>Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 00:23:07 +0100 (BST)
So, can a standard XT controller be used for 8" drives?
>
>For reading 8" disks, of course. My PC/XT on the desk here has 2 each
of
>360K 5.25" drives, 720K 3.5" drives and 1.1Mbyte 8" drives (double
sided,
>double density, 77 track). Pity the controller I've got has problems
with
>single-density operation. I really must fix that sometime, but it's not
>urgent, as my PERQ has a much nicer floppy system...
For once, I used the correct terminology :) Compared to SCSI, all
IDE controllers and most non-IDE/SCSI MFM drives require very little
configuration. That's what I meant.
>What? ST506 drives (I assume that's what you mean - MFM is an encoding
>system, not a controller interface) have drive select jumpers at least.
>And often other ones.
>
>And the original IBM XT hard disk controller (later version only?) has
a
>set of jumpers to select the drive type. I believe you can solder a DIP
>switch in place of them if you want.
>
So does this mean 1.2MB floppies use a lower bps than 360K disks?
Which controllers were these? I ought to watch out.
>I've seen some controllers that can't correctly handle the 300kbps data
>rate (produced by putting a 360K disk in a 1.2Mbyte drive turning at
>360rpm). Of course the so-called manuals don't mention this anywhere,
but
>it was obvious from a logic analyser on the Write Data pin during
>formatting that it was actually using 250kbps.
>
Where can the connectors be gotten cheaply? I've seen them for a
couple of bucks each. I really ought to perform some maintenance.
Is there anything I need to know, or can I just snap those connectors
on and trim the cable?
>That problem is trivial to solve if you can crimp IDC connectors. Why
do
>people persist in refusing to modify PC parts - even cables?
>
>-tony
>
>
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Received on Fri Jul 24 1998 - 20:02:04 BST