Industrial Solutions

The ipcas Floppy-Emulator V2 supports up to 100 disks per USB pen drive. The (virtual) floppy disks can be easily selected via the up-/down-buttons of the emulator, and the LED display shows which disc is currently loaded. If you want to use up to 100 floppy disks per pen drive, the USB pen must be formatted specifically. The formatting can be done with the "USB Floppy Format Tool". If only one floppy disk per USB pen should be used, no software is required.

Now the new "USB Floppy Format Tool for the Floppy Emulator V2" is also suitable for the following operating systems:

• Windows 7, 32-/64-Bit
• Windows Vista, 32-/64-Bit
• Windows Server 2008, 32-/64-Bit
• Windows Server 2003, 32-/64-Bit

The "USB Floppy Format Tool" in Version 1.31t is now available for download at the support area and on the product page. A revised manual is included in the package.

More information about the ipcas Floppy-Emulation solutions >>

Guest Post from a satisfied customer of Southern Germany:
(Translated, original post in german language >>)

Floppy Disk Drive retrofitting: USB Floppy Emulator for KETRON SD 5 In older keyboards – e.g. in my KETRON SD 5, the input device is a floppy drive und the internal RAM memory is supplied with information by a floppy disk. I would never replace my KETRON SD 5 with a modern keyboard however; the reason is the good quality.

With the IPCAS USB floppy emulator for USB pen drives, the known disadvantages …

• Sensitive to mechanical wear and tear
• Problems with dust, oil and other adverse environmental conditions
• Malfunction due to permanent mechanical load
• Low memory capacity

… of conventional floppy disks, which anyway are hardly to buy, can be totally attributed to the past.

Most salient features:

• The old floppy disk drive is replaced 1:1. The connections are identical, so no further changes have to be made.
• The USB Stick at the USB Floppy Emulator replaces the old diskette entirely. USB memory components have long life spans and high capacities.
• The new USB floppy drives and USB memory components are practically immune to impacts from magnetic fields, dust or shock.
• The contents on 100 floppies can easily be placed on one single USB Stick. That saves a lot of time and costs!

To replace the equipment I’m proceeds as follows:

1. Opening the keyboard (screws located on the bottom)
2. Slide back the panel of the keyboard
3. Removal of the floppy disk drive (FDD)
4. Detach of the data cable from the floppy drive controller
5. Inserting a floppy controller computer cable to the floppy connector
6. Connect this cable and the power supply cable (4-pin.) to the emulator.

Now the keyboard will switch on and the floppy drive (with inserted USB flash drive) are energize and the keyboard reports: not formatted.
After that, the format command must be executed according to the display information.
Then the emulator should set to 01 (with the Up button). The UP switching and formatting and will resist until 99.

If the formatting performs, you play the songs on the respective place (00-99), then – start playing – as usual.
When the formatting is completed, copy the songs on the respective place (00-99). Afterwards, as usual, start the playback.

More information on the ipcas UBS Floppy Emulator solutions >>

Comparison of the ipcas floppy emulator with 3.5 inch and 5 1/4 inch floppy drives.

Demonstration of the Floppy Emulator: A USB Pen Drive in use as floppy disk or up to 100 floppy disks in one USB Pen Drive.

Where’s the replacement?

On Saturday (April 24) the Japanese Newspaper Mainichi Daily News reported that Sony would stop its production of 3.5 inch diskettes (Floppy Disks) by the end of its current business year in March, 2011. The report spread like a wildfire in the media and particularly throughout the web. (Refer to reports in the portals of cnet and BBC.)

Sony released its first 3.5″ floppy disk in 1981 (in those days with only 720 KB memory space). The gradual decline of the 30-year old data carrier had already begun several years ago. The respective disk drives have practically disappeared from current PCs.

But what is going to happen to all the old machines, systems, measurement devices, electronic musical instruments and similar devices? This haunting question is recently being heatedly discussed in a lot of forums and blogs.

Diskettes are still being used as the main removable memory carriers, especially in the industrial production sectors, but also in many smaller facilities such as robot controls and lab instruments. In many cases this is not even due to aging machines, but actually because manufacturers want to keep their systems supplied with the proven, stable, and compatible disk drives.

We are offering a most practical and cost-effective way out of this dilemma – the ipcas Floppy Emulator! It provides you with a brilliant alternative if you want to keep your old systems up to date.

All you have to do is replace the legacy disk drive in your system with the ipcas Floppy Emulator and you can then simply use an USB pen drive to replace your old floppies.

What experiences have you made in recent years with floppies and old disk drives? Just tell us where you are still using floppies or cannot do without the old floppy disk drives. Please consult us – no strings attached. We’ll be sure to find the best solution to suit your individual requirements.

No more floppy disks!

Many machines and devices are still using floppy disk drives as the only means of data input.
CNC, milling, injection mold, or embroidery machines, laser cutting devices and integrated control systems, just to mention a few,
are still being fed data with floppy disks several times a day.

Swap your legacy floppy diskette drive for the new USB floppy emulator!
From now on use reliable USB pen drives instead of vulnerable diskettes!

Good news for you:
You won’t ever need floppies anymore and yet you’ll be able to secure a guaranteed long-term future for your machines and systems.

Photos: Taken at the Embedded World 2010

Further information on the Floppy Emulator product page.
Or please contact us.