Replacement of Amiga internal FDD with PC FDD

Almost all of the Amiga computers that came to us had problems with the internal FDD. Their malfunction is manifested in the inability to read the inserted disk. The drive perceives the disk, tries to read it, but always returns to the boot screen.
We tried to fix these before, but we gave up because a lot of drives died again in a short time with other problems. That’s why we recommend GOTEK to everyone.

In a small percentage of the cases, the disk cannot be read because of the dirt on the head. This can be easily cleared up by cleaning the head with alcohol. But as we wrote, the chances of that are very small.

Of course, you can buy disassembled internal Amiga FDDs that are said to work, but we have to say it makes no sense. Before this, we set aside the internal Amiga FDDs that customers exchanged for GOTEK. Then half a year later, when we took them out, only two out of ten were working.

If we hold onto internal FDD because you have lots of disks or want to remember the old times with the disks, there is a way to convert some PC floppy drive. Amiga floppy drives differ in both speed and capacity (Amiga 880KB, while PC is 720KB), and voltage (Amiga only works with +5V DC, while most PC drives work not only with +5V DC but also with +12V DC) from PC drives. There are drives that just need to be jumpered, but there are some that need cross-connection.
With the current workload of Commodore Service, we cannot undertake the conversion of PC floppy drives.

If you can get a converted PC floppy drive, you still need to pay attention to an important factor, which is the location of the release button. Since the position of the Amiga FDDs release button is not the same as on PC drives. The design of the 3D printer can be found for almost every type that can be converted. This makes it easy to make.
We are completely aloof from solutions when the Amiga housing is carved for the PC drive release button.

Here is a list of PC 3,5” floppy drives that can be made compatible with Amigas: Amiga Floppy Drive compatibility list

You can read about internal GOTEK in the internal GOTEK section.