Vortex Disc Drives
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A series of 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disc drives from Vortex providing up to 720K capacity (704K available).
S- and D-Drives (720K/disk)
These are the first generation of floppy disc drives from Vortex. They came in variants having either a single ("S" variant) or two ("D" variant) 80-track drives (BASF 6138). Initially, these drives were meant as upgrades for CPC 464 setups already equipped with a DDI-1/FD-1 drive. This resulted in a quite big controller housing inside in which the user had to install the DDI-1. In these setups, the 3-inch FD-1 drive could be connected as a third drive, ie. unlike most other floppy drive interfaces more than 2 drives could be connected (but only two drives could be used simultaneously). Later, interfaces also appeared for 664/6128 computers, which were considerably smaller.
Variants
- F1 - S Single 5.25" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
- F1 - D Double 5.25" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
- M1 - S Single 3.5" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
- M1 - D Double 3.5" drive with power supply connected via ribbon cable to interface with NEC765 and VDOS 1.0 or 2.11
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Vortex F1-D with CPC 6128 Interface -
An anonymous box housing the controller board -
Look inside the controller, a NEC 765 chip and VDOS upgraded to v2.0 -
Controller with mounted VDOS chip
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F1-D Interface (CPC 664) -
F1-D Interface Board (CPC 664) -
F1-D Interface Board (CPC 664)
Second drive upgrade
An upgrade was available which allowed to upgrade a single -S drive to a dual -D drive. This was probably a single BASF 6138 floppy disk drive which had to be mounted in the spare lower slot of a F1-S case.
FD-1 drive adapter
The Vortex S- and D-drives were originally intended as upgrades to CPC 464 setups already having a DDI-1/FD-1. This adapter allowed to continue using the 3" drive on these setups. Since only two drives can be used simultaneously, the drive had to be selected manually using a RSX command.
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Adapter to connect an additional 3" disc drive in between a CPC 464 and a F1-D -
Inside the adapter box -
Inside the adapter box (closeup)
Z-Drives (180K/side)
These are basic and less expensive low-capacity drives and were meant to be directly connected to a CPC 664/6128 or CPC 464 with DDI-1 (ie. on computers that already provide a floppy controller). Since these drives do not ship with a special controller, they do rely fully on AMSDOS and thus only 40 tracks can be accessed.
Variants
X-Drives (720K/disk)
These are the latest drives from Vortex for use on CPC 664/6128 or CPC 464 with DDI-1 (ie. on computers that already have a FDC). Only single-drive variants were available. The |S command (for accessing a third drive) is no longer used, the new |X command allows to swap drive A and B (same as X-DDOS from Dobbertin). These drives are well designed and strong. They are housed in a metal case with power supply (which has good protection with fuses) and have good quality drive mechanisms. The drive has jumpers on it that can be configured as needed.
- Vortex X-Laufwerke
(manual) - Manual de las Unidades Vortex
(manual) - NEC drive inside Vortex M1-X NEC drive inside Vortex M1-X
Variants
- F1 - X Single 80 track, Double Sided, 5.25" drive with power supply and ribbon cable which connects to interface containing VDOS 2.0
- M1 - X Single 80 Track, Double Sided, 3.5" drive with power supply and ribbon cable which connects to interface containing VDOS 2.0
- F1 - XRS same as F1-X, upgraded with RS232-C interface
- M1 - XRS same as M1-X, upgraded with RS232-C interface
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Vortex F1-X, with manual and utility disk -
Vortex F1-X backside
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Vortex M1-X -
Vortex M1-X backside -
Vortex M1-X backside, showing IDC connection -
Vortex M1-X underside -
Vortex M1-X insides, showing the drive and power -
Vortex M1-X insides, close-up of the drive from above -
Vortex M1-X insides, close-up from the backside
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F1-XRS Interface (CPC 464) -
F1-XRS Interface with DDI-1 installed (CPC 464)
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F1-X Interface Board (CPC 6128)
RS232 I/O Ports
The RS232-C interface of the -XRS modules are suspected to be at least partially compatible with Amstrad/Pace interfaces.
- Vortex RS232-C Manual (pdf)
| Address | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|
| 0xFADC | Channel A data | Channel A data |
| 0xFADD | Channel A control | Channel A control |
| 0xFADE | Channel B data | Channel B data |
| 0xFADF | Channel B control | Channel B control |
| 0xFBDC | 8253 Load counter 0 | 8253 Read counter 0 |
| 0xFBDD | 8253 Load counter 1 | 8253 Read counter 1 |
| 0xFBDE | 8253 Load counter 2 | 8253 Read counter 2 |
| 0xFBDF | Write mode word | - |
VDOS
- Vortex VDOS 2.0 (VDOS 2.0 manual)
Vortex Disk Format
Drive Interface I/O Ports
The drives interfacing with their own FDC can be used with the CPC 6128 to use different I/O ports (see below).
Standard addresses (same as used by AMSDOS)
FB7Eh 765 FDC (internal) Status Register (R) FB7Fh 765 FDC (internal) Data Register (R/W) FA7Eh Floppy Motor On/Off Flipflop
Special addresses (secondary FDC)
The special addresses are mentioned in the manual for the Vortex -X drives, but apparently they are referring to other/older Vortex drives, not the -X drives. The special addresses are used only on CPC 664/6128 and only if the Vortex drive includes an FDC chip.
FBF6h 765 FDC (Vortex,ext) Status Register (Read) FBF7h 765 FDC (Vortex,ext) Data Register (R/W) FA7Eh Floppy Motor On/Off Flipflop (nearly same as normal, bit precise)
The X drive has a different PCB than the PCB for the S, the manual describes connecting the DDI-1 interface to the X drive interface and a 'decoder-ROM' which defines the I/O decoding?
- Note1: The -Z and -X drives do not include FDC chips.
So, not sure if/when the Special addresses are used at all?