Cable for 6128 to FDI-1

[ralferoo]

I'm probably being really thick here, but just thought I'd check first...

So, I got a DDI-1 and an FDI-1 separately about 6 months ago, and when I plug them in to any of my 464s, nothing much happens. The drive light goes on (which it does plugged in on its own too) but the AMSDOS ROM isn't activated. As I've not opened up either drive or interface to diagnose which might be at fault (or probed for power on the connector), I'm not actually sure which bit doesn't work. So, I thought I'd test the drive on its own as an external to the 6128 (as I don't have any working drives on them either)

Looking at DIY:Floppy Drives - CPCWiki seems to confirm the belief I had that an old PC floppy cable with 5.25" and 3.5" ends would work, but the locator key on the 3.5" end doesn't fit into the FDI-1 external drive socket in either orientation. So, I'm not sure if I just need to trim off this locator key or whether I should take it as a warning that I'm doing it wrong (which is how I've left it for a couple of months).

I'm happy to build a new cable if needs be, but it does look from the pinouts like I can just remove the locating pins and plug the cable but it'd be handy if someone who's done this can confirm!

[Bryce]

Hi Ralf,
     you need to be careful with the FD-1. It powers the DDI-1 circuit board with some of the lines in the flat cable, so it's not 100% Shugart compatible. The CPC doesn't power the DDI-1 at all. First thing you should do is connect and power up FD-1 connected to the DDI-1 (with no computer connected) and see if the DDI-1 PCB is getting 5V. You can only use the connector on the end of the flat cable as the middle connector has these 5V supply pins removed. If the PCB isn't getting power, then it's time to open up the FD-1 and find out why.

Bryce.