In this web content, the author provides a detailed overview of bit banging a 3.5″ floppy drive using a Teensy4.0. They share their project code on GitHub and offer insights on how floppy disks work. The author explains that a 3.5″ floppy disk contains 80 tracks, each with 18 sectors, and each sector holds 512 bytes of user-space data. They highlight the interesting fact that floppy disks actually have more surface area than the advertised 1.44MB capacity. The author also provides a wiring guide and describes the various pins and functions of a floppy drive. They caution about proper wiring to avoid damaging microcontrollers. The author delves into the commands and procedures needed to control a floppy drive, explaining the purpose of pins like INDEX, DRIVE SELECT, MOTOR ON, DIRECTION SELECT, STEP, WRITE DATA, WRITE GATE, and more. They also mention the importance of synchronization barriers, sector metadata, and track metadata. The content does not appear to contain any controversial information, but it provides detailed and valuable information for those interested in working with 3.5″ floppy drives.
https://floppy.cafe/