USB FDD behind Zip Bezel of B&W G3 or G4 Graphite/QS

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Found something interesting:

34pin-1-44mb-3-5-floppy-connector-to-USB-cable-adapter-PCB-board

It looks to me that this ought to be the internal FDD equivalent of the USB Floppy Drives we've been talking about and would probably make for an easily implemented Floppy Hack for the PortlyMac Tower series. Not for me, I love my Zips, but this could make good use of the redundant Zip bezel/bay ISTR you having mentioned @Cory5412

***** My spare DA case hasn't got a PSU in it to easily check if it'll fit when installed directly on the FDD and I can't easily check the DA or QS. But a "wrap back-down around and forward in the chassis" F->M ribbon cable extension with two 45 degree folds would neatly place this little board underneath the drive cage, well clear of the PSU and HDDs.

 

[Gorgonops]

The notable issue with this is, of course, that this mated to a conventional floppy drive won't give you powered eject. So you'll have to hack whatever front plate you use to accommodate the eject button. (It's the presence of powered eject that's the main attraction of using an LS-120 instead.)

 

[Jinnai]

I considered buying this. Little concerned it wouldn't work with formats besides 1.44 though. I like writing Atari images and such...

 

[Gorgonops]

Some USB floppy controllers support *only* 1.44MB, so that's definitely a legitimate concern. (IE, they won't even handle standard PC 720k disks, let alone anything with non-standard data marks or sector counts.) *If* it supports 720k then it *should* work to generate Atari images, since I believe those are the same low-level format as DOS... but I sure wouldn't guarantee anything.

 

[Cory5412]

My ultimate personal preference would probably be to leave the space empty or (what I'm going to do with my QS before ultimately re-casing it) put a hard disk in there.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The notable issue with this is, of course, that this mated to a conventional floppy drive won't give you powered eject. So you'll have to hack whatever front plate you use to accommodate the eject button. (It's the presence of powered eject that's the main attraction of using an LS-120 instead.)

I've gott tear down the QS and drill a hole for the Zip eject button. I have a cartridge stuck in there right now I haven't gotten around to fixing yet Yet more dumbass styling over basic function example of the SJ JIve.

Got an offer from the seller of a Blueberry Imation drive with all the fixins' to complement the useless bareass thrift find. Hopefully one mechanism will test good, one case will be receiving a USB powered Zip upgrade. :lol: