Hardware: Using PC floppy disc drives with the Amiga

Instructions for several different drives

(detailed list below, with individual drives/links)

http://amiga.serveftp.net/Floppy_drive_compatibility.html
Amiga Floppy Drive Compatibility List, "Copied from http://www.freewebs.com/computolio/amiga_floppy_compatibility.html (Feb 2012), this link is no longer active as of Jan 2015."

http://jope.fi/drives/
"Let's modify some drives."

http://jope.fi/drives/computolio/
drive compatibility list, taken from http://www.freewebs.com/computolio/amiga_floppy_compatibility.html (offline - can still be found via http://web.archive.org )

http://www.pitsch.de/stuff/amiga/floppy.htm
PC-Laufwerke für Amiga umbauen

http://honi.hucki.net/
instructions for several drives

http://aminet.net/package/docs/hard/PCFloppy2Amiga

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=30944
"Modifying PC floppy drives for Amiga use" thread on the "English Amiga Board"


(Note that we're trying to avoid the "twisted cable"/"swapped cable" technique here, as we think it's inconvenient & unprofessional.)

Testing your modified PC disc drive

A perfectly modded PC drive should...

...work as DF0: in conjunction with an external DF1: drive attached to your Amiga
...be able to read and write data, and format a floppy disc
...automatically detect disc change
...be able to run e.g. demo disc "Arte" by Sanity, which uses a custom (non-OS) loading technique 

PC floppy disc drives

Alps

DF354H 121G 

DF354H 090G

 

Chinon

FZ354
original floppy drive in some A1200s - if found in a PC can probably be jumpered, or certainly modified, to work with the Amiga.

FZ357
can be modified for use with the Amiga.
http://honi.hucki.net/chinon.html

FZ357A
original HD floppy drive in some A4000s.

 

Matsushita

 

Mitsumi (Newtronics)

D359M3

can be modified for use with the Amiga.

http://www.pitsch.de/stuff/amiga/a1korg_01.pdf

D359M3D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWrnUY8hU3Q

D359T3 

can be modified for use with the Amiga.

http://www.pitsch.de/stuff/amiga/floppy.htm#A5

D359T5

can be modified for use with the Amiga.

http://honi.hucki.net/mitsumi.html

D359T6

can be modified for use with the Amiga.

http://honi.hucki.net/mitsumi.html

D359T7

(unknown) 

 

Panasonic

JU-257A516P

original floppy drive in some A1200s - if found in a PC can probably be jumpered, or certainly modified, to work with the Amiga.

JU-257A605P

can be modified for use with the Amiga.
http://www.softpres.org/article:hard:modifying_the_pansonic_ju-257a605p_fdd

JU-257A606P

can be modified for use with the Amiga. different versions/PCBs, several instructions found online:
http://aminet.net/search?query=ju257
http://jope.fi/drives/ju257a606p/

 

Samsung

SFD-321B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtMvoql0W8Y

 

Sony

MPF420-1

MPF 920-E

 

Teac

TEAC FD-235HF 6291

can be modified for use with the Amiga.
https://honi.hucki.net/teac.html

TEAC FD-235HF 7291-U5

can be modified for use with the Amiga.
https://honi.hucki.net/teac.html

 

Other sources

https://www.amigawiki.org/doku.php?id=de:expansion:storage:disk_drive

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History:
2023-10-19: added https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWrnUY8hU3Q and "Other Sources" w. amigawiki.org
2023-05-03: added http://amiga.serveftp.net/Floppy_drive_compatibility.html, Chinon FZ357A, and history