kelliher@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu (Thomas P Kelliher) (12/21/89)
I have a Tandy-1200 with 256K RAM running DOS 2.11. The machine has two full height drives, one a 360K floppy and the other a 10M HD. The HD is a Tandon with a Western Digital Controller. The ROM Bios is Tandon version 2.6, dated 2/4/85. Something in the HD sub-system (SS) seems to have taken a dive (for the second time). The low-level formatter marks every sector as bad. I have been told that this particular HD SS has reliability problems. My questions are as follows: Is it possible to replace the current HD SS with a ST-225 or a Hardcard? Will a ST-225 fit into the drive bay? Would it be worth it to have the current HD SS repaired (for the second time)? The first repair held for about two months. If I can upgrade to another HD, does the ROM Bios or anything else need to be upgraded simultaneously? In advance, thanks for your advice. Tom Kelliher, Penn State, kelliher@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu
STEELE@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu (Greg Steele, OSU/IRCC, (614)292-4843) (01/02/90)
In article <1989Dec20.171245.23555@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu>, kelliher@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu (Thomas P Kelliher) writes: > I have a Tandy-1200 with 256K RAM running DOS 2.11. > ... The ROM Bios is Tandon version 2.6, dated 2/4/85. > ... > My questions are as follows: Is it possible to replace the current HD SS with > a ST-225 or a Hardcard? Will a ST-225 fit into the drive bay? Would it be > worth it to have the current HD SS repaired (for the second time)? The first > repair held for about two months. If I can upgrade to another HD, does the > ROM Bios or anything else need to be upgraded simultaneously? > ... > Tom Kelliher, Penn State, kelliher@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu I am sitting here writing my reply to you on a 1200HD with a Seagate ST-11R controller and two ST-250R 40-megabyte RLL drives. It also has both 3.5 and 5.25 inch floppies, with the 3.5 as drive "A". The bios has not been updated, nor has the motherboard, but it all works! I'm also running PC-dos 3.3 with no trouble. My recommendation is to find the cheapest replacement hard drive & controller that's large enough to suit your purposes, and install it! Any 1/2 or full height 5-inch form factor drive will fit in the drive bay just fine. If the drive is extremely fast, you may have to increase the sector interlace in the low-level formatting to prevent lost revolutions (for instance, the RLL drives I have require 4:1 interlace on the 1200hd). Good luck. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gregory (Greg) E. Steele (Internet):steele@mps.ohio-state.edu Network Engineer or TS0038@ohstvma.ircc.ohio-state.edu The Ohio State University (BITNET): TS0038@OHSTVMA Instruction & Research Computer Center 1971 Neil Avenue - Rm 406 Voice: 614-292-4843 Columbus, OHio 43210-1210 FAX: 614-292-7081