mpcook@chinet.chi.il.us (Michael P. Cook) (02/22/89)
Has anyone successfully added a high density drive (3 1/2") in an IBM PC? This is in an origkinal IBM PC but with the"newer" BIOS that allows for hard disk and 640K of RAM. I have spoken with a number of people who sell drives and so-called high density controllers (for the "XT"). Some tell me that the IBM PC won't accept 1.44 MEG format due to BIOS incompatibility but IBM compatibles WILL! That's a switch! Some say it's no problem at all. Some say it requires a Compaticard controller and/or DOS 3.3. Any ideas? Also, if I install a 1.44 MEG drive and attach to my current controller, will it operate in 720K format until I add the proper controller and/or driver software? Thanks for any insight into this! Mike
dts@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Daniel Senie) (02/24/89)
To put a 3.5" HD drive in an original PC, try replacing the floppy controller with a Sysgen OMNI_Bridge controller. It has all of the same connectors and costs $95. If you want to use the 1.44MB drive as boot device, you will need DOS 3.2 or higher, though 3.2 or higher is recommended anyway if you have 3.5 inch disks... -- Daniel Senie UUCP: harvard!ulowell!cloud9!dts Stratus Computer, Inc. ARPA: anvil!cloud9!dts@harvard.harvard.edu 55 Fairbanks Blvd. CSRV: 74176,1347 Marlboro, MA 01752 TEL.: 508 - 460 - 2686
kluge@lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de (Oliver Kluge) (02/25/89)
Hi citizens of netland! Yes, it is possible to add 3,5 " HD disk drives to the original IBM. I own an IBM XT /w 640 K and a 32 MB hard disk. I added a HD controller of a german firm which holds an EPROM for a BIOS extension. I cannot say wether it will run with older DOS version, for I do use DOS 3.30 (I don't know why anyone should run older versions, by now everything should run under 3.3). It runs pretty well, I have connected to it a 3,5 " 1.44 MB drive and a 5.25 " 1.2 MB AT-like drive. 720 K diskettes are handled with ease. It all runs well, except PC-Tools: It does not recognize that I have installed an HD controller, for it seems that it asks DOS and DOS can't know. (Please refer to my article "DRIVPARM - how do I access it" in comp.sys.ibm.pc and comp.binaries.ibm.pc). If you can't find any american firm selling such a controller, please e-mail me, I'm sure the german firm where I bought my controller will be happy to sell it to you, too. [# disclaimer: No, I don't have any relations to that firm] So long ... Oliver -- TTTU MMMMM kluge%lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de@relay.cs.net (CS-NET, ARPA) T U U M M Oliver Kluge, Parallel Computing Lab, \ unido.UUCP (UUCP) T U M M M Technical University Munich, Arcisstr. 21, 8000-Munich 2, W. Germany T UUU M M "Why stop now just when I'm hating it?" Marvin, the paranoid android
mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) (02/27/89)
The high density FDC in my IBM PC is also not recognized by PCTOOLS V.5 either. M Volow, VA Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP
Erik@cup.portal.com (Erik - Dufek) (02/27/89)
In 7783@chinet.chi.il.us Michael P. Cook writes: > Has anyone successfully added a high density drive (3 1/2") in an IBM > PC? Yes I have added a 3 1/2" 1.44Mb drive to both my Compaq and my IBM. I used the Jameco 4FDC in the IBM. Completely satisfied with it! I run PC-DOS 3.30 and it was plug and go. In the Compaq with Compaq DOS 3.31 I installed a Magitronics. Had to modify the driver.sys to get it to work. Wouldn't recommend Magitronics to anyone. Unless they wanted to buy my card :-) The Jameco also comes in a 2FDC version. Someone else has used a DTC controller on a clone with the same plug and go success. > Some tell me that the IBM PC won't accept 1.44 MEG format due to BIOS > incompatibility but IBM compatibles WILL! My IBM is actually pieced together from some IBM stuff and some clone stuff. The BIOS is 1983. The Jameco card just supplies a BIOS extension just like your HD conroller. Ask them why your winchester works! The BIOS extension can be addressed at CA00, CC00 or CE00. This is handy if you have other BIOS extensions that might interfere. The type of drive installed is set by jumpers. > Also, if I install a 1.44 MEG drive and attach to my current > controller, will it operate in 720K format until I add the proper > controller and/or driver software? Actually I think it will format to 1.2MB. Don't quote me on that! I used a Toshiba ND-356T-A, FDD4603G0K floppy drive. Nice drive, jumpers for all sorts of options, faceplates for 3 different setups. DOS 3.3 is easiest. You may need to modify driver.sys with other versions. I tried to send this email but it bounced. But it may be of interest to others on the net so I'm posting it in the hope it also reaches mpcook @ chinet. eriK erik@cup.portal.com