I'm surprised at you guys. So much expertise, why not just plug one in
and TRY it?
Both of you have significantly more hardware expertise than I.
But from a software perspective:
A 1.2M drive is interchangeabvle with an 8". Minor glitches, such as 80
tracks instead of 77, variant modes (360K), etc. Can a 1.2M do 8"SSSD?
(need a controller properly set up for SD, such as Flagstaff, v IBM's;
both for FM, and for correct data transfer rate.)
(note: doing 360K in a 1.2M is a completely different issue)
A 720K 5.25" (such as the Tandom TM100-4 -- what was oft called "quad
density") is the same as a 360K 5.25", except with 80 tracks instead of 40
(96TPI v 48TPI)
A 720K 3.5" is interchangeable with a 720K 5.25". Can the 720K 5.25"
drive handle single density? Can the 720K 3.5"?
But then there are the INTERESTING ones:
The Sony 600RPM 3.5": same resulting diskettes, but using that drive
requires twice the data transfer rate.
360K in a 1.2M: Because the 1.2M, like the 8", is at 360RPM, doing 360K
requires EITHER changing spindle speed, or a 300K data transfer rate.
Weltec 1.2 XT: To handle 1.2M diskettes in PC/XT, which only supported a
250K data transfer rate, Weltec made a 1.2M drive that ran at 150 RPM!
(there are a few other unique ones)
--
Fred Cisin cisin_at_xenosoft.com
XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com
2210 Sixth St. (510) 644-9366
Berkeley, CA 94710-2219
Received on Wed Jul 28 1999 - 16:29:00 BST