yon@apollo.HP.COM (David Yon) (08/25/89)
Help! I have a friend with an XT clone. He put in a second floppy, which is an 80-track, up-to-15 sectors per track drive. ie, 1.2 meg. He also replaced the floppy controller with one that would handle 360/720K and 1.2M/1.44M drives. He's been having trouble getting the 1.2M drive to work at all. The computer can access the drive, but every operation (directory, format, etc) ends up with one error message or the other. Has anyone out there done this? I have a feeling that DRIVEPARM might help, but he's already tried using a DRIVEPARM statement describing the drive as 1.2M for DOS. Any help appreciated... David Yon
kminor@ms.uky.edu (Kevin R. Minor) (09/05/89)
I too have run into this problem, but with a 1.44 mb drive. I got a controller that tells me that I have a 1.44 mb drive, but whenever I tried to use it in that mode, I'd get errors on BOTH the 1.44 mb drive and the 360 k drive. I ended up using the drive as a 720k drive, with no problems. If anyone has any ideas how to make a regular xt, (not an xt 286) use a 1.44 mb drive, let me know also. Kevin (kminor@ms.uky.edu) -- Not much going on around here.
mbb@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (martin.b.brilliant) (09/06/89)
From article <12553@s.ms.uky.edu>, by kminor@ms.uky.edu (Kevin R. Minor): > .... I got a controller > that tells me that I have a 1.44 mb drive, but .... > I ended up using the drive as a 720k drive..... > ..... If anyone has any > ideas how to make a regular xt, (not an xt 286) use a 1.44 mb drive.... I responded by mail to the original 1.2M query, but apparently there is more interest. I don't know how it was done, because it was done by the clonemaker, but I know it can be done, because I have it. I have an XTurbo-10 clone with a Mitsumi 1.2M drive (with a DTK 3.5" floppy controller) as drive A, no drive B, and a 30M Seagate kit for drive C. I'm very happy with the 1.2M drive. It saves time in hard-disk backups. It saves space in storage boxes for things I don't have to keep on the hard disk. My wife sometimes puts MS-Word files on DSDD floppies and gives them to her colleagues to read on 360K drives, and so far has got no complaints. M. B. Brilliant Marty AT&T-BL HO 3D-520 (201) 949-1858 Holmdel, NJ 07733 att!hounx!marty1 or marty1@hounx.ATT.COM Disclaimer: Opinions stated herein are mine unless and until my employer explicitly claims them; then I lose all rights to them.
kv56962@tut.fi (V{{r{nen Kari) (09/06/89)
In article <3561@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> mbb@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (martin.b.brilliant) writes: > I responded by mail to the original 1.2M query, but apparently there is > more interest. There sure is! Who wants to backup a 30 MB harddisk on 360 floppies? Not me! > I don't know how it was done, because it was done by the clonemaker, > but I know it can be done, because I have it. I have an XTurbo-10 > clone with a Mitsumi 1.2M drive (with a DTK 3.5" floppy controller) as > drive A, no drive B, and a 30M Seagate kit for drive C. What controller is that? Can it controll 1.44 MB drives too? Someone sent here an article about 1.44 MB floppies and WD FOX3 (was it FOX3?) controller. He wrote that it works on IBM XT (8088). I'd like to buy a 1.44 MB drive too, but which one? And which controller? I have an XT clone... -- SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH (The dolphins) Kari Vaaranen Tampere University of Technology Majakkakatu 30, kv56962@tut.fi SF-33410 Tampere, FINLAND
davis@clocs.cs.unc.edu (Mark Davis) (09/06/89)
In article <KV56962.89Sep6145510@naakka.tut.fi> kv56962@tut.fi (V{{r{nen Kari) writes: >In article <3561@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> mbb@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (martin.b.brilliant) writes: > ... >> I don't know how it was done, because it was done by the clonemaker, >> but I know it can be done, because I have it. I have an XTurbo-10 >> clone with a Mitsumi 1.2M drive (with a DTK 3.5" floppy controller) as >> drive A, no drive B, and a 30M Seagate kit for drive C. > ... >What controller is that? Can it controll 1.44 MB drives too? Someone >sent here an article about 1.44 MB floppies and WD FOX3 (was it FOX3?) >controller. He wrote that it works on IBM XT (8088). I'd like to buy a >1.44 MB drive too, but which one? And which controller? I have an XT >clone... >Kari Vaaranen ... kv56962@tut.fi I bought a "1.44 Meg 3.5" Floppy Drive system for IBM/XT" from Shamrock (1-800-722-2898). It consisted of a disk with driver software, a floppy disk (can't remember brand) with adapter, and the controller. The controller (as printed on the board) was a: Western Digital WD 1002 FOX I suspect this is what is commonly called the WD-FOX. <The WD 1003 is an AT hard disk controller series (2:1 interleave). Perhaps the WD-FOX3 is an AT Floppy only controller?> The controller has a chip with a date and version printed on a sticker, but I can't find any BIOS ROM while the computer is running. The documentation supplied by Franklin Telecom (who actually integrated the package for Shamrock) specified the jumper settings on the board, but did not give any details. I installed it in my Tandy 1200HD (a PC clone made by Tandon, but with a hard disk installed). I run PC/DOS 3.3 without any drivers and it works fine as drive B. I never could get it to boot (either as 720K or 1.44M) as drive A. Otherwise, it works fine. I think Shamrock wants $199 for the kit now. My assessments (could be wrong, but I have persuasive data): 1. The WD 1002 FOX will handle 1.2 Meg drives. Make sure you get documents with the board, though, so you know how to set those jumpers. 2. Booting from a floppy drive depends on the computer's BIOS. Most of the "XT" BIOS I see advertised have the ability to handle 360K and 720K drives, but I have yet to see one that says it will handle anything bigger. It may be hard to find a BIOS that will handle only a 1.2 or 1.44 drive. The quote above is an existence proof, though. 3. You should be able to get a WD - FOX, put a 360K drive as A, a 1.2 meg drive as B and live happily ever after (with maybe a DRIVPARM along the way). Hope this helps - Mark (davis@cs.unc.edu or uunet!mcnc!davis)
tsaavik@cbnewse.ATT.COM (bobby.j.lang) (09/07/89)
In article <12553@s.ms.uky.edu> Kevin Minor writes: >If anyone has any ideas how to make a regular xt, (not an xt 286) >use a 1.44 mb drive, let me know also. > >Kevin (kminor@ms.uky.edu) Kevin, I have been sucessful in installing a 1.44 mb drive in my XT Clone (BUS 88 from BUS, Inc). What I had to do was: (1) Replace the I/O card that came with the system since it had a floppy disk controller. (2) Install a Western Digital FOX 4 floppy disk controller. (3) Set the switches on my XT's motherboard to let it know it now has more than one floppy drive. That was it...I think. BTW, I have MS-DOS 3.3. I think you 3.2 and higher and Phoenix BIOS 2.52 (also needed). Hope this helps. Bobby J. Lang att!ihlpy!vulcan
mbb@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (martin.b.brilliant) (09/07/89)
From article <KV56962.89Sep6145510@naakka.tut.fi>, by kv56962@tut.fi (V{{r{nen Kari):
> In article <3561@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> mbb@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (martin.b.brilliant) writes:
>> I don't know how it was done, because it was done by the clonemaker,
>> but I know it can be done, because I have it. I have an XTurbo-10
>> clone with a Mitsumi 1.2M drive (with a DTK 3.5" floppy controller) as
>> drive A, no drive B, and a 30M Seagate kit for drive C.
>
> What controller is that? Can it controll 1.44 MB drives too? ....
According to my best evidence, I have what DTK calls a PII-151 (or
maybe it's Pll-151) 3.5" Floppy Disk Controller, or Mini/Micro FDC.
According to the manual, it will mix or match 5.25" drives of 360K or
1.2M, and 3.5" drives of 720K or 1.44M. It says there are jumpers to
select logical drives A and B, and jumpers to select the on-board ROM
BIOS for XT systems, and put it at any of three possible addresses, or
leave it out for AT systems. There is also a jumper to tell it whether
a hard disk is present.
The manual says nothing about floppy drive requirements or setup. The
packing list says the drive is Mitsumi 1.2M/FD "W"; that's all I know.
I have no manual for the Mitsumi. If it matters, the mainboard is DTK
with a DTK/ERSO BIOS and a V20 processor, running at 4.77 or 10 Mhz.
As I said, I'm running the one floppy drive as A, and a Seagate 30M
hard disk as C, and I'm happy as a clam with it.
M. B. Brilliant Marty
AT&T-BL HO 3D-520 (201) 949-1858
Holmdel, NJ 07733 att!hounx!marty1 or marty1@hounx.ATT.COM
Disclaimer: Opinions stated herein are mine unless and until my employer
explicitly claims them; then I lose all rights to them.misha@aeras.UUCP (Michael Umansky) (09/08/89)
In article <KV56962.89Sep6145510@naakka.tut.fi> kv56962@tut.fi (V{{r{nen Kari) writes: > >What controller is that? Can it controll 1.44 MB drives too? I just bought a generic DTK dual floppy controller for $39 plus tax from a small clone seller in Sunnyvale, CA. It will support any combination of 360k, 1.2M, 720k 3.5" and 1.44M 3.5" drives and will even boot from any of them (provided they are connected as drive A). The small manual claims that it works in XTs and ATs. I use it in an XT clone with 1.2M drive as A and 360K drive as B. I used to have a 1.44M drive as B before but now use it elsewhere. misha -- NAME: Michael Umansky (sun!aeras!foxy!misha) WORK: Arix Corp.; 821 Fox Lane; San Jose, CA 95131 HOME: 4331 Lincoln Way; San Francisco, CA 94122 PHONE: (408) 922-1751 (work); (415) 564-3921 (home)
akcs.amparsonjr@vpnet.UUCP (Anthony M. Parson, Jr.) (09/16/89)
I originally had 2 360K's in my XT clone, and I replaced the b: drive with
a 1.44M. I bought a clone-ish supermulti i/o card, that has 2 ser, 1 par, 1
game, clock, and floppy controller (360,1.2,720 or 1.4 -- any two) to replace
my original multi i/o card ($63). You need to use DOS 3.3. In your config.
sys file, you will need to add a DRIVER.SYS statement (which will affect the
name of the drive (I ended up with my "B:" drive being called F:, since I
have 2 floppies, 1 partitioned hard drive (C:, D:) and my old ST225 (E;).
As luck would have it, using an ERSO bios on the motherboard, (and searching
with DEBUG through the bios on the high densisty supermulti i/o card, I
saw the same DTK copyright as was found on the motherboard bios), I only
needed to add a DRIVPARM=cntrl A etc statement to let the system know that
the B: drive was a 1.44M. (I can't for the life of me remember what it was --
I am at a different computer now) Read about DRIVPARM and DRIVER.SYS
as you'll be needing one or the other. The catch about DRIVPARM is that
_and this is important_ only info I got about having the CNTL-A statement
right after the equals sign, came from a BBS response. I've not found this
documented anywhere, and without it my drive won't work right. Oh yes, one
other thing, depending on your drive, you may have to switch line 34 of the
1.44 drive. I put in a slide switch. One position is for all reading ,
writing to 720 and 1.44 disks, and formatting 720's. The other position is
only for formatting 1.44's. Sceptics may not agree, but this is the only
was I can get it to work perfectly , and you don't argue with success. The
drive is a Toshiba, the kind that comes with both gray and black faceplates,
and can be installed in 5.25 and 3.5 inch wide drive bays.
Tony
(too busy to come up with tag line, still)