Adafruit Floppy FeatherWing with 34-Pin IDC Connector

SKU: ADA5679 Brand: Adafruit

Relive the days when storage was counted out in kilo-bytes not giga-bytes, using the Adafruit Floppy FeatherWing on a Feather board - perfect for...

$11.10 AUD, inc GST

$10.09 AUD, exc GST

Available with a lead time
Expect dispatch between May 10 and May 13

Quantity Discounts:

10-25 $9.69 (exc GST)
25+ $9.38 (exc GST)

Relive the days when storage was counted out in kilo-bytes not giga-bytes, using the Adafruit Floppy FeatherWing on a Feather board - perfect for interfacing with 34-Pin IDC Connector floppy drives that were ubiquitous on PC's. This 'Wing has level shifting and a ready-to-plug connector that works with 3.5" or 5.25" floppy disks for reading or writing!

Floppy disks have an interesting data transfer method where raw bit transitions are measured and converted to data. This data streams pretty fast from the disk drive so you'll want to use a fast microcontroller that has large SRAM storage and ideally, a peripheral to DMA the data signal. For that reason Adafruit only have this FeatherWing working with the Feather M4 or Feather RP2040. ESP32, ATmega, nRF52, etc have not been ported to Adafruit's support library!

Floppy disk drives require 5V power and logic. For the logic level shifting, Adafruit have a small boost converter on the 'Wing that will give 5V logic levels out the 34-pin connector. It will also shift the incoming signals down to a Feather-safe 3.3V.

For floppy driver powering you will likely need a separate external 5V power supply that can provide 5V at 2 A. You can't power most drives off of USB power, they have big motors that require more current than USB can provide!

Adafruit have got code and examples for three use cases:

Reading floppy disks and storing the raw bit patterns and/or converted data format for data archiving. For this use case Adafruit recommend using the 'Wing with a Feather programmed to act as a greaseweazle or fluxengine client device. Then run those command line programs on your computer to have the Feather send the raw track data to the computer for analysis, bit-repair and format interpretation. You can also write some formats via those two programs, for use with older computers. We also have a 'Write Disable' switch on board specifically for this use case so that it is not possible for the write-enable pin to accidentally be activated.
Reading/Writing FAT formatted floppy disks from Arduino, CircuitPython or a computer that is connected via USB. Floppy disks can still be used to save, read data from! This is great for retro-themed projects or if you want to write data to floppy disks for them to be used by IBM-PC compatibles or other devices that are expecting FAT-formatted floppy disks
Cool floppy music sequencing!

Each order comes with one FeatherWing with the 2x17 header attached and level shifting circuitry built in. Before it can be used to read/write floppies, you will need to:

Solder pin headers on to attach to a Feather board.
Attach an M4 or RP2040 Feather as the driver/brains.
Find a 34-pin IDC Floppy Drive that works
Connect a 34-pin DC cable between the 'Wing and the Floppy drive.
Provide 5V power to the floppy drive, as much as 2 Amps. 5.25" disk drives will also need a 12V power supply!
Find some floppy disks to read/write

Many of these items are no longer sold, and will require some sleuthing to locate!

Technical Details

Product Dimensions: 50.8mm x 22.8mm x 13.6mm / 2.0" x 0.9" x 0.5"

Product Weight: 8.4g / 0.3oz

This product is listed in:

Other Favourites>Feather>Feather Wings

Product Comments

Start the conversation

Exact shipping can be calculated on the view cart page (no login required).

Products that weigh more than 0.5 KG may cost more than what's shown (for example, test equipment, machines, >500mL liquids, etc).

We deliver Australia-wide with these options (depends on the final destination - you can get a quote on the view cart page):

$3+ for Stamped Mail (typically 10+ business days, not tracked, only available on selected small items)
$6+ for Standard Post (typically 6+ business days, tracked)
$10+ for Express Post (typically 2+ business days, tracked)
Pickup - Free! Only available to customers who live in the Newcastle region (must order online and only pickup after we email to notify you the order is ready). Orders placed after 2PM may not be ready until the following business day.

Non-metro addresses in WA, NT, SA & TAS can take 2+ days in addition to the above information.

Some batteries (such as LiPo) can't be shipped by Air. During checkout, Express Post and International Methods will not be an option if you have that type of battery in your shopping cart.

International Orders - the following rates are for New Zealand and will vary for other countries:

$11+ for Pack and Track (3+ days, tracked)
$16+ for Express International (2-5 days, tracked)

If you order lots of gear, the postage amount will increase based on the weight of your order.

Our physical address (here's a PDF which includes other key business details):

Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove Parade
Adamstown
NSW, 2289
Australia

Take a look at our customer service page if you have other questions such as "do we do purchase orders" (yes!) or "are prices GST inclusive" (yes they are!). We're here to help - get in touch with us to talk shop.

Have a product question? We're here to help!