Random Cool Video: The Imperial March Played on Floppy Disk Drives

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Anyone old enough to remember how floppy disk drives had some very characteristic sounds will instant appreciate this video – the Imperial March from Star Wars played on two floppy disks.

According to Silent’s official site:

How does it work?

It’s nothing new and it’s very simple. The sound comes from a magnetic head moved by stepper motor. To make a specific sound, head must be moved with appropriate frequency.

FDD has a simple interface – the description may be found for example [ HERE ]. To move the head you need to activate the drive by pulling the DRVSB0 or 1 (depends on the cable you have and the connector – notice the crossover on the FDD ribbon cable) pin low and then falling edge on STEP pin makes the head move one step in direction dependent on DIR pin state.

An ATMega microcontroller is generating those frequencies and it makes the drives play music.

Here is the video!

Source: Buzzfeed

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

4 Comments on "Random Cool Video: The Imperial March Played on Floppy Disk Drives"

  1. I’m embarrassed to say I have a 5.25″ drive at home…along with my C64, C128D…and other assorted relics.

  2. That is so cool!  I love it since my default ringtone is the Imperial March.

  3. That’s just awesome!

    Although I shudder to think of how much time was spent creating that…

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