adw3345@ultb.UUCP (A.D. Williams) (03/19/89)
The computer department in my college is selling used IBM p/2 1.44 megabyte floppies. They are selling them at a reduced price to get rid of surplus, and I think it would be a good addition to my atari system. These drives are physically the same as the 3 1/2 inch drive in my 1040 st. All I would have to do is pop open the case, pull out the drive, and put in the 1.44 megger. However, I'm not sure if the atari would accept this drive. Does the Atari expect a 360k or 720k drive only or will it run the 1.44? If so, will I need special software? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Derrick Williams - Rochester Institute of Technology | Insert snappy - - adw3345@ritvax - Computer Engineering | quotation here - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
chasm@killer.Dallas.TX.US (Charles Marslett) (03/19/89)
In article <458@ultb.UUCP>, adw3345@ultb.UUCP (A.D. Williams) writes: > . . .Does the Atari expect a 360k or 720k drive only or will it > run the 1.44? If so, will I need special software? If there is a hardware line that needs to be pulled up or down to put the drive into 1.44 mode, you may have a problem (this would be related to setting the write bias and tunnel errase level/frequency, I would guess) -- but probably they will work fine. They will be 720K drives to the Atari however, since to get them to work at 1.44 Mbytes/disk, you have to send and recieve bits at twice the standard rate (requiring a change in the controller chip in the ST, as well as a faster oscillator, etc.). Charles Marslett chasm@killer.dallas.tx.us > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > - Derrick Williams - Rochester Institute of Technology | Insert snappy - > - adw3345@ritvax - Computer Engineering | quotation here - > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
maverick@Portia.Stanford.EDU (Steve Whitney) (03/20/89)
In article <7586@killer.Dallas.TX.US>, chasm@killer.Dallas.TX.US (Charles Marslett) writes:
[Stuff about 1.44 Meg drives deleted.]
<
< They will be 720K drives to the Atari however, since to get them to work at
< 1.44 Mbytes/disk, you have to send and recieve bits at twice the standard
< rate (requiring a change in the controller chip in the ST, as well as a faster
< oscillator, etc.).
<
< Charles Marslett
< chasm@killer.dallas.tx.us
Does this mean that a cartridge like the Spectre GCR could make the ST read
and write 1.44 Meg floppies if they were interfaced correctly? Someone
want to build a cable and write a program? :-)
--
Steve Whitney Internet: maverick@portia.stanford.edu
UUCP: ..!decwrl!portia.stanford.edu!maverick
"It's never really the Bitnet: maverick%portia.stanford.edu@stanford
last minute!" GEnie: S.WHITNEYXorg@cup.portal.com (Peter Ted Szymonik) (03/20/89)
I'm not sure where I saw this, but somewhere out there there is a company working on 1.44 floppy drives for the ST, I'll see if I can dig up where I read this is my mountain of computer mags. Peter Szymonik
landay@ardent.com (James A. Landay) (08/01/89)
Does anyone know if $170 is a good price for a SF314 Double Sided Drive? Anyone know of any better prices. James A. Landay landay@ardent.com or landay@cory.berkeley.edu
clf3678@ultb.UUCP (C.L. Freemesser) (08/06/89)
In article <7672@ardent.UUCP> landay@ardent.com (James A. Landay) writes: >Does anyone know if $170 is a good price for a SF314 Double >Sided Drive? Anyone know of any better prices. > > If the drive is brand new, then it is a good price. The going prices I've seen for the SF314 is $199. However, have you considered a non-Atari DS drive? 1st Stop Computers sells an ST DS drive kit for $149.99, using the proven Toshiba drive mech. If you are looking for a new drive, look at this one. Sure, you have to put it together, but that is VERY easy to do! Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology | What I like : BITNET: %clf3678@RITVAX GEnie: C.FREEMESSER | 1) My Atari ST USENET: Just reply and hope it gets through | 2) My '77 Mercury Kodak ColorEdge: The world's fastest color copier! | 3) Coke Classic