Adafruit has previewed Floppsy Rev D, an RP2350-based floppy disk archiver and emulator designed to preserve and access legacy computer storage media. The standalone device supports floppy drives used with PCs and Apple Disk II systems, offering disk imaging, flux-level data capture, and emulation capabilities alongside a touchscreen interface and removable storage.

The board uses Raspberry Pi’s RP2350 microcontroller, which provides dual-core processing, 520KB of on-chip SRAM, and programmable I/O resources for handling floppy drive signals. An additional 8MB of PSRAM provides temporary storage for magnetic flux transition data during disk reading, writing, and emulation operations.

RP2350 block diagram

Floppsy accommodates conventional PC floppy drives through what appears to be a 34-pin interface, although Adafruit’s specifications list a 24-pin connector. A separate Apple Disk II connection provides motor control signals and positive and negative 12V supply rails. Additional sensor inputs support custom index detection hardware for Apple floppy drives, which can assist with capturing timing information from disks that lack conventional index signals.

For local storage, the board includes a microSD card slot connected through a 4-bit SDIO interface, allowing disk images and raw flux captures to be saved directly to removable media. A USB host port also supports external USB storage devices, while Adafruit lists potential connectivity with other USB peripherals, including cameras and Ethernet adapters.

Floppsy board and floppy drive connectors

A 2.8-inch touchscreen with 320 × 240 resolution provides an integrated user interface for operating the device without a separate computer. The board also includes a five-way navigation switch and a hardware write-protect switch designed to prevent the generation of floppy drive write-gate signals, helping protect original media during archival operations.

Floppsy front panel

Power can be supplied through USB Type-C with USB Power Delivery support for 12V input, or through a separate 2.1mm DC barrel jack. Onboard power regulation generates 5V, 3.3V, and -12V rails for the controller and connected floppy hardware. The device measures 95 × 89 × 23.5mm and incorporates mounting points and a floppy disk-inspired design.

Floppsy main board rear view

Floppsy builds on Adafruit’s open-source floppy disk preservation project, which dates back to 2021. The company’s Adafruit Floppy software provides tools for interfacing with floppy drives, including flux-level access, disk imaging, and support for legacy formats.

Adafruit Floppsy

An earlier Floppsy Rev B design was demonstrated in October 2024 with Apple Disk II support and floppy drive emulation capabilities. The latest RP2350-based revision expands on this work with integrated storage, touchscreen controls, and additional memory for handling flux data.

Further Information

The Adafruit Floppsy is listed as coming soon, with pricing and a release date yet to be announced. Additional development information is available through the Adafruit Floppy GitHub repository.