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Adding an external 3½ inch drive to the Einstein TC01

By Chris Cocall

•The original 3 inch floppy disks for the Einstein are out of production and used floppies are hard to come by but, a modern 3½ inch PC floppy drive without jumper settings, can be used by the Einstein TC01 computer and quickly fitted as shown.

 

•The Einstein computer needs a boot disk to install DOS after which applications and programs saved on floppy disks can be loaded and run in the Einstein. A 3½ inch boot disk for the Einstein TC01 can be made in a PC  floppy

For quickly fitting a 3.5 inch to an Einstein TC01

If the original 3" internal drives are fitted these should have their jumper settings changed to be different from the external drives being fitted or an internal drive can be disconnected. The Einstein computer will have to be opened to do this.

 

An original three inch internal drive

for Einstein TC01. Drive Jumpers Circled

3½" floppy drives can be fitted quickly to the external floppy drive port on the Einstein with a standard PC floppy drive data cable. Without alteration of the data lines on the ribbon cable it will act as drive 01 or B. To act as a boot drive 0 or A the ribbon cable can be altered.
The Standard PC floppy disk cable for a 01/B drive.
This IDC plug will be attached to the floppy drive.
 If the cable is left like this the floppy drive will be 01 or B.
This IDC
 Connects to the Einsteins external floppy drive port.
Do NOT use this IDC after the twist.

The DATA cable coloured red is line 1.

Cut line 10 close to the IDC

and 12 a little way from the IDC.

Join these two wires.

This will make the floppy drive a boot drive 0 or A.

This IDC

Connects to the Einstein’s external floppy drive port.

This IDC plug attaches to the 3.5 floppy drive

Making the 3.5 inch external floppy an A/0 boot drive .

An external power supply for the 3.5 floppy will be needed or an extension power cable and splitter can be used from the Einstein’s floppy drive's power cable.

A 3½ inch boot disk for the Einstein TC01 can be made in a PC  floppy drive with an XP operating system using CPCDiskXP software and an Einstein Disk Image which can be downloaded  via the internet.

CPCDiskXP downloaded from http://www.cpcmania.com/.

Einstein boot disk image from xbasdsk.zip.

 

Use a 3.½" 720 kb DD or a HD floppy with the right hole covered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating a 3½ Einstein boot disk on the PC

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If instead line 14 from the Einstein’s external port is joined to line 12 to the floppy drive the drive will become 02/C.  If line 6 is cut and joined to 12 the floppy drive will become 03/D. With either of these adaptations opening up the Einstein and changing internal 3” drives might not be necessary to have a working 31/2” drive. The boot drive would remain an internal 3” drive in this case.