Preserving a floppy disk with a logic analyzer and a serial cable

CHZ-Soft details a method to preserve floppy disks using a logic analyzer and a serial cable. The author, involved in retro computers, opts to use existing hardware like the Saleae Logic 8 logic analyzer instead of dedicated preservation devices. The article explains the low-level interface of floppy drives, emphasizing the need for encoding schemes due to differences between systems. By connecting the logic analyzer to the drive and a USB serial cable for head movement, the author captures and automates the imaging process using Python scripts. Data is exported in the Supercard Pro (.scp) format for preservation. A test run successfully captures a disk, demonstrating the effectiveness of the setup. The author also highlights the ability to analyze drive characteristics from the captured data. Suggestions for improvement include optimizing the process speed and accommodating defective disks by saving multiple revolutions per track. The article concludes with a link to the author's Python script for reference.