zip and can access the screenshots. It might be a bit cumbersome since the folder isn't immediately visible on the USB drive, but for occasional use, it's still perfectly usable.It's strange that writing .bmp files keeps giving me an error message. But .tif and .csv files are saved without any problems. So for now, I'm working with .tif files, which are otherwise perfectly fine.