At 02:07 PM 1/16/05 -0500, you wrote:
>On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 07:47:15 -0800 (PST)
>Vintage Computer Festival <vcf_at_siconic.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> I know we've discussed this before but the right Google search terms
>> are eluding me.
>>
>> Is it possible to get 4 floppy drives onto a PC? If so, how? If I
>> stick two controllers in the PC and configure one with a different
>> base address and interrupt (assuming I can find a card that allows me
>> to do this) will DOS automatically recognize the second controller and
>> extend the drive letters C: and D: to the drives on that card?
>>
>> --
>The original IBM-PC's floppy controller made provisions for four floppy
>drives. There are control lines to select up to four drives on the
>single interface. They put a 37-pin D-shape connector on the bracket of
>early IBM floppy controller cards so you could plug in an expansion case
>with two external floppy drives.
I used to run four (5.25") drives with no problems. My NEC Multispeed
laptop also had a provision to connect it to a PC's external drive
connector and you could then access the Multispeed's two 720k 3.5" disks as
the 3rd and 4th drive on the PC. I made a cable to connect the Multispeed
to the PC but I loaned it and all my NEC Multispeed manuals to one of the
members of this list and he never returned them. In both cases, I had to
add a line or two in the Config.sys file to make DOS recognize the 3rd and
4th drives.
Joe
>
>I only did this once, as an experiment, to see if I could run my old
>WWIV BBS on floppy-drives only, to reduce the noise of the machine. (It
>worked, but was much slower.)
>
>I'm pretty sure the 'fix' isn't to plug in an old IBM controller,
>though, unless you're already talking about a vintage restoration
>project. But the third and fourth select lines should be available on
>some controllers.
>
>>
>> Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
>> Festival-------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------------- International Man of Intrigue and Danger
>> http://www.vintage.org
>>
>> [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage
>> Computers ][ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at
>> http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
>>
>
Received on Sun Jan 16 2005 - 19:01:12 GMT