On Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:37:24 -0700 "Richard Erlacher" <edick_at_idcomm.com>
writes:
> >MFM disk controller was made by NCR, but it looks like a 'cookbook'
> >design using the WD-100x chipset.
> >
>
> SMILE when you say that, pahdnuh! That cookbook design is what made
> the microwinchester drive so simple to include that anyone with two
grey
> cells and a little PLL knowledge could put together a winchester
> interface. That's why they became so cheap. It was the only way to do
your own
> controller at a competitive price for several years, until SMC brought
out
> their 9224 chip. Unfortunately, by that time the patent on RLL
recording
> had expired, so everybody wanted RLL.
Well, I merely wanted to state that while NCR 'rolled their own',
it really wasn't anything special. The wd-100x chipset certainly
was revolutionary, however. That meant almost anyone with a wire-wrap
tool and enough parts could interface a winchester to just about
anything (like say, a Xerox machine?). That was a major breakthrough
in 1981, but by 1984 (when my machine was built), it was pretty standard.
Who held the patent on RLL, and (consequently) lost their shirt
when it became standard on 'smart' disk drives?
Jeff
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Received on Wed Dec 08 1999 - 11:27:36 GMT