LisaList2

Okay, things are updated to fix the Twiggy MT/PWM bug, so anyone with Twiggy drives should be able to update their boards and have both the upper and lower drives work (or at least attempt to work).

Quote from: sigma7 on August 21, 2026, 05:09:50 PMIt looks like reading is working, but not writing. As writing could be a problem with my drive, someone else should confirm.

That's really strange. Can someone else test and confirm with their Twiggy drives so we can confirm that this isn't just an isolated issue with @sigma7's Twiggies?

Quote from: sigma7 on Yesterday at 03:15:37 AMHowever, using a real Sony SS 400k drive OA-D34V (actually original to my Lisa 2), there are numerous misbehaviours, ranging from often not recognizing a disk is in place, not making any progress formatting when it finally does, not being able to read, thinking it has ejected when it hasn't. I tested the drive In a Real Lisa (IRL) and it is fine, failing with the LisaFPGA before and after the successful test IRL.

I just tested with one of my 400K drives (also pulled straight out of a Lisa) and things work just fine. I can read, write, and format without issue. I do recall having some issues similar to yours when using a particular cable. When I use the cable that came with my Floppy Emu (I use it a lot because it's really long), things work fine, but I believe that when I used the cable that went between an 800K drive and the Lite Adapter on one of my Lisas, I had symptoms that were really similar to yours. I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between the two cables, but there's a note on top of that 800K drive that says "this drive MUST be used with the cable that was included with the drive", so clearly there is some kind of difference. Perhaps try a different cable?

Quote from: patrick on Yesterday at 04:37:54 AMIIRC the old 400k OA-D34V required a PWM signal on pin 20 to set the motor speed. The later slimline drives ignored pin 20 and derived the motor speed internally from the head position.

I'm already generating the PWM signal, and things work with my real 400K drive, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Here are some of the Twiggy images I made starting in 2012. If anyone is interested how should I post them? Zip archive? As is?
I have more but these were all I copied to my current computer. I'll have to find the others or re-create them from the original disks.

Quote from: slewis1962 on August 21, 2026, 01:08:20 PM

Quote from: ried on August 21, 2026, 12:16:24 PM

Quote from: slewis1962 on August 21, 2026, 12:06:08 PM

Quote from: ried on August 21, 2026, 11:39:04 AMHoly macaroni.    ...
We would love to archive these.

Can the alignment disks be archived? Or are you talking about the other disks?

I mean all of them. You have quite a few disks that have never been archived, at least publicly, and these would go a long way toward preservation of the platform. If we can be of any assistance in archiving these, there are a few folks here who would be more than happy to lend a hand.

I just need to figure out how to set up a serial connection from the FPGA to my desktop computer. Of course I need to test out my Twiggy drives with the board. Did Alex get the changes done to allow both drives to work?

I successfully connected to both the LisaFPGA and the ESProfile today over serial. I tried the other day with a program called CoolTerm but wasn't able to find the boards. Today I used the built in screen command via the terminal which worked. I'll have to do some tinkering to see what all I can do. First I need to connect my Twiggy drives which it sounds like the new firmware will work with both.

Quote from: ried on August 20, 2026, 03:31:18 PM

Quote from: slewis1962 on August 20, 2026, 01:52:35 PMI may even have Cobol. I know I have Basic plus the Workshop. I also bought Fortran on Twiggy plus Xenix on Twiggy. I'll have to look and see if I have Cobol.
Has anyone archived any of those Twiggy disks that you know of?

I archived COBOL 1.0 last year, and it's available here on LisaList2. That is the first time anyone has done so and made it available to the community.

BASIC Plus 1.0 on Twiggy has yet to be archived. If you have that set of disks, we would sure love to archive those. 

According to the Apple Lisa - Software Release List, Fortran '77 was mentioned in a brochure as a potential Apple product but has never been seen publicly. There was, however, an SVS FORTRAN release for UniPlus+ in 1983 (by UniSoft). There may have also been an RM/FORTRAN release for UniPlus+ and XENIX by Ryan-McFarland Corp. I am not aware of any Twiggy disk archives of any of these.

As you can see in my above post I archived RM-Fortran June 23, 2012. If I am remembering correctly I was able to use that Twiggy diskette to test out my Lisa way back in mid 2002 as my OS diskettes bought with my Lisa 1 did not work.
Some of my images were I believe RAW. I looked at one with a Hex Editor and it looks like a BLU header at the top. I'm assuming that should work. I'll have to try on my FPGA board tomorrow sometime.

Quote from: AlexTheCat123 on August 21, 2026, 02:34:05 PM

Quote from: slewis1962 on August 21, 2026, 12:09:07 PMI have two of those

No way, you have TWO Apple /// Twiggy cards? That's actually insane!

Quote from: ried on August 21, 2026, 12:16:24 PMI mean all of them. You have quite a few disks that have never been archived, at least publicly, and these would go a long way toward preservation of the platform. If we can be of any assistance in archiving these, there are a few folks here who would be more than happy to lend a hand.

Agreed, we need to get all of these disks backed up if possible. The Twiggy alignment disks may not be possible if they have data written outside the normal readable area of the disk or if it's not standard GCR-encoded sector data, but they're definitely worth a try. Unless you have Twiggy archival experience, it's probably a good idea to collaborate with someone like @ried, @sigma7, or @stepleton to maximize the chances of recovering the data from all of the disks.

Quote from: slewis1962 on August 21, 2026, 01:08:20 PMDid Alex get the changes done to allow both drives to work?

Sorry, I haven't gotten around to that quite yet! School just started back up and I've been busy. Hopefully I'll get it done today or tomorrow.

I bought the Twiggy Apple /// cards somewhere around 15 or 20 years ago in separate auctions from a former Apple employee.
As you can see from my above post I archived quite a few disks starting in 2012. I think I have more archived but they are not on my current computer. No idea why only these were copied to my Macintosh.

Quote from: slewis1962 on Yesterday at 09:48:20 PMHere are some of the Twiggy images I made starting in 2012. If anyone is interested how should I post them? Zip archive? As is?
I have more but these were all I copied to my current computer. I'll have to find the others or re-create them from the original disks.

I just compressed the folder on my Macintosh. It shows as a 3MB .zip file.

Quote from: slewis1962 on Yesterday at 10:36:13 PMI just compressed the folder on my Macintosh. It shows as a 3MB .zip file.

Super cool, thank you. You're welcome to attach the .zip file to a post here. When you hit "preview" you'll see the option to attach a file below the text editor. Most of the software titles are kept over in the Files section.

In case anyone is interested I recorded a 35 minute video on July 12, 2012 of me showing how to use service mode to format a Twiggy disk sent to me that the OS could not repair or format. Sorry about the length. This is my first video uploaded to YouTube so I apologize in advance if it's cringe. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Great video, thanks for sharing. That's the first time I've watched anyone controlling Twiggies via service mode.

Quote from: ried on Yesterday at 11:25:32 PMGreat video, thanks for sharing. That's the first time I've watched anyone controlling Twiggies via service mode.

I can't believe how much sharper I was back then! Anyway, I was repairing a set of drives for a customer. I can't remember what all I replaced but I did have to adjust the speed POT in order to get it to work. I learned a lot repairing Twiggy drives back then. This set was nearly a decade after the first drives I repaired. My original drives that came with my Lisa 1 only needed cleaning. I got lucky.
Anyone know how to repair a video like that? Or is that not possible. As you can see there was no editing, that was one straight shot. Can't remember what kind of camera that was either.

I was just downstairs visiting my workshop and found a bunch more Twiggy disks. I believe I found another set, although not as complete as the set I posted pictures of previously, of Xenix. I'll try and get pictures and post tomorrow.
I also found several copies of LisaTest including a few owned by an Apple employee. But then again, was it ever released to the public?

Quote from: ried on Yesterday at 10:39:32 PM

Quote from: slewis1962 on Yesterday at 10:36:13 PMI just compressed the folder on my Macintosh. It shows as a 3MB .zip file.

Super cool, thank you. You're welcome to attach the .zip file to a post here. When you hit "preview" you'll see the option to attach a file below the text editor. Most of the software titles are kept over in the Files section.

I want to try out the disk images on my Lisa FPGA before I upload them. I want to verify that the Fortran is in fact bootable. I'll make an SD card tomorrow and try out the new ESFloppy function.

I've connected an upper Twiggy drive to the LisaFPGA, wired as described on GitHub, but flipping the LisaFPGA power switch on with the drive connected does not power on the LisaFPGA. It remains off, with no LED or display activity.

Disconnected the Twiggy drive and flipped the power switch again, nothing.

Disconnecting the Twiggy drive, unplugging the USB-C power cable, then reconnecting the USB-C power cable enables the LisaFPGA to switch on again.

What am I doing wrong here, friends?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAugBzrNTa4

P.S. No damage to the Twiggy drives. They're back in the Lisa operating as normal.
P.P.S. Using the Apple 20W USB-C power brick to power the LisaFPGA. I figured that would be plenty of power.

I've got some good news and some not so good news. First, I made an SD card for ESFloppy on the LisaFPGA board. I discovered that the Twiggy images I had that were not DC42 would not boot even when I added .image to the end. I changed them all to DC42 and most of them booted or were available in LOS 1.0.
Here is what I get when I booted BASIC, I didn't try to install to a profile but I'll do that in a day or two.

It actually boots!
Here is what I get when I boot Fortran.

No Boot file on disk. When I insert the virtual disk in LOS it says it is not a Lisa disk. I'll have to try it in the workshop. I could have swore it booted in 2002. I didn't archive it until 2012 so maybe it lost a few bits.

P.S. I love ESFloppy! Great job once again Alex! Can't wait for the standalone!

In case anyone is interested here is the Twiggy image for RM-Fortran. Does anyone know how the file system works? For example, does anyone know how to tell if it should be bootable? I looked at it with a hex editor and it's not empty but I don't know enough about the file system to know which block(s) determine if it's bootable.