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Toshiba 200CDS/810 - help to figure out how to connect desktop floppy drive to external connector

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First post, by Nexxen

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In relation to an older thread of mine about said laptop, Toshiba Satellite 200CDS 810 - troubleshooting and general info (KBC error - trying to solve, help needed),
I was trying to figure out how to connect a normal floppy drive to its external floppy port.
Signals must be the same except for some detection signal?

Nexxen wrote on 2021-02-25, 17:28:
Lacking a FDD makes it less interesting, requiring to remove the SD card a lot or burning cds. Having a floppy drive would help […]
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Lacking a FDD makes it less interesting, requiring to remove the SD card a lot or burning cds.
Having a floppy drive would help somewhat or at least trying a Gotek might save the day. FDDs aren't eternal.

Ext FDD pinout ---- regular FDD interface pinout

001 VCC
002 IFINDX;000 I ---- Index
003 VCC
004 IFDAS2;000 O ---- ??? drive select B?
005 VCC
006 DSKCHG;000 I ---- disk change
007 VCC
008 IFRADY;000 I ---- ??? ready? not used?
009 IFHMED;000 I ---- ??? media? not used?
010 IFAMO2;000 O ---- ??? motor enable B?
011 IFLOWD;000 O ---- ??? density select?
012 IFDIRC;000 O ---- direction
013 SLFDLD;100 I ---- ??? no idea
014 IFSTEP;000 O ---- step
015 GND
016 IFWDAT;000 O ---- write data
017 GND
018 IFWEN;000 O ---- write enable/gate
019 GND
020 IFTRKO;000 I ---- track zero 0
021 GND
022 IFWPRO;000 I ---- write protect
023 GND
024 IFRDAT;000 I ---- read data
025 GND
026 IFSSEL;000 O ---- side 1 select

I'll check this post to see if it is applicable to this case.
https://torlus.com/floppy/forum/viewtopic.php … t=1932&start=30

https://old.pinouts.ru/HD/extensa_externalfdd_pinout.shtml
This one is more promising.

Ext FDD pinout ---- regular FDD interface pinout

001 VCC
002 IFINDX;000 I ---- Index
003 VCC
004 IFDAS2;000 O ---- ??? drive select B?
005 VCC
006 DSKCHG;000 I ---- disk change
007 VCC
008 IFRADY;000 I ---- ??? ready? not used?
009 IFHMED;000 I ---- ??? media? not used?
010 IFAMO2;000 O ---- ??? motor enable B?
011 IFLOWD;000 O ---- ??? density select?
012 IFDIRC;000 O ---- direction
013 SLFDLD;100 I  ---- ??? no idea 
014 IFSTEP;000 O ---- step
015 GND
016 IFWDAT;000 O ---- write data
017 GND
018 IFWEN;000 O ---- write enable/gate
019 GND
020 IFTRKO;000 I ---- track zero 0
021 GND 
022 IFWPRO;000 I ---- write protect
023 GND
024 IFRDAT;000 I ---- read data
025 GND 
026 IFSSEL;000 O ---- side 1 select

I'll try to connect one this coming weekend and see what it does.
Yes, I have a CF-to-PCMCIA adapter but I still want to be able to use a floppy drive, a Gotek maybe.

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Last edited by Nexxen on 2021-09-19, 22:55. Edited 2 times in total.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 1 of 7, by Nexxen

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Does anyone know the name of this connector?

It looks like external scsi but I don't know if it's a proprietary thing.
Has 26 contacts.

Thanks

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PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 2 of 7, by Horun

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Sorry do not know what they call that port (other than Toshiba ext floppy port). Can you measure it ?
There are 17mm, 20mm and 21mm variants AFAIK. Knowing the width and 26pin may help...
added Note: some Sony floppies used a 26pin connector but were for Macs...

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 3 of 7, by snufkin

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Nexxen wrote on 2021-09-17, 18:59:
Does anyone know the name of this connector? […]
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Does anyone know the name of this connector?

It looks like external scsi but I don't know if it's a proprietary thing.
Has 26 contacts.

Thanks

Might be 3M MDR 102 series: https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/84403.pdf
If I read the datasheet rightly, the connector bit should be 6.3mm tall and 20.2mm wide. Spacing between pins is 1.27mm

Reply 4 of 7, by Nexxen

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snufkin wrote on 2021-09-18, 10:55:
Nexxen wrote on 2021-09-17, 18:59:
Does anyone know the name of this connector? […]
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Does anyone know the name of this connector?

It looks like external scsi but I don't know if it's a proprietary thing.
Has 26 contacts.

Thanks

Might be 3M MDR 102 series: https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/84403.pdf
If I read the datasheet rightly, the connector bit should be 6.3mm tall and 20.2mm wide. Spacing between pins is 1.27mm

My cheap plastic caliber fell apart, measures are close but no precise.
≃19mm wide
≃2.9mm tall

And I still need to figure where are pin 1 and 2, if they are all on a row or not.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 5 of 7, by Nexxen

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My idea is to make a connector using some wood and glue aluminium pads.

There must be two pins to detect the FDD, I presume it must be connected at power on.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 6 of 7, by jrronimo

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Did you get anywhere with this project? I have a 425CDT with a pair of failed floppy drives and am investigating replacing the drives.

Today I discovered something neat: The pinout of a slimline Teac floppy drive commonly found in USB to Floppy adapters is VERY close!

In the attachment, the left pinout is the Teac FD-05HF/G, per this website. Right is the pintout of PJ6 on Toshiba laptops (the external floppy connector).

I'm wondering if that Toshiba pinout is really the same as the header on the Teac drive. If so, then I think an adapter could be made to connect the Teac drive to the housing that Toshiba floppy drives come in without too much work.

There are a few differences; I'm not too concerned about the missing extra VCC and GND, but I am a little worried that pins 11 & 13 not being connected on the Teac drive would be a problem.

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Reply 7 of 7, by Nexxen

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jrronimo wrote on 2022-09-28, 21:55:
Did you get anywhere with this project? I have a 425CDT with a pair of failed floppy drives and am investigating replacing the d […]
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Did you get anywhere with this project? I have a 425CDT with a pair of failed floppy drives and am investigating replacing the drives.

Today I discovered something neat: The pinout of a slimline Teac floppy drive commonly found in USB to Floppy adapters is VERY close!

In the attachment, the left pinout is the Teac FD-05HF/G, per this website. Right is the pintout of PJ6 on Toshiba laptops (the external floppy connector).

I'm wondering if that Toshiba pinout is really the same as the header on the Teac drive. If so, then I think an adapter could be made to connect the Teac drive to the housing that Toshiba floppy drives come in without too much work.

There are a few differences; I'm not too concerned about the missing extra VCC and GND, but I am a little worried that pins 11 & 13 not being connected on the Teac drive would be a problem.

Hi!

No, I couldn't test further because:

1. the laptop has an error and isn't going post "keyboard error" halt error ; and I can't find why
2. I couldn't craft a decent plug to test the port;
3. I can't figure out what port is the floppy drive on this Toshiba, I think it's some sort of scsi or maybe (hope not) proprietary; I'm not buying all the possible candidates from China as it would cost a bomb and arrive in 2024...

As for your specific issue I have to look for my notes, that I can't obviously find when needed.

I think we are close. Probably the two pins aren't needed outside of Toshiba sensing the unit as plugged in at boot (my guess).

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

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