This Thread Is No Longer About Looking to find a Compact

[efs]

Hi, all.  I know posts like these are presumably a dime a dozen, and I don't want to be too forward in my requests.

Basically, I am looking to find out if anyone here has a working X68000 Compact they are wishing to sell. As the X68000 series of computers are among my most favorite of platforms, I have been almost obsessing over obtaining one of my own for a while, yet was somewhat apprehensive due to the apparently rampant technical issues that most models today are susceptible to.

If I am not horribly mistaken, there are some people on this very forum that possess and refurbish (so to speak) models of the X68000 series. If any of you have any Compact models on your hands that are in working order for sale, I would love to discuss buying one. I am located in the US.

I know asking for a model with internal fixes already in place is a bit much, but I think it's probably my best option since I have next to no experience in fooling around in the innards of electronics, and if I were to try and repair one myself, I'd likely break the whole thing. Which, of course, would be less than ideal.

If anyone has any info for me, I would really appreciate it!

[RadicalR]

Get in line, buddy. I was here first!

All kidding aside, it'll probably be a while before one becomes available. So you might want to keep hitting up ebay for other models.

[efs]

I've actually been checking out all over the place, especially on Yahoo! Auctions, where I have seen quite a lot of X68000 models up for bidding. The main problems I have with this, of course, are the language gap, and the fact that the XVI Compacts seem to be the hottest commodity among the rest of the models.

If push comes to shove, then I may as well have to buy a regular full-sized model of the X68000, but it sure is a plus to have access to a model that can read from 3 inch floppies in case I ever want to write any software. The 16 MHz option is also pretty cool.

And even though you're kidding, I do respect and realize the fact that you made a request for something like this beforehand, so if any Compacts materialize here, you'll be first in line, of course.

Still primed to find out if any are in the works, though!

[BlueBMW]

I have numerous compacts but I have very few working floppy drives.  Id love to sell some of these but without working drives they would only be useful with a hard drive set up.

Going full size isnt a bad thing especially if you decide to go with a compact flash hard drive.  The option to play original disks is nice and writing 5.25" disks isnt an impossible feat.

[RadicalR]

While this is true, you'll need to get a tower that has a 5.25 drive and an OS that can write to it. (I know Windows 7 can read them, but not sure about writing.)

[BlueBMW]

I write them on an older pentium 4 XP tower.   Drives arent impossible to find and neither are disks.  Just an option if people are having trouble finding good working compacts.

[efs]

If I have to, getting a full-sized X68000 wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I'd have to figure out how to connect an old 5.25 inch floppy drive to a modern computer. Since I'm not quite lucky enough to already have an old PC tower that already has one of these drives installed in my possession, I'm gonna have to do a bit of research on 5.25 inch floppy drives and what sort of ports they have, or possibly buy some sort of USB converter thing (they do exist, but they're typically sold as bare circuit boards, are not cheap, and have odd interfaces).

My only current computer is, unfortunately, a laptop, which almost certainly does not have the required ports for any kind of legacy connection that old floppy drives use, whatever they may be. I'm too unfamiliar with the subject.

If I were to buy a 5.25 inch floppy drive, however, would any drive at all work? The most common on most auction sites are the Apple II ones, and they seem the least unwieldy to use, as well.

As always, any and all info is appreciated.

[BlueBMW]

Something like this should work just fine:

www.ebay.com/itm/5-25-inch-5-Panasonic-JU-475-4-floppy-disk-disc-drive-tested-works-/251239082148

And I wouldnt think it would be too hard to find an older XP running PC for cheap.  The older the better though as some newer machines might not have BIOS support for 5.25" drives.  XP will recognize the drives, but if the motherboard doesnt support it then it wont even show up.

The only reason why I'm suggesting a full size over a compact is because of the trouble I'm having finding good drives for compacts.  I have quite a bit of luck getting 5.25" drives back working on full size units but almost no luck repairing 3.5" drives on compacts.  Ultimately, you'll want to get away from floppy disks altogether and go with a compact flash hard drive set up.  While you lose the experience of loading and listening to disks load, you still get to run the software on the original hardware.

[efs]

I'm going to go off on a tangent away from floppies briefly here:

As someone with almost no electrical tinkering/PC building knowledge whatsoever, would it be relatively simple to install a flash hard drive into a full-size X68000? Are there detailed tutorials on how to do this? I've checked the Wiki, and it seems to have a little bit of info on there, but nothing super-detailed for a novice like me.

I've seen videos on Youtube of guys with X68000 models that were modded with some kind of internal adaptor for CompactFlash cards (looked nearly identical to this). It looks like something that would require a bit of working around in the computer's internals to pull off successfully, though I think this could be a pretty effective way to run software with ease.

If anyone has info, that'd be cool.

[BlueBMW]

The first step is to find out if you have a scsi or sasi system and if you have a hard drive cable or not.  If its an HD system, it should have a hard drive cable in it (unless its been removed)  Non HD systems wont have the full length cable.  The cables arent really available anywhere, but there are instructions in the wiki on how to build your own *** (see below)

Once you have the cable, you'll have to figure out a way to power the compact flash adapter.  They typically use a standard molex connector which the x68000 does NOT have.  You'll have to wire one in...  There is a power connector for the hard drive in the system but you'll have to cut the end off and wire a molex connector on to the end.  I'd have someone who knows what they're doing do this part.  Wires in the x68000 are color coded.  In the wiki there are instructions on how to swap an ATX power supply into the X68000.  In those instructions you can find the wire colors for your particular system.   Alternately.... there is a connector out there that adapts the stock connection to a molex connection.  I've only seen one, so they're probably pretty rare to find.

Once you've got power and a hard drive cable, its as simple as mounting the CF adapter board, flashing one of the hard drive images (links to them are in the wiki), popping in the CF card and powering the system on.  If you have a SASI system there are a few more steps.

*** Regarding hard drive cables....  I just ordered a bunch of connectors and flat ribbon to try and make a bunch of hard drive cables.  So here in a few weeks I may have some cables.

Bottom line, its not too difficult, and there are several of us here that will help you set it up when the time comes.

[efs]

Well, a flash interface sounds like a better long-term option than having to write floppies, at least in my current situation.

So this expands my choices to three models ideally: the X68000 SUPER-HD, X68000 XVI-HD, or my original plan, the Compact, since having SCSI will definitely save me some time.

Since you say you may have some cables on the way, that might expand my choices further to the regular, non-HD versions of these. Time to search for stuff in the meantime!

As for the CF board itself, the power supply thing sounds like the most difficult part. Would I be connecting the board to the X68000's power supply itself, or something else?

[BlueBMW]

Well, a flash interface sounds like a better long-term option than having to write floppies, at least in my current situation.

So this expands my choices to three models ideally: the X68000 SUPER-HD, X68000 XVI-HD, or my original plan, the Compact, since having SCSI will definitely save me some time.

Since you say you may have some cables on the way, that might expand my choices further to the regular, non-HD versions of these. Time to search for stuff in the meantime!

As for the CF board itself, the power supply thing sounds like the most difficult part. Would I be connecting the board to the X68000's power supply itself, or something else?

There is a plug as part of the X68000's power supply that is for a hard drive.  The problem is that its a proprietary plug so you have to cut it and splice in a standard molex connector.  Its not hard to do, but I'd have someone who's good at wiring things up do it.   You could even use butt connectors if need be.

Also, I dont know if I mentioned this... the SCSI to CF adapter I recommend is the Atrmix AztecMonster.  You can email the guy who makes them from him website.  He's in Japan, but he will take paypal and ship to wherever.  Its a very slick all in one solution that works very well.  http://www.artmix.com/CF_AztecMonster.html

Also, if you can, try and get an XVI unit over a Super.  Supers are fine, but they're only 10mhz.  Most games are fine at 10mhz but if you're going to run a CF drive you'll end up having access to a lot of great games and it will be nice to have 16mhz.  Games like Mahou Daisakusen are at least playable on 16mhz but choke bad on 10mhz.  Its just nice to have the option.  That said, dont turn down a good deal on a Super if you come across one.

Ultimately, compact flash is the way to go.  Floppies are a time bomb basically.  Either the drives are going to fail or the disks are going to fail or both.  Its just a matter of time.  Magnetic media is a thing of the past basically and since it does tend to degrade over time we can only expect the situation to get worse and worse.  It makes me kind of sad since I grew up using floppy disks.  The next generation doesn't even know what a floppy disk is.   They see the icon for saving a document and wonder what that goofy little icon is.  Ok rant over

[efs]

So I've gone ahead and bought a cleaned and power-and-battery-replaced XVI model from parity_dot on Yahoo! Auctions. Maybe some of you know of him.

For as expensive as it seemed, it's actually a pretty good deal, given the extensive repairs he's done on it. Along with that, it really was the perfect opportunity to grab myself a nice, working-order XVI!

Unfortunately this isn't going to be the only purchase I'll have to make to get this thing up and running. I'll also need a suitable monitor (already have an official cable on the way), a keyboard, and that whole CF interface to install into the machine.

Even as parity_dot replaced the power supply, I wonder if I'll have to put a power converter-adapter-thing on it still, to avoid frying the thing when I plug it into a US electrical outlet.

One more question: the person who makes the AztecMonster, he speaks English, right?

(This thread's title really has become a misnomer!)

[BlueBMW]

Congrats on finding a nice XVI! 

The guy selling the CF flash adapters speaks english just fine.  Ill let you know when I get the stuff in for cables.

As far as a monitor, you can use an old crt vga monitor for most things until you find a good 15k/31k monitor or a scaler box.

Oh and I wouldnt worry about running 115v into the x68000 power supply.  The internal components are spec'd such that youre well within tolerance.  Ive never had an issue.

[efs]

Would this work as a good temporary monitor? Says it supports VGA input, and it's a CRT, but it might not be old enough.

I'm pretty wary on the aspect of choosing a suitable monitor. I've heard stories of guys plugging their X68ks into the wrong kind of monitor and frying their systems for good.

I don't think anyone wants that to happen.

[BlueBMW]

That should work fine.  The stories of people blowing up monitors / systems doesnt make much sense to me.  I know of one instance where it happened but it was from a botched power supply swap, not a problem with the monitor itself. 

[efs]

So my XVI has finally arrived. To double check, are there any precautions I should be taking before plugging this thing in? Of course I should test if it actually is operational before anything else,  no?

Unfortunately as of the moment, I don't have a CRT monitor on me yet. Nor do I have any sort of input device on me whatsoever.

What I do have aside from the computer itself is an X68000 video cable. I don't think it will work on conventional monitors though, having read that the pins are different.  Do I need a certain kind of cable for more typical CRTs?

[BlueBMW]

Correct.  That standard cable will not work with a regular vga monitor.   I can make an adapter to connect to a vga monitor if you need it.

You can sort of test it by plugging it in and pressing the power button.  Fan should turn on and after a little bit the light on  floppy drive 0 should start to flash.  If you get that far, you can assume that the power supply is working and its ready to boot.

[efs]

If I was to request a monitor cable adapter from you, how much would you estimate it'd run me?

[BlueBMW]

A few bucks for the parts and a few bucks for shipping.  Just let me know!

[efs]

Just an update.

Looks like I've got it made so far. XVI turns on without a hitch, FDD even works. parity_dot also enclosed a 5.25 inch floppy disk with the X68000, which, since I haven't gotten a monitor quite yet, I can only assume is either blank or contains Human68K (which would be really nice of him).

Next on the agenda:

*Keyboard
*Monitor/VGA adapter
*AztecMonster (Which will require me to figure out how to open this thing's case. Anyone got an XVI tutorial?)