Working 8" Floppy drives??? (from originator)

From: Nick Garnett <nick_at_4realworld.com>
Date: Fri May 9 12:56:00 2003

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Thank you for your replies! From today's digest, they are:

   ?. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Fred Cisin,
          from an earlier digest)
   2. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Ethan Dicks)
   4. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Jochen Kunz)
   7. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Peter Turnbull)
  11. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)
  12. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)

Including all of these messages in my reply would be a
misuse of bandwidth. Please see the original text of the
replies.

? Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Fred Cisin)
   from yesterday's digest?

  Fred asks if we have considered substituting 1.2M 5.25"
  drives. Hmmmm. I didn't know there were such drives.
  I know of DSDD 360K 5.25 drives and 1.44M 3.5 drives,
  even 720K 5.25 drives, but not 1.2M 5.25 drives.
  
  On the general subject of using a substitute drive. I
  have actually been considering if this could be done. I
  have not suggested doing that because I need to find out
  the feasibility. I would hope we could at least get into
  the 1990s with a 1.44M 3.5 in floppy drive.

 2. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Ethan Dicks)
 4. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Jochen Kunz)
 7. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Peter Turnbull)
12. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)

  These replies will probably be helpful to someone with a
  hardware background (which I'm not). They point out the
  complexities of substituting one type of drive
  for another. This level of complexity is about what I
  expected.
  
11. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)

  Your answer is not silly at all. I didn't know whether
  such drives would be very rare or plentiful in the
  "vintage" market. I see now that there are "plenty" of
  them. The obvious questions, once I know what drives are
  compatible, are: Are they actually for aale? How much
  will each cost? What condition are they in? I don't
  think my client is prepared to pay for "priceless
  antiques". He considers these to simply be old hardware
  that he needs to buy.
  
  The client has been repairing the drives for years. They
  are in heavy constant use. I get the impression that
  they are simply getting too fragile to repair.
  
  The client seems to have the impression that 8" floppy
  drives are very hard to find. While I think that
  upgrading the system to be based on, say, 1990 technology
  rather than 1980 technology is a good idea, I am sure
  they can make the existing system work for quite a while
  with an adequate supply of replacement drives.

Regards,
Nick Garnett
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Received on Fri May 09 2003 - 12:56:00 BST