Custom Enclosure - Floppy Emu

[[removed -- question was already answered]]

Thanks for the detailed reply Dave.  The ferrite ring idea is definitely one to try.I am also going to disconnect the internal speaker and test external speakers on the GS to see if the noise follows to the external speakers.

-- Bruce

The noise follows to the external speakers as well on the GS.

-- Bruce

bruce1000 wrote:

Thanks for the detailed reply Dave.  The ferrite ring idea is definitely one to try.I am also going to disconnect the internal speaker and test external speakers on the GS to see if the noise follows to the external speakers.

 

-- Bruce

 

the new firmware is absolutely stunning! Steve did a great job.  

i tried, but it had no effect on the sound issue.

Hi Dave, 

Is there a trick to getting the new 2.4" display to work? i.e. Brightness etc.  Mine doesn't seem to turn on.  I put the old display back on the header and it worked, the new stays dark.   I ordered another one off Amazon to try. It will be here Saturday.  Everything else works perfectly and was very easy to solder.   

I thought I was very careful installing it and soldering the header on it.  Is there an easy way to test it outside of the unit? 

Thanks,

Jay 

PTB wrote:

Hi Jay,

Can't say I've had that problem. Off the top of my head here are some things to try.

 

1. Is the cable reversed. plugged in 180 degrees around wrong way?

2. Are you able to check the 7 wire harness with a multimeter. Does each strand have continuity?

3. Do you have an arduino? I Can point you to or send you an arduino sketch to check it.

&nb

Nope the plug is good  gnd->gnd  etc 

I put the old screen on the 7 pin harness and it worked so I am assuming it has continuity. 

I do have an arduino.  -- several different models. 

Thanks,

Jay 

After using the emu hack setup long enough to confirm I could select and load disk images and booth them using the Apple Disk ][ controller. I set it aside.

After seeing the new emu firmware update excitement, I decided to download and install it.  But during the installation procedure I noticed the Select button was sticking when pushed.  As a result I cannot reliably navigate through the emu menus.  

Upon investigating the pb sticking problem I found that the bottom push buttons center pretty well in their panel holes but the top ones are slightly off, the Select pb being the worst since it scrapes against the hole in the 10'oclock position.  All pb's are perfectly flat against the circuit board, no tilting at all.  I haven't seen anyone else mention this so it must be unique to me.

I did state in an earlier post that I thought the hole tolerances in general were way to tight.  If I slightly loosen the 4-40 nuts (or whatever they are) holding the switch pcb, the Select button works better but still rubs.  When these nuts are snug, the rubbing gets worse.

Had the push button pcb board mounting holes been slight oversized, allowing the pcb to be adjusted for optimal location of the push button caps in their holes this could have been easily resolved.

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I am using the green display and after the latest firmware update I see vertical lines on the first two rows of text, shown here. And I should mention that I switched to using the Apple I/O Controller (aka 5.25" Disk Controller) just druing this firmware change.  Haven't figured out how to navigate the menus to allow me to designate one disk image for Drive 1 and another for Drive 2.  That's the whole reason I changed to the newer controller.

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Any suggestions?

Thanks

I dismounted the PB pcb and used a rat-tail file to auger the 4 holes a bit larger (barely perceptable).  Then I measured the I.D.'s of the pcb's mounting holes...they were all .105", so I used a .106" drill and augered out the pcb mounting holes by .001".  Remounted everything and now all is well, no sticking buttons.

I found the Emu manual and set the display type to 2.4" and the Disk mode to 5.25" Dual Disk and all is well!

I love the emu...but the CFFA is so much easier to use, but I will be using both, together.

Hello,

today I installed a floppy controller from my other Apple II into the IIgs and connected the floppy emu.

Unfortunately, I still have these noise problems. As mentioned above a ferrite core on the floppy cable didn't help either. Due to this interference, it is unfortunately impossible to use the modded floppy emu for a longer period of time without going crazy. 

It would be great if someone had an idea of how to solve this problem on the IIgs. 

regards clockchip

@Lasermaster

Yeah I did go pretty tight on the clearances with the buttons. I wanted to not be able to see a gap between button and panel. I had assembled and disassembled several times while making it and once a rubbing squeak had developped on one of the buttons. For me taking it apart and putting it back together did the trick but I agree with what you are saying. Another 0.1mm of clearance may not of been a bad idea. Mine is currently working fine with no rubbing or sticking without modding, but your solution is a good one if anyone else gets the same issue.

I'm sure your push button panel hole sizes could stay as they are if you just enlarged the push button pcb mounting hole diameters by .10mm, maybe a bit less but enough to shift the pcb aroung a bit and get all four buttons to be centered on their holes during tightening of the nuts on the pcb standoffs. 

@JWG1962

An extra thing to check....I was wondering if you can get a photo of the back of the display, particularly R3 R4 and R5.

Those resistors are for configuring between I2c and SPI. Maybe it came from factory incorrectly configured.

Hi Dave, 

Here is the pic of the back.  Note there is a dimple in the plastic on the ribbon cable, but I looked under a microscope and it is superfical.   I just put that in there taking it back out of the device. 

It looks right.   i.e.  Only R4 is installed for SPI. 

Thanks,

Jay 

2.4screen.jpg

Thank you Dave.  I was toying with the idea of purchasing a different larger oled, to see if that makes a difference, but I don't think that it will, especially if it uses the same chipset

I read about the Rom03's having much better sound protection circuitry than the Rom0's and Rom01's.  The problem for me is that I am using this with a Stealth IIGS, so I need to the keyboard connector to be able to connect the IIe keyboard to the IIGS motherboard.

For now, I just use the standard floppy emu without the Disk II enclosure / larger screen, due to the noise.

Really looking forward to find a way to fix this noise too.

Thanks!

-- Bruce

PTB wrote:

@clockchip and @bruce1000

Still trying to think of what can be done with the IIGS noise.

I did find similar problems in a thread over at Vintage Computer Federation forums. Not sure what rules are for posting links to other forums.

But googling IIGS noise will bring it up in the first couple of search results. In there is talk about ROM03 being better for noise than Rom01.

Stickers? What stickers?

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/925798264/apple-logo-sticker-apple-logo-stickers?ref=sim_items_grid_ad-3&plkey=ee7135ce23db794184cb5c3b98a9a8ecaadd7682%3A925798264

Just sayin'

(5 minutes later... There's dozens of them! Curses on these intertubes!)

I have a whacky suggestion to attemp to isolate the "noise" source.   Has anyone created a small "Faraday Cage" out of tin foil and placed it over the disk II enclosure to see if that is the source or the ribbon cable is where the leak is coming from.    If it is the Disk II case,  you may be able to line it with laminated tin foil to block the RF.   Like I said, pretty whacky.  :-) LOL! 

Might be related, might not be. When I had my Phasor clone in my ROM3, it picked up all kinds of noise from a stock floppy emu. Any time there was drive access, I could hear some noise in the speakers hooked up to the phasor. It may just be the IIgs bus picks up noise easily. Granted nothing from the IIgs speaker that I noticed. Just the Phasor card picked up the access noise. Can't say I've noticed the same with the Phasor in my IIe now. 

Thanks Dave  -  This Kit is freakin' awesome.   I finally got it assembled.  The only issue I had was the bad display.  The ones from Amazon worked perfectly.  I posted a picture on them.  The only MOD I did was replaced the RED and GREEN LEDs with Blue and Gold ones.  I work at the University of Pittsburgh in the IT department and Blue and Gold are the school colors.  They are high intensity LEDs that one could most likely see from orbit, but I am not messing with them any more.   Everything works as advertised.    Thanks to Retro Bill for printing the 3D parts. 

I love it and will be hauling it to KansasFest this year.   Thanks again.  

Well,  I guess you can;t see the blue and gold in the picture, so you will just have to take my word for it.  Ha Ha :-)  

Thanks,

Jay 

IMG_4263.JPG

Looks awesome!  I need to assemble mine soon.  I'll be using a modified Disk 2 faceplate but the results will look much the same.

Nice work.

Is anyone using a Disk Knocker with their setup? in order to make the drive seem more authentic? 

PTB wrote:

Hi Microbmen....Not Yet.... But I have plans. :) 

Let me know your findings,  Once I added the Noisy Disk Knocker my FEMU goes into a reboot loop.  I tried it on another iie and it works fine.  Seems that the 2.4" display + the Noisy Disk results in too much power draw for some PSUs. It could also be controller related, I havent tested that yet.  If I pull out the 2.4" display and put back the 1.3" display it works fine. 

Did someone say what does it look like in a clear case?  I added a blue led from a tee off the power line. 

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Okay I finally had time to build this out and get it working.

Two questions:

1 - Remind me why the LED holes are OVERSIZED, creating the need for a 3d printed rear bezel just to plug the gap so the ncluded LED bezel will fit?

Was there a resaon we didn't just make the LED hole the size of the included bezel?

2- Did all the kits sell out or are there any more available? How about parts like the button board?

-neal

Don't worry about the delayed response.  PM sent

I showed mine off at KansasFest and it was a hit!!!!

I finally finished the first of 2 Disk ][ FEMU hacks. Here is a picture and a couple of notes

1) The Next button tended to stick due to mechanical binding. The second one I am assembling has a similar problem with the Previous button.  Still a very minor thing. Not the same buttons as someone else reported.  The tolerance is close so minor angles in soldering the switches might be the source of the problem. I ended up taking it all apart and used a round file on the hole with the sticky button, but was not really satisfied with the direction it was going.  I accidentally left off the spacer by the sticky button during a test fit and it all worked!  So, I screwed the board down with the nut on the post as a backer to avoid too much board flex and no spacer between the faceplate and board.  No more sticking! That gives it just enough slop to unstick itself.  I added a  little fingernail polish to hold the nut in place and called it good.  Still a very minor thing.

2) The headers and header pins on the extention cables are a little sloppy causing the panel to dim sometimes. So, I tacked most connections with hot glue for stability. No problems now.

3) I had a Noisy Disk noise maker for track to track movement.  When I installed it, my unit it would reset just like an earlier post described.  I agree probably not enough power for the Noisy Disk and larger display from a Disk ][ controller.

4) I added a 3d printed colored logo label from Ebay to the front. 

Now Javier's 3.5 case is tempting...

MyFEMUHack02.JPG

Rich thank you again for putting my FloppyEMU in the case. It looks great. Finally got things straightened up in my computer room so I can plug the FEMU into the ROM 03 GS and be off to the races!

Dave, I clicked the link and read through your article describing how you came up with the case hack for the FloppyEMU. Great article and of course a great hack!

Does this mean there might be one still for sale? If so I would like to purchase it!

From what I understand from Dave, all his kits are gone. He plans to release the files once he cleans them up a bit but it may take a couple of months... I asked him about this about 2-3 weeks ago.

Hey Dave,

Just thinking out loud here (well as loud as my keyboard clacks away)...

Have you considered releasing the files on GitHub? This way multiple people could contribute changes or alterations or alternate versions and have it all in one location.

Of course, since I'm new to AppleFritter, this may also be an ideal location for them.

It would be nice if there was a way of getting your version and some of the alterations all in one place so a person could look them over and decide which way to go.

Hi,

I finally got  some time to put together Dave's kit and Bill's 3D printed parts. Before starting I was very nervous about the soldering on to the SMD resistors and LEDs but that turned out to be really quite simple! The issue for me was the very tight spacing around the navigation buttons and actually screwing the various bits together. Got there in the end and it looks simply stunning! So thanks Dave for the countless hours you must have spent on refining this idea into a very professional product and thanks Bill for helping those without a 3D printer and providing very sturdy parts!

Dave

Any idea when you might release the files? would love to make a few of these for our retro club!!

Thanks!!