New 3" disks? Floating an idea

geebus · 15:24, 16 July 20

Hi all,
I've been thinking about this for a while and even drawn up a 3" disk in CAD.
I was thinking of using the internal floppy mylar part of a 3.5" disk and making some sort of an adaptor to make it fit spindle wise.
However the centre of the 3.5" disk is slightly larger in diameter, but I believe (from looking at worn out disks) that the read/write head doesn't come close to it. I'm also i'm not sure if this would work with the level of coating on the mylar (i'll find out soon enough if i get further with this project).
Obviously I'd need a soft coating for the inside of the disks so they didn't get damaged when spinning inside too. anyone any ideas of what would be best to use and how to attach it to the inside of a 3d print?

This is a much bigger project than I think I could do myself, So I thought I'd ask around if anyone would have an idea of where we could get the iron oxide coated mylar (in the correct thickness etc) to then have stamped into the correct diameter for the 3" disks.
I asked a supplier of 3.5" disks on alibaba (i didn't think they were manufactured any more, possibly faking it and selling old ones as new) and they said they couldn't provide the sheets. So I'm kinda stumped.
The tooling for stamping them out is simple enough, and i'd be able to have those made.

What do you all think? a fools errand for the sake of some floppy disks that we already have a modern replacement for?
I for one love using the real thing rather than using a gotek drive. Having a physical medium that I can store and display is part of what I enjoy about retro computing.
Just think of new games being brought out on a physical 3" disk. I'd love it!

Bryce · 19:35, 16 July 20

An interesting idea, but I doubt you'll ever get a reliably working disk. On top of that, looking at the box of 100+ 3in disks beside me... are new disks really needed?

Bryce.

geebus · 19:45, 16 July 20

Quote from: Bryce on 19:35, 16 July 20
On top of that, looking at the box of 100+ 3in disks beside me... are new disks really needed?

HA! Can you share some out please

Just thinking it'd be pretty nice to be able to make some more of these disks. Maybe even make some custom ones.Currently printing a case in purple.
I'll post a picture later once it's finished.
Next step will be to see if I can effectively make a 3.5" mylar fit into the case without damaging it.

tjohnson · 08:06, 17 July 20

This is one of the most crazy ideas I've heard for a while. A nice nostalgic idea but I'm not convinced a DIY floppy disk is feasible nor that there is any significant demand to make it worthwhile.

GeoffB17 · 22:26, 18 July 20

Note that if you try to reuse the disk from inside a 3.5" floppy, then it MUST be from a DD floppy, and NOT from a HD type, as the magnetic properties are different. The 3.5" drives can adjust the drive parameters to suit, the 3" drive cannot.

I'd guess that the DD disks may be in as short supply now as the 3" disks.

Geoff

chinnyhill10 · 09:53, 19 July 20

Quote from: geebus on 15:24, 16 July 20

What do you all think? a fools errand for the sake of some floppy disks that we already have a modern replacement for?
I for one love using the real thing rather than using a gotek drive. Having a physical medium that I can store and display is part of what I enjoy about retro computing.
Just think of new games being brought out on a physical 3" disk. I'd love it!

The economics of it won't be practical. Frankly now we have SD card storage I barely ever use the drives on my 6128.

If any format was viable to be 'revived' it would be 5 inch, but nobody has done it. And with good reason. And the market for 3 inch is tiny compared to 5 inch.

geebus · 10:01, 19 July 20

Quote from: tjohnson on 08:06, 17 July 20
This is one of the most crazy ideas I've heard for a while. A nice nostalgic idea but I'm not convinced a DIY floppy disk is feasible nor that there is any significant demand to make it worthwhile.

Don't worry, i realise how crazy it is.Another one of my brain farts.

tjohnson · 10:24, 19 July 20

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 09:53, 19 July 20
If any format was viable to be 'revived' it would be 5 inch, but nobody has done it. And with good reason. And the market for 3 inch is tiny compared to 5 inch.

Why do your say that? what makes the 51/4 viable? I thought they've been dead since the 1980s, I only recall using them in bbc micro at school and pretty much 3.5 was the standard for pcs in the 1990.

mr_lou · 10:45, 19 July 20

Would be more fun to look into a CPC464 compatible writeable cartridge thingy that offers quick read/write, much more storage and more memory in one package.

chinnyhill10 · 23:14, 20 July 20

Quote from: tjohnson on 10:24, 19 July 20

Why do your say that? what makes the 51/4 viable? I thought they've been dead since the 1980s, I only recall using them in bbc micro at school and pretty much 3.5 was the standard for pcs in the 1990.

Vastly more popular and still required in certain specific applications. I know of one retailer who does a fine trade selling new old stock 5 inch and 3.5DD disks to the military and industry. 3 inch? Only us lot interested.

Indeed, it was reported recently that the US military had were about to stop using 8 inch floppies!

tjohnson · 23:36, 20 July 20

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 23:14, 20 July 20

Vastly more popular and still required in certain specific applications. I know of one retailer who does a fine trade selling new old stock 5 inch and 3.5DD disks to the military and industry. 3 inch? Only us lot interested.

Indeed, it was reported recently that the US military had were about to stop using 8 inch floppies!

I did read alot of floppy drives are still used in alot of old manufacturing equipment, but I didn't realise the 5 1/4 was still in demand.

geebus · 09:33, 22 July 20

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 23:14, 20 July 20
Indeed, it was reported recently that the US military had were about to stop using 8 inch floppies!

I think they replaced those systems not too long ago.
Something to do with their old Nuclear deterrent systems.
Mad to think about it.

mr_lou · 10:35, 22 July 20

I don't think there's anything mad about using old systems for critical stuff.
It would, on the other hand, be mad to use new systems. New systems are no where near as reliable as the good old systems.

CraigsBar · 20:41, 24 July 20

Quote from: mr_lou on 10:45, 19 July 20
Would be more fun to look into a CPC464 compatible writeable cartridge thingy that offers quick read/write, much more storage and more memory in one package.

*cough* Dandanator? *cough*

mr_lou · 06:01, 25 July 20

Quote from: CraigsBar on 20:41, 24 July 20
*cough* Dandanator? *cough*

Probably. But I was thinking more in the line of that 5-in-1 CPC464 cartridge someone made a while back. Have been trying to search of it but can't find it. It was a cartridge that contained 5 games made by these guys, as far as I remember.

Maybe it's technically the same thing, dunno.

CraigsBar · 11:35, 25 July 20

Quote from: mr_lou on 06:01, 25 July 20
Probably. But I was thinking more in the line of that 5-in-1 CPC464 cartridge someone made a while back. Have been trying to search of it but can't find it. It was a cartridge that contained 5 games made by these guys, as far as I remember.

Maybe it's technically the same thing, dunno.

Yep, that's the same thing, except the dandanator has additional components added to it so you can reprogram the eprom.

Dubliner · 13:20, 25 July 20

Quote from: mr_lou on 06:01, 25 July 20
Probably. But I was thinking more in the line of that 5-in-1 CPC464 cartridge someone made a while back. Have been trying to search of it but can't find it. It was a cartridge that contained 5 games made by these guys, as far as I remember.

You probably mean 4MHz's Repoker de ases: https://www.4mhz.es/repoker-de-ases/
Yes, that's a Dandanator.

mr_lou · 13:34, 25 July 20

Quote from: Dubliner on 13:20, 25 July 20
You probably mean 4MHz's Repoker de ases: https://www.4mhz.es/repoker-de-ases/
Yes, that's a Dandanator.

Yup, that's the one. I really like that concept.

Only I'd prefer to only see it for games that are so big that they can't be distributed the traditional ways.
Meaning I feel the media should be utilized more. Include all sorts of things never seen before, like animations / cutscenes (which I assume should be possible with something like this).
But I admit I don't know much about it. I just assumes it's a cartridge thingy that allows for much more memory, can load data instantly, and has loads of storage.
In the future it should be added to the CPCretrodev in the "Wild" category.

But I may have a completely wrong idea about it all.

CraigsBar · 00:08, 26 July 20

Quote from: mr_lou on 13:34, 25 July 20
Yup, that's the one. I really like that concept.
Only I'd prefer to only see it for games that are so big that they can't be distributed the traditional ways.
Meaning I feel the media should be utilized more. Include all sorts of things never seen before, like animations / cutscenes (which I assume should be possible with something like this).
But I admit I don't know much about it. I just assumes it's a cartridge thingy that allows for much more memory, can load data instantly, and has loads of storage.
In the future it should be added to the CPCretrodev in the "Wild" category.
But I may have a completely wrong idea about it all.

That's coming too......

Sword of Ianna is already available as a single Dandanator rom file as it is approaching 512kb, Physical Release to follow soon (I'll be buying it for sure). The rumours are that Vespertino will ONLY be available in this format (And again I'll be buying that too).

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New 3" disks? Floating an idea