# FB100 Emulator Utility/Brother FB100 Floppy drive



## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

Hi
I'm sure many of you have the Brother FB100 and floppies with patterns on them. Has anyone been successful in viewing the contents of the disks on their pc (other than using a PPD and linking to copy one pattern at a time etc.)?

Has anyone used the free FB100 emulator software (available from http://www.knitandsew.demon.nl/dk/fb100emu-en.htm) to link your Brother FB100 floppy disk drive to your PC?

As far as I can tell, the emulator needs a Brotherlink7 cable (available here http://home.comcast.net/~kidoodles/bl7usb.html) to link the drive to the pc. This would appear to be the only way of viewing the contents of the disks, or has anyone got a better/alternative method?....

I hope someone can help me, I don't want to buy a cable unneccessarily (they aren't cheap).

Thanks in advance for any replies.


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

The link that you have put on didn't open for me. Here is another link..........
http://www.knitandsew.demon.nl/dk/fb100emu-en.htm

I have looked at this before but never got any further than just looking. I was given an emulator (different type) when I bought a machine, a FB100, and a pile of discs. Although I use the FB100 and a PPD this emulator as only been looked at also.  :lol: :lol:


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## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

susieknitter said:


> The link that you have put on didn't open for me. Here is another link..........
> http://www.knitandsew.demon.nl/dk/fb100emu-en.htm
> 
> I have looked at this before but never got any further than just looking. I was given an emulator (different type) when I bought a machine, a FB100, and a pile of discs. Although I use the FB100 and a PPD this emulator as only been looked at also.  :lol: :lol:


Hi Susieknitter
Thanks for the reply - I didn't check that link, I don't know what happened when I cut and pasted it but thanks for putting the right link. If I get any further solving this, I will post. I have contacted the supplier of the Brotherlink7 cable and might buy one.

Although it is not cheap, I have alot of disks that would take forever to view via the PPD and I would still need to rely on the FB100 longterm. If I can link the FB100 directly to my PC I can copy the files to the hard drive or removeable storage for later use.

I know I would still need to view them one by one but if/when the FB100 'gives p the ghost' I won't be left with useless disks.


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## KarlaHW (Jan 6, 2012)

Unfortunately you have not got many replies, only by Sue.
I downloaded the utility and emulator, tried to use the cable I have for img2track, but it is the wrong cable.
In img2track I can upload a pattern to the knitting machine, only one at a time. I can see the pattern that it generated on the computer, but I would then like to make small changes, which it does not let me.
I too have lots of floppies.


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## MKEtc.com (Aug 14, 2013)

I have not used the emulator however we did get the required BL7 cable to connect the floppy to the PC. It creates an image file of the Brother floppy disk on your PC. This would be the file you would read with the emulator. Works great. We just import the image file into DAK so I haven't tried the emulator program but I would assume it would work fine. See 2nd Q/A under table on site

http://pages.citebite.com/o3p8j1p4b6pbe

Q:	How do I convert FB100 floppies to FB100 Emulator files?
A:	Use BL7USB + FB100 Utility and an FB100 to read the floppies and store the contents on your computer.


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## KarlaHW (Jan 6, 2012)

MKEtc.com said:


> I have not used the emulator however we did get the required BL7 cable to connect the floppy to the PC. It creates an image file of the Brother floppy disk on your PC. This would be the file you would read with the emulator. Works great. We just import the image file into DAK so I haven't tried the emulator program but I would assume it would work fine. See 2nd Q/A under table on site
> 
> http://pages.citebite.com/o3p8j1p4b6pbe
> 
> ...


Thanks. Now I need to find a cheap source for the cable or a description how to make one.
Would I use the same Brotherlink 7 cable to connect to knitting machine or would this be the Brotherlink 1? I do not have DAK, or only an old version on a very ancient computer.


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## MKEtc.com (Aug 14, 2013)

You use the BL 7 Cable, FB100 floppy drive and FB100 utility to create image files on PC

Then I believe you use BL 1 or 5 cable and FB100 emulator to read disk from KM just like you load the files from FB100 but haven't actually done that.


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## KarlaHW (Jan 6, 2012)

MKEtc.com said:


> You use the BL 7 Cable, FB100 floppy drive and FB100 utility to create image files on PC
> 
> Then I believe you use BL 1 or 5 cable and FB100 emulator to read disk from KM just like you load the files from FB100 but haven't actually done that.


Yes, that is the way I understand it too. Meaning I have to buy two expensive cables. The img2track cable, that has a description how to make it and comes much cheaper in parts, does not work for it.


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## alejandro (Oct 16, 2014)

know who can help me with a manual for a knitting machine type m Dubied


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## KarlaHW (Jan 6, 2012)

alejandro said:


> know who can help me with a manual for a knitting machine type m Dubied


http://sewingonline.co.uk/library/Dubied-machine.html


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## alejandro (Oct 16, 2014)

friend did not know if anyone has free because I'm from chile and I have no international purchasing cards


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## Maryknits513 (Feb 12, 2011)

I bought the cable 5 years ago. Using the emulator, I was able to convert most of my disks. The only disks that didn't convert were damaged. 

It wasn't hard to do, and much faster than downloading to the knitting machine, switching to the DAK cable, uploading, switching back to the disk drive cable, etc. especially when converting 930 disks that had 40 tracks.


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## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

Maryknits513 said:


> I bought the cable 5 years ago. Using the emulator, I was able to convert most of my disks. The only disks that didn't convert were damaged.
> 
> It wasn't hard to do, and much faster than downloading to the knitting machine, switching to the DAK cable, uploading, switching back to the disk drive cable, etc. especially when converting 930 disks that had 40 tracks.


Thanks for the replies - I will probably buy a Brother 7 cable and give it a try. I will report back if I do.


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