All-In-One Interface For All Your Retro/Legacy Drives

From: Zane H. Healy <healyzh_at_aracnet.com>
Date: Mon Oct 28 21:44:01 2002

> Gratuitously ripped from Slashdot:
>
> An anonymous reader writes "Individual computers have announced a new
> version of they're multi-format floppy controller the Cat Weasel. This
> new version (Catweasel MK3 PCI/Flipper) has a few surprises such as 3
> different interfaces to connect it to the host computer and a socket for
> an original C64 SID chip :). 'The main purpose of the Catweasel has
> always been to allow access to non-standard disks using normal PC-disk
> drives, even if you usually need a completely different computer for
> that. The capacity of the drive does not matter in this case: A 5.25
> inch drive with 1.2MByte capacity will read and write a C-64 disk with
> 170KByte as well as a 3.5 inch drive with 1.44MByte can access a
> 1,76MByte Amiga disk. Together with a company that has specialized in
> data recovery, we're working on the implementation of more than 1100
> different disk formats, and it does not matter that this has been
> classified impossible by others before. Even the 800KByte disks from
> older Macintosh computers can be used in standard 1.44MB drives,
> although the original drives have rotated their disks at variable
> speeds.' Find out more at the Catweasel MK3 PCI/Flipper page."

Warning, before considering a purchase of this device, the question to ask
is, what *SOFTWARE* exists to make use of it? I purchased a Catweasel Mk2
for the Amiga a few years ago, thinking that among other things I'd be able
to read Apple ][ floppies (it was advertised as being able to). One slight
problem, no software existed to actually read most of the types of floppies
that they claimed it could read. In the end, I think all I was able to get
it to read was Amiga (well, duh, it's in an Amiga), PC, Mac, and C-64. In
fact the *ONLY* thing I really gained what the ability to read C-64
floppies!

Still as ticked off as I still am over the Amiga version of the Catweasel
Mk2, I might actually consider buying the Mk3. Though in this case it would
be to read Amiga floppies.

                                Zane
Received on Mon Oct 28 2002 - 21:44:01 GMT