SOL floppy subsystem options

From: Robert Stek <r.stek_at_snet.net>
Date: Thu Sep 7 20:06:58 2000

NorthStar sub-systems were by far the most popular 5.25" systems for the
Sol. Second would have been Micropolis, then perhaps Vista, and other
lesser known makes. The 10 hole hard sectored disks were not that difficult
to get (you can still buy them at California Digital - www.cadigital.com I
think). NorthStar was one of the first, if not THE first on the market with
a 5.25" system, and at $699 list with controller, they were $300 cheaper
than an 8" drive. A LOT of IMSAI owners also went with N*'s. For 8" drives
the Tarbell controller was popular, but the Morrow Disk Jockey (I and II)
was probably the most common. There were many 8" drive controllers - CCS,
SSM, Godbout, etc. - for CP/M. ProcTech's Helios had a two board set for
their Pertec 8" drives in an impressive enclosure, and they did use the 32
hole hard sectored 8" disks. Their PTDOS was more than adequate and
comparable to CP/M, but the Helios was very expensive, the drives were
finicky, and CP/M became the universal standard. Someone eventually did
adapt CP/M to run on the Helios, but by that time PT had disappeared.

And yes, N* DOS has four entry points - Character-IN, C-OUT, cont-C, and
Terminal-INIT - which must be patched to corresponding SOLOS routines in
ROM. If you are really stuck, email off list for some helpful info.

Bob Stek
Saver of Lost Sols
Received on Thu Sep 07 2000 - 20:06:58 BST