braner@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (braner) (10/13/87)
[foot firmly in mouth...] Well, one _CAN_ read MS-DOS subdirectories on the ST. The problems I had were due to SCACHE. So do NOT boot SCACHE if you plan to use MS-DOS disks in that session. It is still rather confounding, since SCACHE works fine with TOS folders, and TOS works fine with MS-DOS disks (including folders), so _WHY_ doesn't SCACHE work with MS-DOS folders? I have just purchased a Paradox `Microbyte A' 5.25" drive for the ST. There was a slight problem with the molded DIN plug being a bit too wide to fit in the recessed socket in the back of my 1040STf. I fixed that with a knife, chipping bits of plastic off the plug. Now it works fine. It has a separate "brick" style power supply (12V, 2A, mercifully with an AC cord) and an ON/OFF switch on the back of the drive itself. It comes with a formatting program and a small program that you are supposed to put in the AUTO folder. The latter, turns out, sets the seek time to 6 ms (using both the documented system variable _AND_ another, UNDOCUMENTED, location!). Before running that program the drive behaves erratically, but well enough to copy the programs from the supplied 5.25" (!) diskette to a 3.5" one. - Moshe Braner