VOGONS


First post, by Tomek TRV

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I have Tulip TC40 and original FDD is not reading disks (light is flashing, disk is spinning but it is not reading). When I connected other FDD which is for sure ok it also don't want to read disks but symptoms are different: disk is spining but light is not flashing and when I turn on this computer BIOS show message that drive A is not working. When I connect the same drive as B it is working without any problems. Of course I know the difference in connection cable between drive A and B. I tried many cables and drives and I don't have any idea what else I can do. Maybe somebody can help me to sove this problem?

Reply 1 of 11, by Horun

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You have a complete Tulip TC40 ? When did you get it ?
Is this a problem that just showed up ? I have a similar one but labeled as a Unisys, nice small sized systems....

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 2 of 11, by Tomek TRV

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On all parts I have Tulip stickers with part numbers but I am not sure about case. I bought this computer some time ago from a guy who is selling used computers in Polandago but didn't have time to turn it on so I did it now and just saw this FDD problem.

Reply 3 of 11, by ChrisK

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Do you have the original floppy drive installed (should be a Mitsumi D359T5)?
There is some obscure coding in the original floppy drive that can cause very much confusion. If I recall it correctly the drive is coded as drive B in hardware and connected with a single connector cable.
If you connect another drive this may not be recognized correctly and you have to play around with the floppy settings in BIOS for drive A and B. In some combination it should work. Also you should try a different cable with connectors for drive A and B and play around with that. Sorry I can't find my notes on this atm, but you should have a look into that direction. It's definitely a bit weird.

If you want more information about TC40 you can have a look into this:
Dutch members: Tulip Vision Line dt 4/66 (486) CPU jumper help?

Reply 4 of 11, by Tomek TRV

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My FDD which was in this computer from the beginning is for sure original because there is Tulip part number sticker like on other parts. It is Mitsumi D359 T3. I don't want to have two floppy drives in this computer but only replace original drive which is not working with some other. It is strange that other drives are working only as drive B. There is not much to set in BIOS. I tried to change everything and nothin changed.
Mitsumi D359T5 don't have jumpers for configuration like T3 and I think that whole problem may be in these jumpers?

Reply 5 of 11, by Horun

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The D359T5 has soldered "jumpers" by using 0 ohm resistors and should be locked on DS1 (for drive B, DS0 is for drive A on this model).
Look at the circuit board near the floppy cable connector like in the picture below.
Can you tell us what the DS# is jumped on the D359T3 ?
You may need to use a cable with a "twist" so that it forces B to be A.

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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 6 of 11, by ChrisK

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Horun wrote on 2023-02-09, 23:04:
The D359T5 has soldered "jumpers" by using 0 ohm resistors and should be locked on DS1 (for drive B, DS0 is for drive A on this […]
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The D359T5 has soldered "jumpers" by using 0 ohm resistors and should be locked on DS1 (for drive B, DS0 is for drive A on this model).
Look at the circuit board near the floppy cable connector like in the picture below.
Can you tell us what the DS# is jumped on the D359T3 ?
You may need to use a cable with a "twist" so that it forces B to be A.

That's what I wanted to say.
Don't know why they have configured it like that at Tulip but it causes a lot of confusion if you expect "normal" behaviour.
Including making you think all your known good "normal" floppy drives have suddenly gone defective while laying in the cabinet...
Maybe they wanted to save on the drive cable, which has drive B coming first connector wise (correct me if I recall it wrong) and so they could use a cheaper cable with just one connector and have the drive still appear as drive A.

Reply 8 of 11, by Cyberdyne

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Tulip TC40 I had the exactly same problem. And never got to the solution. but this was like over 10 years ago.

I am aroused about any X86 motherboard that has full functional ISA slot. I think i have problem. Not really into that original (Turbo) XT,286,386 and CGA/EGA stuff. So just a DOS nut.
PS. If I upload RAR, it is a 16-bit DOS RAR Version 2.50.

Reply 9 of 11, by Tomek TRV

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My drive have jumpers between motor and cable connector. It looks like on picture below with red marks where are jumpers.
I also find something on this site: https://embeddedsw.net/EMUFDD_MITSUMI_Jumpers.html so it looks that my drive is set on DS0. In about 2 hours I have to go to work for 2-3 weeks so I will come back to this problem when I will be back. I think that I should change this jumper on DS1 and try with non interlaced cable.

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Reply 10 of 11, by megatron-uk

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I have just had the same 'fun' with a TC48 that came without the original floppy.

The drive needs to be jumpered as DS0 (or whatever your drive starts numbering as) and the disk change signal needs to be disabled.

On all of the drives I tried, only when the combination of DS0 and disabled disk change were set, do the drive work correctly and as A. Tulip seems to have supplied multiple generations of machines from the factory like this.

Not all my floppy drives had an option to disable disk change.

Also, If your system is a single floppy model, the cable 'twist' is onboard the motherboard, so you should use a straight through floppy cable.

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

Reply 11 of 11, by Tomek TRV

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So I am back at home and checked some ideas. I found FDD TEAC FD-235HF 3291-U with a loot of jumpers to set so I set it on DS0 and on original cable it is working fine. Thank You all for Your advices.