Using IBM floppy-drive cable with Kaypro?

From: D. Peschel <dpeschel_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Sun Jul 26 20:31:21 1998

I've been tinkering with my Kaypro to try to eliminate the errors that drive B
has been giving me. Putting in a new floppy drive didn't seem to fix them;
I wonder if it's the cable? (As is, the Kaypro supports two drives (SA400 or
equivalent). The original owner bought a little hardware thingie that does
something to the drive-select signals to add support for four drives; he also
added a connector to the cable for drive C between A's and B's connectors.
I currently have no drive C, and only drive B is giving me problems -- that's
why I suspect the cable.)

So I bought a new cable. It has that stupid half-twist, so I'm wondering how
to coax my system into working with the new cable. I think I understand the
situation from the point of view of the drives (both drives are jumpered as
#1, and some pins are exchanged: 10 <-> 16, 11 <-> 15, 12 <-> 14).
But doesn't the computer have to cooperate in this farce? That is, would I
have to reprogram my BIOS to mess things up in the same way as the IBM PC's
hardware, so that the drive cable can do its part and thus it all ends up
(sort of) working?

It's worth trying the new cable (though it seems rather cheap, and there's a
break in the insulation, though that could be because I dropped it on a
concrete floor at the store). But if it's too much trouble, I'll skip it.

Incidentally: God damn IBM for cutting corners this way, and making people
think shenanigans like this are totally normal and to be expected, and messing
with a perfectly reasonable interface.

-- Derek
Received on Sun Jul 26 1998 - 20:31:21 BST