Changes
/* Clone of the F1-D controller */
A series of external 3,5" and 5,25" floppy disc drives from [[Vortex_Computersysteme|Vortex]] providing up to 720K capacity (704K available). The Vortex drives were most popular in Germany. For more information regarding [[VDOS ]] and the Vortex Disk Format, see the dedicated [[VDOS]] Wiki page.
== S- and D-Drives (720K) ==
These are the first generation of 720K floppy disc drives from Vortex. They came in variants having either a single drive ("S" variant) or two drives ("D" variant). The "S" variant (as well as the less expensive "Z" variant) was delivered with the same double-height casing as the "D" variant, so that a second drive could be retrofitted.
The F1-S, F1-D, M1-S, M1-D drives have their own FDC765 in the controller, and this one supports all DS0 up to DS3. The Vortex interface can manage 4 floppy drives in total.
=== F1-S and F1-D (5,25") ===
</gallery>
Vortex offered an upgrade kit consisting of a single bare drive and an installation manual, allowing to upgrade a F1-S (single) drive to a F1-D (dual) drive. To do this, one simply had to install the additional drive in the free slot of the drive case. <gallery>Image:Basf 6138 spare drive.jpg|BASF 6138 spare drive</gallery> === A1M1-S Upgrade Kit and M1-D (3,5") ===
=== FDA-1 3" Drive Adapter ===
This adapter makes it possible allows to connect an external FD-1 3" drive on Vortex F1/M1 setups on the CPC 464. Since only two drives can be used at the same time, the external 3" drive first had to be selected manually with the RSX commandscommand '''|S'''. This RSX command worked also with VDOS 2.11 on CPC6128.
{| class="wikitable"
Image:Vortex 3rd drive adapter plug floppy.jpg|FD-1 3" floppy drive plug
</gallery>
=== Clone of the F1-D controller ===
A clone of the F1-D controller was created by [[Hans Hübner]] of [[FutureSoft]] in 2024. The card fits on the Mother X4 board and doesn't contain an extra ROM slot. Using [[FutureOS]] this card allows to add four additional floppy disc drives to the CPC, being called E, F, G and H.
[[https://github.com/hanshuebner]] Github of Hans Hübner
=== FDC I/O Ports ===
All types of floppy disk controllers for the F1-S/D and M1-S/D series are based on the NEC 765 chip. The manual states that On the F1-D Reproduction board the ports FA7E, FB7E/FB7F and FBF6/FBF7 are fully decoded. FB7E/FBF6 is chosen with a link/switch on "controllers having an integrated ROM modulethe PCB. On the F1-D original device the I/eprommer" O ports are partially decoded (probably use of the later 6128 interfaces?full I/O address given below avoids conflict with other devices), the port addresses can be freely configured using a decoder ROM.:
'''CPC 464:'''
| 0xFA7E || motor on/off
|}
Legend:
x = not decoded. don't care, 0 or 1 can be used.
0 = must be 0
1 = must be 1
FDC:
I/O address A15-A0:
xxxx x0x1 0xxx xxxr
A10=0, A8=1 and A7=0
r = connected to A0 on NEC765 and selects status register or data register.
Motor:
I/O address A15-A0:
xxxx x0x0 0xxx xxxr
A10=0, A8=0 and A7=0
x = not decoded. don't care, 0 or 1 can be used.
only bit 0 of the data written to the port controls motor state.
'''CPC 664/6128:'''
| 0xFA7E || motor on/off
|}
On the board above marked 664 there is a patch wire which disconnects A7 and connects A3. This changes the decoding from FB7E/FB7F to FBF6/FBF7 for FDC.
FDC:
I/O address A15-A0:
xxxx x0x1 xxxx 0xxr
A10=0, A8=1 and A3=0
r = connected to A0 on NEC765 and selects status register or data register.
Motor:
I/O address A15-A0:
xxxx x0x0 0xxx xxxr
A10=0, A8=0 and A7=0
only bit 0 of the data written to the port controls motor state.
The I/O port decoding for the 6128 specific board is currently unknown.
=== Downloads ===
Image:Basf 6138 81757 001 jumpers.jpg|BASF AG 6138 (81757-001) 40 track jumper configuration
</gallery>
=== A1-Z Upgrade Kit (5,25") ===
Vortex offered an upgrade kit consisting of a controller, a manual, a CP/M license and an utility disk which allows a F1-Z drive to be upgraded to a F1-S drive.
=== M1-Z (3,5") ===
The M1-Z model is equipped with a single 3,5" disk drive.
== X-Drives (720K) ==
=== F1-X and F1-XRS (5,25") ===
The F1-X model is based on either a single BASF 6138 (81690-001 or 81757-001) or a single BASF 6139 type 5,25" disk drive. The BASF 6139 type is an improved revision a revisioned version which is slightly more compact (~1cm shorter), and also a number of electronical and mechanical design flaws that affected durability were corrected. The F1-XRS variant is equipped with an additional RS232-C interface.
<gallery>
</gallery>
<gallery>
Image:VDOSVortex X-2Modul 6128.JPGjpg|X-Modul (CPC 6128)Image:VDOSVortex X-internalModul 6128 Board Front.jpg|X-Modul board (CPC 6128)Image:Vortex X-Modul 6128 Board Backside.JPGjpg|X-Modul board backside (CPC 6128)
</gallery>
|-
| 0xFBDD || 8253 counter 1 (R/W)
|-
| 0xFBDE || 8253 counter 2 (R/W)
|-
| 0xFBDF || Mode word (W)
* [[Media:NEC_FD1035_Floppy.pdf|NEC FD1035 Datasheet (M1-X Floppy Disk Drive)]]
== Software Accessories ==
* [[Media:DOSCOPY.DSK|DOSCOPY 1.1]] {{DE}} (Vortex 360k disk image)
* [[Media:Vortex_DOSCOPY_Benutzerhandbuch.pdf|DOSCOPY 1.1 Benutzerhandbuch]] {{DE}} (manual)
=== PARA 3.0 ===
Image:Vortex PARA 3.0 Disk.JPG|PARA 3.0 5,25" disk
Image:Vortex PARA 3.0 Screenshot 1.JPG|PARA 3.0 loading screen
</gallery>
* [[Media:PARA30.DSK|PARA 3.0]] {{DE}} (Vortex 720k disk image)
* [[Media:Vortex_PARA_3.0_Benutzerhandbuch.zip|PARA 3.0 Benutzerhandbuch]] {{DE}} (manual)
=== PARA 3.0 PLUS === PARA 3.0 PLUS (or PARA PLUS) is an enhanced distribution of PARA 3.0 which also integrates DOSCOPY 1.3 into a single software suite. <gallery>Image:Para 30 plus intro.jpg|PARA 3.0+ loading screenImage:Para 30 plus mainmenu.jpg|PARA 3.0+ main menuImage:Para 30 plus analyzer.jpg|PARA 3.0+ format analyzer</gallery> ==== Downloads ==== * [[Media:PARAPLUS.DSK|PARA 3.0+]] {{DE}} (Vortex 720k disk image, bootable) === SPARA === SPARA was either the predecessor or a cut-down version of PARA 3.0 and was supplied with the F1-Z drives, only supporting 40 track formats. === FileCopy ===FileCopy 3.0 is a comprehensive tool to copy files with up to 16 different devices (using letters A to P), it supports the Vortex 704 KB format for 80 Track drives. <br /> == 3rd Party Software == === dBASE II === Markt & Technik released a version of Ashton-Tate dBASE II 2.41 for owners of a Vortex disk drive. === FutureOS === [[FutureOS]] has support for Vortex drives, it uses the Vortex 704 KB format for 80 Track drives. === House of Usher === Besides tape and 3 inch floppy disk release, the game [[House of Usher]] has been officially released on 5.25 inch floppy disk for the Schneider CPC with Vortex F1 floppy drive. <gallery>House of Usher ads.jpegHouse-of-usher-floppy-cover.pngHouse-of-usher-floppy-no-cover.png</gallery> === Multiplan === Markt & Technik released a version of Microsoft Multiplan 1.06 for owners of a Vortex disk drive. ==== Downloads ==== * [[Media:MPLAN106.DSK|Microsoft Multiplan 1.06]] {{DE}} (Vortex 720k disk image, bootable CP/M Plus) === ParaDOS === [[ParaDOS]] supports Vortex X-drives and can be used as a replacement for the VDOS-X ROM. There is also a patched version called VaraDOS, which is configured to use a Vortex X-drive as drive B per default. ParaDOS does not provide a way too boot CP/M from drive B. === WordStar 3.0 === A version of MicroPro WordStar 3.0 was released by Markt & Technik for owners of a Vortex disk drive.<br /> == Media Coverage == <gallery>Image:Vortex Schneider CPC International 1985-09.JPG|Schneider CPC International 1985/09Image:Vortex schneider cpc international 1986-02.JPG|Schneider CPC International 1986/02Image:Vortex schneider cpc international 1986-04.JPG|Schneider CPC International 1986/04Image:Vortex schneider cpc international 1986-07.JPG|Schneider CPC International 1986/07Image:Vortex schneider cpc international 1986-08.JPG|Schneider CPC International 1986/08</gallery>
