X03@psuvm.psu.edu (05/08/91)
Is HP 720 3.5" floppy disk drive able to read a DOS format disk? I talked to a HP sales rep, but didn't get a clear answer. Or do I have to use SoftPC3.0 listed in HP price list to just read a DOS disk? Another question, what's the performance of SoftPC3.0, I heard it's similar to a 20-25 Mhz 386, is that true If this is the case, it is certainly usable. Can anyone from HP comment on this? Thanks. Xiaowu Chen Penn State
ian@rathe.cs.umn.edu (Ian Hogg) (05/09/91)
In article <91128.110445X03@psuvm.psu.edu> X03@psuvm.psu.edu writes: >Is HP 720 3.5" floppy disk drive able to read a DOS format disk? I talked to >a HP sales rep, but didn't get a clear answer. Or do I have to use SoftPC3.0 >listed in HP price list to just read a DOS disk? Another question, what's the >performance of SoftPC3.0, I heard it's similar to a 20-25 Mhz 386, is that true >If this is the case, it is certainly usable. > >Can anyone from HP comment on this? Thanks. I'm not from HP but I'll comment anyways. I haven't used it, but I've seen postings for mtools. Mtools is a set uof utilities to read/write DOS diskettes on Unix machines. My guess is that it reads/write the raw device file. Maybe someone who has used mtools can comment on them? > >Xiaowu Chen >Penn State -- Ian Hogg email: rathe!ian@cs.umn.edu ...!umn-cs!rathe!ian Rathe, Inc ianhogg@cs.umn.edu 366 Jackson Street phone: (612) 225-1401
jthomas@nmsu.edu (James Thomas) (05/11/91)
In article <1991May9.143955.5130@rathe.cs.umn.edu> ian@rathe.cs.umn.edu (Ian Hogg) writes:
Ian> I'm not from HP but I'll comment anyways. I haven't used it, but I've seen
Ian> postings for mtools. Mtools is a set uof utilities to read/write DOS diskettes
Ian> on Unix machines. My guess is that it reads/write the raw device file. Maybe
Ian> someone who has used mtools can comment on them?
Yes, they read/write the raw device. I use them on a 3B2 (if they work on
that - 720K, they'll work on anything :-) . They installed very nicely,
and I've never had any problems with them. I have the version from
comp.sources.unix v11i023 . I see there is a "faster mtools" in
comp.sources.misc v11i081 through 83 with patch in v12i051 .
Jimfranks@hpuamsa.neth.hp.com (Frank Slootweg CRC) (05/15/91)
I don't *know* 100% sure about the hardware, but the 700 has the regular "dos*" utilities (in fileset DOS-UTILS). If you have access to any HP-UX system or reference manual then check out DOSIF(4). Please give the sales rep another chance to answer the hardware question.
edm@hpfcmdd.hp.com (Ed Moore) (05/17/91)
I'm no authority on this subject, but I've done it. There are three ways to get a HP-UX workstation to read/write a 720 KB DOS diskette in a 9122D or 9122C drive. 1) Use the HP-UX command doscp. 2) Use SoftPC. 3) On a Series 300 workstation, you could have a DOS Coprocessor board, which is an AT, complete with its own 80286 chip.
perry@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Perry Scott) (05/17/91)
>Is HP 720 3.5" floppy disk drive able to read a DOS format disk? I talked to >a HP sales rep, but didn't get a clear answer. Or do I have to use SoftPC3.0 >listed in HP price list to just read a DOS disk? Another question, what's the >performance of SoftPC3.0, I heard it's similar to a 20-25 Mhz 386, is that true >If this is the case, it is certainly usable. > >Can anyone from HP comment on this? Thanks. > >Xiaowu Chen >Penn State I'm not really an authority, but the number batted around here is that the 720 running the SoftPC emulator feels like a 25MHz '386. Not having ever used a PC that fast, I wouldn't know. The floppy is just another UN*X device file, coming in the blocked and character flavors. I don't know if we bundle the dos{cp,rm,ls,..} commands with SoftPC, or if they come with the base product. They exist on the internal 8.05 integration releases, so maybe they are part of the base product. Perry Scott HP Ft Collins UN*X is a registered trademark of AT&T