Big files in an old haas

I have a 1996 haas vf2 on its way.
I think its a floppy drive, so whats the options of getting a 5mb iso code through it?
Dose haas have to fit an ethernet, or can I flatten out a usb stick with a mallet and squeeze it in?

USB was created in Jan 1996 (wikipedia), so you most likely don't have it, unless retrofitted.

I don't think a hammer will help

1.44 meg is a dual sided mini floppy.

Ethernet is a strong possibility.

Your machine will surely have a floppy drive and no USB. USB was not installed until recently.

You will also have an RS-232 port on the rear cabinet that can be hooked to a computer. You can load larger programs through that.

You can also use the RS-232 cable to drip feed or run the Haas directly from the computer itself. I have done that many times for programs on molds and such that were way too big for the machines memory. You just have to go into the settings and enable DNC. (Direct Numeric Control)

If you check eBay, you will also find USB conversion kits of sort. They are about the size of the floppy drive and you plug the floppy cable into it and then you can up load and down load programs with your USB thumb drive. I actually have one of these units, but have never installed it yet.

Have fun with your new machine!

Cheers---Mike

Interesting technical info on the floppy drive emulators:

USB Floppy Disk Drive Converter/Emulator Technical Details and Instructions

I bought one of these on ebay and it doesn't work. Didn't include instructions or software. Does anyone have experience with the usb floppy emulators?

Any tips would be appreciated...

Thanks,
Jason

Real long programs I'd tranfer with a RS-232 cable.

You could also break program into Sub-programs and load as needed. Edit into one program with local subs or keep them seperate and call...

Unless your machine came thru with extended memory...you may have another problem as I think the standard memory package was 1mb. At least in '95 I think it was.

Drip feeding is another choice...

JHarrelson said:

I bought one of these on ebay and it doesn't work. Didn't include instructions or software. Does anyone have experience with the usb floppy emulators?

Any tips would be appreciated...

Thanks,
Jason

Click to expand...

I'll see if I can dig up my instructions for you. Like I said, I never even tried to use mine. I do remember that you can't use a thumb drive larger than 2mb and it must be formatted in a FAT file system.

I'll get back to you.

Mike

Found the instruction sheet. Thumb drive must be 2gb or smaller and must be FAT16 formatted. Not sure what the jumper page is all about, as I said, I never tried it.

Mike

Most machines of that era only come with 256k of memory. I have successfully upgraded them to 1 meg and looking at going further. I can confirm that the the usb to floppy adapters for on Ebay do work but are still limited to the 1.4 meg file size of a floppy. RS-232 is about the only option to go bigger than that. Problem with RS-232 is speed. Be sure to clean out your programs when DNC ing files as the program memory will act as a buffer. This will help if the blocks exceed the serial speed.

If your interested in boosting the memory I do offer a service to do so. PM me for details.

Another solution is a professional floppy emulator,
different from mass production chinese devices.

Take a look at the EMUFDD emualtor

You'll be able to ask for info and full assistance.