DrawBridge aka Arduino Amiga Floppy Disk Reader/Writer

Troubleshooting

The following are common questions, troubleshooting and answers.
For more help join my discord server.

• How do I update the firmware on my DrawBridge board?
  Using the Arduino IDE, See the Programming the Arduino guide.
• What is the flat cable called inside the slimline drives?
  The flat cable used inside the slimline drives is: FFC/FPC cable, 26 pin/way, Forward Facing (or same side) 1.0mm pitch
• Where can I get a compatible slimline drive?
  Popular Slimline drives that are quite often compatible have FD-05PUB written on the reverse. This is no guarantee. Recommend buying from Amazon as its easy to return. I once ordered a batch of 30 and they were all different manufacturers inside, and some were suitable, others not. They all had the same markings and serial number on the outside!
• Diagnostics tells me that my disk is/not write protected, but it is
  This is most likely a fault with the switches that detect the state of write protect on the drive. Some times these switches have corrosion inside and stop working, or work intermittently. They need cleaning with either contact cleaner or disassembling and cleaning by hand.
• I wrote a disk which successfully verified, but my Amiga can't read it
  This is most likely to do with drive head alignment. To find out which drive it is, try reading to ADF a standard disk (eg: original Amiga disk) and see if it reads properly. I fit doesn't then the drive you are using probably needs a head-re-alignment. You find find many tutorials on Youtube showing you how to do this.
• My disk reads in my Amiga, but Drawbridge can't read it.
  This could be for a number of reasons including:
  1. You are using a High Density disk, but the disk contains Double Density data. You can do this, but you need to make sure you put tape over the hole opposite the write protect tab.
  2. Dirty drive heads, these need to be cleaned (usually with isopropanol alcohol)
  3. The drive heads either your Drawbridge drive or your Amiga are mis-aligned. You can search on Youtube how to fix this.
  4. See Disk Errors.
• An "unknown" error occurs after starting to read tracks from a drive
  This most likely is caused by insufficient power which causes the 5V to drop too low, which in tern causes the arduino to reset. If this occurs try powering the drive from an external power supply.
• Verify is failing when writing to the disk This could be a result of a number of different issues including:
  1. Dirty drive heads, these need to be cleaned (usually with isopropanol alcohol)
  2. Insufficient drive power. Writing to disks uses a little more power than just reading, and sometimes it's not quite enough to get the job done. Try using an external power supply for the drive.
  3. Bad disks. Disks are getting old now, and no one makes them anymore. Some are rotting, literally. Not only would a disk in this state be impossible to write to, but also would leave dirt on the drive head that would need cleaning. Failure to do this could also cause other disks to become damaged as this dirt will transfer to them too, sometimes scratching them.
  4. You are using a High Density disk, but writing a Double Density image to it. You can do this, but you need to make sure you put tape over the hole opposite the write protect tab.
  5. See Disk Errors.
• Windows cannot find any COM ports for my Drawbridge.
  Drawbridge requires the FTDI drivers in order to work. Either do a full install on the Arduino IDE, or install the FTDI VCP drivers.
• I selected the COM port, but I get "An unknown error occurred attempting yo access the specified COM port"
  This error occurs when Windows is unable to open the COM port to communicate with the device. There are many possibilities why this can occur, including:
  1. Another application already has the port open (eg: UPS software, Cura, Arduino IDE, HxC Virual Disk Emulator etc.)
  2. The correct drivers are not installed. Download and install the latest FTDI VCP drivers.
  3. There is insufficient power for the FTDI chip to work properly. This can be caused by using a long USB cable or when connected to an un-powered USB hub.
  4. The FTDI chip you are using is a fake. There are several of these around, 99% of the time you'd never know, but it's possible.
  5. The COM port you selected isn't actually the correct one. Try selecting one of the FTDI devices in the COM port list instead and see what happens.
• Amiberry cannot detect Drawbridge.
  Some Linux distros require the user to be in the uucp, dialout or tty groups