749 Comments so far

1. 
   Aram - January 4th, 2021 12:48 pm

   Just got my Floppy Emu and really excited to get started! I’m planning on using mine with both my Apple IIs and 68k Macs. I think I’m understanding the instructions on flashing the firmware, in that the SD card would only have one firmware installed at a time.

   To save time on reloading the firmware on the SD card every time I want to switch, is it possible to keep two different SD cards, one for Apple II and another for Mac/Lisa, and swapping it out before doing the physical firmware procedure? Or am I misunderstanding how all of this works? Thanks!

2. 
   Steve - January 4th, 2021 3:13 pm

   You can use as many different SD cards as you’d like. The firmware files don’t need to be permanently on the SD card – they’re only needed when you want to update the Floppy Emu board’s installed firmware.

3. 
   MichaelLAX - January 4th, 2021 4:54 pm

   Steve: Sorry for my confusion, but in swapping the FEMU between my Apple //c and my Mac SE/30 must I refresh the SD card, or once flashed up to date, with it just know how to work with both?

4. 
   Steve - January 4th, 2021 6:57 pm

   Please take a look at section 3.1 in the instructions, and watch the firmware update video, this should help clear things up. The two primary chips on the Floppy Emu board have internal non-volatile storage for code and configuration data – this is the “firmware”. There’s one firmware version that turns the Floppy Emu into an Apple II drive, and another firmware version that turns it into a Macintosh or Lisa drive. To change the firmware, you place a couple of files on your SD card and then follow the update instructions (bundled with the firmware files). The Floppy Emu board then retains that firmware, and you can swap the SD card for a different one if you want, or remove the firmware files to free up a tiny amount of additional space on the SD card. If you want to switch to a different or newer or older firmware, then you’ll need to repeat the process again.

5. 
   MichaelLAX - January 4th, 2021 7:10 pm

   Yes, I have read 3.1 and watched the video.

   But if the card can hold both firmwares at the same time and somehow it can tell which machine it is connected to: Apple ][ or Mac; then why doesn’t the FEMU ship with both firmwares installed at the factory?

   Why does it come with Apple ][ firmware and the end user must install the Mac firmware?

6. 
   Gus - January 4th, 2021 7:57 pm

   I guess what Steve is explaining is that firmware is stored in the board directly in non-volatile storage chips, and it can hold just one or the other. The SD card is simply the media to help you get the appropriate firmware installed in the board, following the mentioned instructions.

   @Steve, maybe Floppy Emulator revision D could include a switch and separate or bigger storage to hold both versions of the firmware or an updated version with the code as per the switch configuration 🙂

7. 
   Steve - January 4th, 2021 9:54 pm

   That’s right. It’s not only a question of storage space: the direction of some I/O pins also changes depending on whether the Apple II or Mac/Lisa firmware is installed. It means there’s a need to choose one firmware or the other. When you install the Mac/Lisa firmware to the Floppy Emu board, you’re replacing the Apple II firmware that was previously installed. It can’t be both Apple II and Mac/Lisa at the same time. A future device might handle this differently, perhaps with a switch like @Gus suggests. Most people use the Floppy Emu with a single computer or with a few computers of similar types, so they rarely or never need to worry about firmware changes. If you expect to change the firmware more often, the best approach is to do what @Aram suggested and keep two SD cards handy, so you can quickly install new firmware by just inserting the desired card and pressing the button combo to install the firmware.

8. 
   Michael Sprague - January 5th, 2021 4:56 am

   MichaelLAX, you might want to do what I did. I purchased a second Floppy EMU. One, whose firmware is for Apple II (as it was delivered to me), and a second whose firmware I changed for use on my Mac Classic. You could do something similar with your Apple IIc and your Mac SE. It is not terribly difficult to flash firmware but I have saved myself the bother of flash, flash back, flash, etc.

9. 
   DrKenB - January 5th, 2021 7:16 am

   MichaelLAX – I’m with you on that solution! The FEMU is inexpensive & coupled with the convenience of having not to constantly flash is well worth the cost of another FEMU. (And, if we’re to believe my wife, I’m lazy…) Fortunately, I use only Apple IIs so I haven’t run into that need so far.

10. 
    brad - January 13th, 2021 1:11 pm

    I’m trying to use the floppyemu (model C, firmware 27) with my IIGS ROM01, in SmartPort Hard Disk mode. I have a liron card in slot 4, which is where my floppyemu is presently connected (in addition to a 3.5 and 5.25 drive connected to the builtin port). After power up, I get the message ‘CKSM CD != B0’ on the floppyemu, and everything freezes. What does this error mean?

11. 
    Steve - January 14th, 2021 7:31 am

    Those are checksum errors, it means the Smartport packet received from the computer was corrupted. Most often this error is caused by poor cables, out-of-spec voltages, power supply noise, electrical noise, or some kind of hardware trouble. But in this case, it’s caused by using a Liron card on a IIGS with the CPU set to fast speed.

12. 
    Anthony Beaucamp - January 16th, 2021 6:09 am

    I need a bit of advice. I have a FloppyEmu connected to my Apple//c with Boot Drive selector. I am able to boot and load my games in 5.25 disk format. But my game 8bit-Slicks is too large to fit on one single 5.25 disk, so I decided to go for 3.5 disk in ProDos format (800K).

    I verified that this disk boots correctly in AppleWin. But when I try to mount it with the FloppyEmu (having set the config to 3.5 disk), I get a message on the display saying: “800K Raw Data”. The computer does not attempt to boot the disk.

    Something similar happens if I rename the file to SMART0.PO and try to mount as SmartPort Drive.

13. 
    Steve - January 16th, 2021 11:27 am

    The Apple IIc doesn’t support normal 3.5 inch drives. Please see the compatibility table here: https://www.bigmessowires.com/floppy-emu/#compatibility If your IIc has ROM revision 0 or newer, you should be able to load an 800K disk with Floppy Emu’s Unidisk 3.5 emulation mode.

14. 
    Anthony Beaucamp - January 16th, 2021 11:10 pm

    Crap… PEEK($FBBF) gives $FF… (original ROM).
    Any chance I can get SmartPort to boot instead…?

15. 
    MichaelLAX - January 17th, 2021 12:10 am

    Until such time as you purchase a new ROM and install it (and make the two motherboard modifications as noted in the ROM installation package)

16. 
    Steve - January 17th, 2021 9:26 am

    Right, in order to use Smartport or Unidisk 3.5 emulation modes on an Apple IIc, it must have ROM version 0 or newer, as noted in the compatibility table. Please see “Smartport Hard Disk Emulation” in section 5 of the instruction manual for details. If necessary, you can purchase and install a 3rd-party ROM upgrade for the IIc. I described my experience with one such upgrade kit here: https://www.bigmessowires.com/2015/05/29/apple-iic-rom-upgrade/

17. 
    MichaelLAX - January 17th, 2021 11:33 pm

    Prof Steven Buggie sells them on eBay and gives lots of free stuff with it, too!

18. 
    DrKen - January 18th, 2021 8:59 am

    For those who prefer brand new EPROMs (ROM 3 or ROM 4):

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Apple-IIc-ROM-3-Enhancement-Kit-Adds-UniDisk-3-5-Drive-Support/233191816128?hash=item364b50bbc0:g:xiAAAOSwgONa4SBn

    or if you don’t care to contribute to eBay’s profit margin:

    https://www.ebluejay.com/Ads/Item/4629688

19. 
    MichaelLAX - January 20th, 2021 5:23 pm

    Steve: Here is my setup:

    My modern Mac mini communicates to my MacMini2,1 running OS X Tiger over WiFi using File Sharing.

    My MacMini2,1 has a $29 USB 3.5 in 1.44MB floppy drive connected to in, so I can use SneakerNet to get dowloaded Legacy Mac software to my Mac SE/30 which is enhanced with your ROMinator II and Floppy EMU set to a 100MB HD through the Floppy port.

    In the future, I will add an Ethernet Card to my Mac SE/30 or add an iPrint to it so that I can use Ethertalk between it and the MacMini2,1.

    I consider it genius that you were able to reverse-engineer the HD20 and restore its functionality so that we have that capability with your FEMU and the Mac SE/30.

    Now, I would like to get my Apple //c to communicate with my Mac SE/30.

    It would be well work my purchase of another Floppy EMU so that I have them both connected to my SE/30 and //c if there was a way that a \”LocalTalk\” type of communication could be established between the two.

    Are you working on any such project?

20. 
    Marie - January 22nd, 2021 9:19 pm

    What year was this product first released?

21. 
    Jim W - February 7th, 2021 10:27 pm

    Hello Steve,

    I recently purchased a New/Old Se SuperDrive thet has a 200mg HD. Boy things sure have changed in the computing world since I purchased anSE for college 30years ago! Being 60 yrs old now, I don’t remember the computer being SO heavy back then! LOL.

    Can I put system 6.? on floppy’s and install it that way, just like the old days or is it more complicated than that. I do have a Mac mini M1 if that helps. Thanks, Jim

22. 
    Xavier S - February 8th, 2021 12:26 pm

    Hi !

    I just received my Floppy emu complete bundle, and it\’s so cool !! I finally have a simple and reliable way to transfer downloaded Macintosh softwares to my old Macintosh Classic (and the few other ones I\’ll surely have) !!

    Thank You Steve !

23. 
    MichaelLAX - February 8th, 2021 12:57 pm

    Jim: Buy a Floppy EMU, you will not regret all of its value.

    I purchased one for my Apple //c and then purchased a Mac SE/30 to play with just like I did 32 years ago and it contains floppy images for System 6 and many flavors of System 7.x.

    But for conveniences sake, I purchased a two disk set of System 6 on 1.4HD from this source (he has them on 800K floppy if you prefer).

    For an extra $5.00 he gave me the Network Software Installer 1.4.5 and a System 7 Network boot disk, as well:

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Macintosh-System-6-0-8-Complete-Set-of-1-4M-Install-Disks-for-Classic-Macs/154171910314

    Have FUN!

24. 
    MichaelLAX - February 17th, 2021 6:47 pm

    Has anyone had problems with System 7.5.3 on the Floppy EMU? I just upgraded my 6.0.8 HD20 to 7.5.3 (using the Installers available on the FEMU; by the way the installer for 7.1 seems to be missing the Installer document and fails to work).

    My SE/30 now crashes all the time even if: I keep it in 24-bit memory and/or Shift-Start so all extensions turned off. I won’t even let me copy a file to another folder without freezing.

    And yes, I have the ROMinator II installed.

    I have no such problems in System 6.0.8 in 24 or 32 bit mode (using Optima) — no problems at all.

    Thank you.

25. 
    mike - February 24th, 2021 9:55 am

    Love the new Floppy EMU! Goal is to get my old BBS from the 80s on the internet. While my original floppy disks and drives amazingly still work, I didn’t want to rely on the floppies continuing to last, so being able to use the Floppy EMU to copy the disks over to is awesome. My drive controller is the older original model that doesn’t support daisy chaining, so I tracked down a newer controller. In the interim, I am using 2 floppy EMU units to handle the disks.

    Video of the bbs boot up: !

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1HvEdyWUvk

26. 
    Jean-Fred - March 5th, 2021 9:56 am

    Hello,
    Just got my FloppyEmu.
    I’m planning on using mine with my Apple IIe
    🙂
    Thank You Steve !

    For a future firmware version it would be great to have a shortcut to the favorites by pressing a button combo (PREV and NEXT button for example)

27. 
    groinksan - March 13th, 2021 9:35 pm

    Not sure if this is a known problem or not. I’m trying to update from F25 to F29 on my model C Emu. I downloaded apple-II-0.2Q-F29-modelBC. I tried a dozen times to flash the CPLD, but the Emu immediately would flash the “?” mark while attempting to flash the CPLD. LED flashes, but it never goes beyond this point. I thought maybe the ZIP file was corrupt. So maybe F27 was still on-line, and sure enough apple-II-0.2Q-F27-modelBC was still downloadable. I successfully flashed to F27. I then attempted F29 again, and this time it worked.

    So it looks like you must flash the Emu with all the updates, in-order, leading up to the latest update. Can’t just go from F25 to F29. Must go from F25 to F27, and then F27 to F29. So hopefully this may help someone who faces a problem like this.

28. 
    Michael picard - March 14th, 2021 1:59 pm

    Question.
    Could I plug the floppy emu into port one on my disk II controller and plug my real drive into port 2 then use both? or copy from one to the other?

29. 
    Steve - March 14th, 2021 3:21 pm

    @Michael yes that’s fine. @groinksan there’s no limitation on updating directly between different firmware versions. A question mark on the display should be accompanied by an error message, most likely the SD card wasn’t properly detected.

30. 
    Peter - March 25th, 2021 5:11 am

    Hi Steve!
    A quick question. Is it possible to make my own cable to use my Floppy Emu on a PowerBook Duo as well? The pinouts are here (https://www.applerepairmanuals.com/the_manuals_are_in_here/Ports_Pinouts.pdf) – but since they are not exactly the same, the question would be, what needs to be connected and what not :). Thank you in advance for your feedback!
    Regards,
    Peter

31. 
    Steve - March 25th, 2021 7:44 am

    I’m not sure you’ll find a source for those HDI-20 connectors without chopping up some old equipment. But if you do, the signals are basically the same as a regular 20 pin rectangular floppy disk connector except a few superfluous inputs like PWM and 12V aren’t present. Should work OK. See the pinout at the left side of this diagram: https://www.bigmessowires.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/disk-ab-switch-schematic.png

32. 
    Peter - March 25th, 2021 8:14 am

    Thanks for that! I assume that J1 is the pinout of the Floppy Emu ribbon cable connector? Or is it the socket on the board? I will indeed chop up an old HDI-20 drive, as I have many of those that are gone beyond repair, so rather have sacrifice one for good floppy emulation on the Duo 🙂 Thanks again!

33. 
    Steve - March 25th, 2021 2:49 pm

    Yes, J1 is the pinout for a normal Macintosh 20 pin rectangular connector for any floppy drive or the Floppy Emu. You can also find this information in Guide to the Macintosh Family Hardware or other references.

34. 
    Sebastian Blanco - April 3rd, 2021 4:36 pm

    Great device, i hope someday a menu to choose the hard disc images could be added.

    I have several hard disc images on the sd card and when i have to switch removing the sd card inserting it on the pc renaming de files reinserting it on the femu is cumbersome.

35. 
    Mans - April 4th, 2021 3:11 am

    It\’s difficult to use Floppy Emu with Macintosh Portable. The computer does not have a switch to turn it off. So, when I switch the mode between HD and floppy, the computer keeps asking me to Eject or Initialize the disk. I cannot get rid of this message in order to choose Special->Turn Off menu! I hope there was a switch on the board itself to turn it off in order to force the Macintosh Portable out of its loop!

36. 
    Peter W - April 26th, 2021 8:16 am

    Will Floppy EMU work with Apple IIe Plus to run Apple PASCAL UCSD P-System?

    Do I need any additional hardware other than the Apple Disk II controller card?

    How do I get the 5.25″ Apple0:, Apple1:, Apple2:, Apple3: disks onto the Floppy EMU SD card.

    Thanks

    Peter

    BTW do you have a United Kingdom distributor

37. 
    Steve - April 26th, 2021 10:02 am

    I don’t have any first-hand experience with Apple Pascal, but have heard from others that it works fine with the normal hardware. You’ll need to locate disk images on the web for the Pascal boot disks, or create them yourself. The Floppy Emu instruction manual has some information about disk images and suggested sources on the web. BMOW does not have any product distributors – all sales are made directly from the BMOW web store and shipped from the United States.

38. 
    Peter W - April 28th, 2021 10:25 am

    Steve,

    Thanks for the prompt update on Apple Pascal on Floppy Emu.

    Is there support for emulation of disk sizes other than the nominal 140k Apple 5.25″ disks?

    In particular can it be configured to appear as a logical 247k 8″ IBM3740 (77 track x 26 spt x 128 byte) drive. I appreciate that it is an emulation of the GCR bit stream from the Disk II drive heads.

    A 494 block (512 byte) emaulation would be more convenient for running UCSD P system as normal UCSD images are in 247k IBM3740 format so a block copy of the disk would be usefull. Given that it saves onto the SD card storage capcity is not an issue.

    Thanks

    Peter

39. 
    Steve - April 28th, 2021 12:37 pm

    Please see the documentation for supported disk types and sizes. Apple II emulation supports 5.25 inch floppy (nominally 140K but can be slightly more), 3.5 inch floppy (800K), and Smartport hard disk (up to 32MB). There’s no 8 inch floppy emulation. Block sizes depend on the disk image type. Most are fixed at 256 or 512 bytes, but some Apple II 5.25 inch disk image formats like NIB and WOZ encode a raw bitstream for each track rather than any fixed number of bytes per block.

40. 
    John Payson - April 29th, 2021 8:40 am

    I don’t know what would be necessary to hack UCSD to use such a thing, but I think FloppyEmu will without difficulty support 80 or 160 tracks of 4kB each each if the read/write track/sector code is modified to refrain from multiplying track numbers by four when computing head pulses, or can interpret track numbers as quarter-track indices. Alternatively, if the RWTS were hacked so that what UCSD would refer to as tracks 0-39 work normally, tracks 40-79 are a half-track above 0-39, and tracks 80-159 are a quarter-step above 0-79, that would allow it to be compatible with normal 5.25″ disk images as well as double- or quad-capacity images.

41. 
    Thomas - April 29th, 2021 6:17 pm

    I am wondering if it would be possible to use the daisy chain accessory to have a floppyemu which connects to both a) my HDI-20 floppy drive\’s cable interface board (converts HDI-20 to 20-pin ribbon cable) and b) a DB-25 adapter. Picturing an HDI-20 floppy drive which has had the drive removed, a FloppyEMU placed inside and also has a cable dangling off with a DB-25 connector.

42. 
    Scott Jibben - May 9th, 2021 6:43 pm

    Hello, this is a great product! I recently got the VIDHD video adapter card and an A2io joystick add-on for my Apple //e Platinum. I have been randomly been getting an error message on the Floppy-Emu: “CHECK PIN CLK0-L” and I have to reboot in order to clear it. The Floppy-Emu has locked up a few times, but not as often as the “CHECK PIN CLK0-L” error. I just updated to 0.2R-F30 firmware and am really liking the dual 5.25″ feature! Any ideas on what I can do to resolve the error?

43. 
    Frank M. - May 25th, 2021 6:32 pm

    Will the new 3.5″ woz images be supported at some point? Lots of new games in the ‘wozaday’ collection specifically for the //gs.

44. 
    Michel W - May 27th, 2021 11:12 am

    While updating the firmware floppy emu screen went off.
    Status flash light is flickering
    power light is on.
    I switched the apple IIgs off/on no change

45. 
    Richard Moore - May 27th, 2021 1:50 pm

    I just wanted to chime in as well and ask if woz support on 3.5” disks would be possible as well. (Even better, dual 3.5” drive support, like the dual 5.25”). I am not sure how much software was protected in the 3.5” format, but some was for sure, and it would be great to add that support if possible, even if only for convenience. (I am also not sure how to actually convert a woz 3.5” to another file format such as .po.)

    Thanks for adding the woz support and dual drives for the 5.25” as well, it has allowed me to get rid of the wdrive product and go strictly dual floppyemu drives (1 3.5”/ 2 5.25”) for my IIGS using your disk chainer hardware..

46. 
    Steve - May 28th, 2021 7:46 am

    There are no current plans for 3.5 inch WOZ images, but maybe in the future. Right now I’m prioritizing my time on new product development.

47. 
    MichaelLAX - May 28th, 2021 8:31 am

    Is there a way to connect my Floppy EMU to the Floppy Drive module connector on my Powerbook 1400c?

48. 
    Steve - May 28th, 2021 11:04 am

    The Powerbooks don’t have a standard floppy connector so they’re not directly compatible with the Floppy Emu. I think the 1400c has the square-shaped high density floppy connector. You might be able to find a 1990s vintage HDI-20 to DB-19 floppy adapter somewhere at a surplus electronics vendor.

49. 
    MichaelLAX - May 28th, 2021 3:10 pm

    I believe you are thinking about the early Mac Powerbooks and their HD-20 floppy connector.

    The PB1400c has modules that slide in and out of the powerbook: floppy, CD-ROM, Zip, MO, etc and I have an extra floppy unit which has the opposite connector that mates with the connector inside the Powerbook.

    I am unaware of its wiring diagram however and if it is compatible with the Floppy EMU.

50. 
    Steve - May 28th, 2021 4:06 pm

    I’m not aware of any Powerbook models with a standard DB-19 floppy port. If I’m wrong and that’s what you have, then great. But if it’s some wacky Powerbook-specific connector with a physically different shape and size, then I’m afraid you’re out of luck.

51. 
    MichaelLAX - May 28th, 2021 9:45 pm

    \\\”Some wacky Powerbook specific connector\\\” – hahahahaha

    You\\\’re pretty funny for an EE geek!

    How many EEs does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

52. 
    Jon - June 2nd, 2021 8:40 am

    What is the proper configuration to connect the floppy emu and apple 3.5 drive in order to transfer files from the old floppy’s to the floppy emu

53. 
    Steve Hammond - June 9th, 2021 7:17 am

    I’m trying to configure a DOS card in a 6100. I need some drivers and other software to be installed on the DOS side. I know the physical floppy can read DOS disk. I’m asking myself if there is a way for the Emu to read a DOS disk image somehow?

    I guess no, but I’m trying

54. 
    Steve - June 9th, 2021 9:01 am

    No MS-DOS, sorry. It’s designed to support Apple disk emulation.

55. 
    Craig - June 27th, 2021 2:01 pm

    Steve, I am a big Floppy EMU fan, I have four floppy EMUs of different vintages (one has a hand-written #0087 on it) and want to know the difference in capabilities of them all. Thank you BTW by continuing to add the awesome functionality of the Floppy EMU. I have looked high and low and can’t find any sort of comparison table. I have the following-

    (From the screen following the Self-Test)

    1. App Version 1.0L, CPLD Firmware 11 (I am assuming Model A?) – GREEN PCB with Version 1.3 printed on it

    2. Apple II Vers. 0.1S, CPLD Firmware 6 (I am assuming Model A?) – BLUE PCB with Version 1.3 printed on it

    3. FLOPPY EMU – MODEL B, Apple II Vers.0.1X, CPLD Firmware 21 (Can’t see PCB as in case)

    4. FLOPPY EMU – MODEL C, Apple II Vers.0.2F, CPLD Firmware 21 (PCB with Version 1.7printed on it)

56. 
    Steve - June 28th, 2021 8:12 am

    Model C is the current version of the Floppy Emu. The main differences between the models are the degree of Apple II compatibility, the SD card type, and the display. For an overview of what’s new in Model B and Model C relative to the previous models, see their descriptions in the BMOW store. https://www.bigmessowires.com/shop/product/floppy-emu-model-c/ https://www.bigmessowires.com/shop/product/floppy-emu-model-b/

    All of those models can be updated to newer firmware, with bug fixes and additional features. See the firmware download section on this page, above.

57. 
    Greg - June 30th, 2021 3:34 am

    Hi, Can I use Floppy emu to backup dedicated software (i.e. MAcPaint) from Floppy emu to my blank diskette on Macintosh 128k using Disk Copy? I have original MacPaint diskette, which is empty and I would like to restore MacPaint on it using Floppy Emu MacPaind disk image stored on MicroSd card. Thanks.

58. 
    Steve - June 30th, 2021 6:43 am

    Yes you can use normal disk-copying software to copy from a Floppy Emu disk image to a physical 3.5 inch disk.

59. 
    Eric - July 27th, 2021 9:57 pm

    I own a vintage Macintosh PowerBook Duo 210. Is there any floppy disk emu that would work with this model or some sort of adapter that would make it work? That would be awesome if possible. Thank you.

60. 
    Steve - July 28th, 2021 6:25 am

    The PowerBook Duos are not compatible, sorry. They have a weird proprietary floppy connector, HDI-20.

61. 
    MichaelLAX - July 28th, 2021 9:40 am

    Steve: On March 21st, you commented:

    “I’m not sure you’ll find a source for those HDI-20 connectors without chopping up some old equipment. But if you do, the signals are basically the same as a regular 20 pin rectangular floppy disk connector except a few superfluous inputs like PWM and 12V aren’t present. Should work OK. See the pinout at the left side of this diagram: https://www.bigmessowires.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/disk-ab-switch-schematic.png“

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