{"product_id":"adafruit-floppy-featherwing-with-34-pin-idc-connector","title":"Adafruit Floppy FeatherWing with 34-Pin IDC Connector","description":"\u003cp\u003eRelive the days when storage was counted out in kilo-bytes not giga-bytes, using the Adafruit Floppy FeatherWing on a Feather board - perfect for interfacing with 34-Pin IDC Connector floppy drives that were ubiquitous on PC's.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 'Wing has level shifting and a ready-to-plug connector that works with 3.5\" or 5.25\" floppy disks for reading or writing!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFloppy disks have an interesting data transfer method where raw bit transitions are measured and converted to data. This data streams pretty fast from the disk drive so you'll want to use a fast microcontroller that has large SRAM storage and ideally, a peripheral to DMA the data signal. For that reason Adafruit only have this FeatherWing working with the \u003ca href=\"\/en-eu\/products\/adafruit-feather-m4-express-featuring-atsamd51-atsamd51-cortex-m4\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFeather M4\u003c\/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"\/en-eu\/products\/adafruit-feather-rp2040\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFeather RP2040\u003c\/a\u003e. ESP32, ATmega, nRF52, etc \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/adafruit?q=floppy\u0026amp;type=all\u0026amp;language=\u0026amp;sort=\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehave not been ported to the support library!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFloppy disk drives require 5V power and logic. For the logic level shifting, there is a small boost converter on the 'Wing that will give 5V logic levels out the 34-pin connector. It will also shift the incoming signals down to a Feather-safe 3.3V.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor floppy driver \u003cem\u003epowering\u003c\/em\u003e you will likely need a separate external 5V power supply that can provide 5V at 2 A.\u003c\/strong\u003e You \u003cstrong\u003ecan't power most drives off of USB power\u003c\/strong\u003e, they have big motors that require more current than USB can provide!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdafruit have got code and examples for three use cases:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/wiki.archiveteam.org\/index.php\/Rescuing_Floppy_Disks\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eReading floppy disks and storing the raw bit patterns and\/or converted data format for data archiving.\u003c\/a\u003e For this use case Adafruit recommend using the 'Wing with a Feather programmed to act as a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/keirf\/greaseweazle\" target=\"_blank\"\u003egreaseweazle\u003c\/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/davidgiven\/fluxengine\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efluxengine\u003c\/a\u003e client device. Then run those command line programs on your computer to have the Feather send the raw track data to the computer for analysis, bit-repair and format interpretation. You can also write some formats via those two programs, for use with older computers. There is also a 'Write Disable' switch on board specifically for this use case so that it is not possible for the write-enable pin to accidentally be activated.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReading\/Writing FAT formatted floppy disks from Arduino, CircuitPython or a computer that is connected via USB.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/floppy.museum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eFloppy disks can still be used to save, read data from!\u003c\/a\u003e This is great for retro-themed projects or if you want to write data to floppy disks for them to be used by IBM-PC compatibles or other devices that are expecting FAT-formatted floppy disks\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=floppy+disk+music\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eCool floppy music sequencing!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach order comes with one FeatherWing with the 2x17 header attached and level shifting circuitry built in. Before it can be used to read\/write floppies, you will need to:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSolder pin headers on to attach to a Feather board.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAttach an M4 or \u003ca href=\"\/en-eu\/products\/adafruit-feather-rp2040\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eRP2040 Feather\u003c\/a\u003e as the driver\/brains.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFind a 34-pin IDC Floppy Drive that works\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eConnect a 34-pin DC cable between the 'Wing and the Floppy drive.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProvide 5V power to the floppy drive, as much as 2 Amps. 5.25\" disk drives will also need a 12V power supply!\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFind some floppy disks to read\/write\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of these items are no longer sold, and will require some sleuthing to locate!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eTechnical Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduct Dimensions: 50.8mm x 22.8mm x 13.6mm \/ 2.0\" x 0.9\" x 0.5\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduct Weight: 8.4g \/ 0.3oz\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Adafruit","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40523293851731,"sku":"ADA5679","price":5.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0174\/1800\/products\/5679-00.jpg?v=1675941378","url":"https:\/\/shop.pimoroni.com\/en-eu\/products\/adafruit-floppy-featherwing-with-34-pin-idc-connector","provider":"Pimoroni Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}