Nalbantov

Backing Up Yamaha Disklavier Floppy Disks with a Greaseweazle

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This is an article about backing up your Disklavier Floppy Disks using a specific tool called a Greaseweazle. If you do not have a Greaseweazle, and want a straightforward and less technical solution, please see the article on backing up your Yamaha floppy disks using simply an external floppy disk drive and downloadable tools.

I started using the Greaseweazle regularly to image hard-to-read disks last year, and I highly recommend it! I periodically encounter Disklavier floppy disks that will play acceptably in the piano, but which cannot be backed up on a computer. Player Piano Floppy Backup Utility (PPFBU) and other tools that are usually effective with Yamaha disks can’t see the files on the disk, and so my typical floppy disk backup routine doesn’t work.

Enter the Greaseweazle (see the Greaseweazle GitHub page). This is an inexpensive device that serves as a sort of translator between a conventional floppy disk drive, and your computer. It allows you to, essentially, “scan” the disk, bypassing whatever obstacles are causing your disk to be unreadable. You’re making a copy of the disk based on magnetic flux, rather than attempting to actually read it. With this copy, called an image, you can produce other copies of the disk in the future. Or you can drop the image right onto your Nalbantov!

If you’d like to purchase one, the Greaseweazle v4.1 is available on Tindie (from Emmy Bear’s Retro and 3D Printing). If you’re using Windows, see also the FluxMyFluffyFloppy tool. This is a graphical user interface that makes the Greaseweazle much more easily approachable to the novice.

Using a Greaseweazle to Scan the Old Disk

First, you’ll need an image of the original disk.

There are many ways to do this, but using the Greaseweazle tools on GitHub, you can produce HFE image files, which are relatively small bit-level scans. These are the same files used on the Nalbantov and FlashFloppy.

Note: I needed to add the ––drive=1 switch, as I was using a straight floppy disk cable without a twist. If you’re using a twisted floppy disk cable, you might need a different switch. See the Greaseweazle documentation for details.

Note also: Nearly all early Disklavier floppy disks are 720 KB 2DD disks. You can determine which you have by checking to see whether there are two holes. 2DD disks have just one. See below. If you have a 2DD disk, adding the ––format=ibm.720 switch is appropriate. If, on the other hand, you have a newer 2HD disk (typically used in the Mark III or later), you’ll need to use ––format=ibm.1440 instead.

2HD disks have openings at both corners, but 2DD disks do not. You’ll usually find the write-protect slider in one corner, but other will be blank.

Instruction: gw read ––drive=1 ––format=ibm.720 [DISKNAME].hfe

Executing the command gw read ––drive=1 ––format=ibm.720 OAC-1062-Chick_Corea_Classics.hfe on my computer.

Drop the HFE file on your Nalbantov or FlashFloppy

Yes! You can simply drop the HFE image file on your Nalbantov USB stick! Disk Browser and other HxC tools probably won’t be able to open the HFE file like they can other disks, as Yamaha’s copy protection will still be fully in-tact.

If you’re using the Nalbantov slim or a Gotek with FlashFloppy and a numerical display, be sure to name to file using the naming convention already present on the disk. For instance, if you want your newly scanned disk to be disk 003, name the file DSKA0003.HFE before copying it onto your Nalbantov. (Adjust this guidance as appropriate.)

However, your Yamaha Disklavier will be able to read it. And this technique works very well even with disks that have enough corruption that PPFBU can’t read them. This is my go-to strategy for hard-to-read disks.

Using the Greaseweazle to Write the New Disk

Write the disk image with the following instruction:

Instruction: gw write ––drive=1 ––format=ibm.720 [FILENAME].hfe

Executing the command gw write ––drive=1 ––format=ibm.720 OAC-1062-Chick_Corea_Classics.hfe on my computer.

Always test your duplicates! Even if you’re just storing your disks so that you have a collection of images for the future, write the image to a disk temporarily and check it by playing it in your piano.

In the case of the example above, the computer was, in fact, able to read the original disk, and so I verified it could read the new one with PPFBU:

Checking the disk!

Considering a KryoFlux®?

If you’re considering a KryoFlux® for reading your old floppy disks, please consider the Greaseweazle! The Greaseweazle is open-source, dramatically cheaper, and well-documented. It also doesn’t have any usage restrictions.

I attempted to order a KryoFlux® initially, and ended up enduring a probing background check from the managing director, who evidently has nothing better to do with his time than conduct investigations on potential clients. After a few emails, I eventually gave up and told him I was just going to order a Greaseweazle, and to cancel the order. He then responded and criticized the Greaseweazle. Although he didn’t hold back on his feelings, he did conserve his capital letters and his grammar.

The product offers no advantages at all for our purpose, and despite their deep savings on customer service, it’s dramatically more expensive. This turned out to have been a blessing, as after practicing with it for a year, I would have had to upgrade to an even more expensive professional model.

But thankfully, we have an alternative.

Best USB Sticks for Nalbantov

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Over the years of installing USB emulators in Disklaviers, I’ve become increasingly choosy about my USB sticks for Nalbantovs.

My current recommendation is the Kingston 64GB DataTraveler. These are all-metal USB sticks that dissipate heat very nicely, and are durable in the event of an impact. I’ve found them to be both durable and reliable. The 64 GB size is recommended by Nalbantov, as speed with USB sticks correlates with their size, and smaller disks are more likely to cause hiccups with slower speeds.

My previous recommendation:  Previously, I recommended the SanDisk Ultra Fit 64 GB. As a smaller USB stick, it was less likely that people would bump into it. I would tie on some Atwood Micro Cord, and tie off the end in a Lanyard (Diamond) Knot. However, I’ve had multiple instances of these drives suddenly corrupting. I’m not sure why this is, but have now moved on from using them. I have many customers who still use them and like them, but can no longer recommend them.

Below, you can see a USB stick the was struck laterally by a pianist. The solder joint snapped right off! That is an in convenience easily avoided by a good quality, low profile USB stick.

Formatting your USB Sticks

When you’re attempting to format 64 GB USB sticks for Nalbantovs, you might run into some trouble on modern versions of Windows. These USB sticks must be formatted FAT32 (not exFAT or NTFS), or else the Nalbantov won’t recognize them. Although these USB sticks come formatted FAT32, you might need to format it if you run into any trouble in the future. In that case, I use the tool fat32format to format these sticks, which is a freeware application. If you’re on Mac or Linux, you should not need any additional software to format them.

A snapped solder joint on an inexpensive USB stick.