sverre@lev.Seri.GOV (Sverre Froyen) (04/09/91)
I am starting to realize that I need a floppy drive for the pc532 Ideally, to simplify mounting, I would like either a floppy drive with embedded SCSI or a floppy controller that plugs into one of the SCSI connectors on the 532. The only company I have found producing embedded SCSI floppies is TEAC and their model FD-235HS (1.44MB, 3.5") costs approximately $180. Since this is less than the at least $200 to produce a PCB for the 532 I suspect this is the way to go. If anyone else is interested in this product let me know and I will look for volume discounts. Comments anyone? Sverre -- Sverre Froyen sverre@seri.gov, sunpeaks!seri!sverre
tbr@tfic.bc.ca (Tom Rushworth) (04/09/91)
In article <9104081852.AA17488@lev.seri.gov> sverre@lev.Seri.GOV (Sverre Froyen) writes: >I am starting to realize that I need a floppy drive for the pc532 Me too. We should be able to do better than the $180 TEAC though. NCR makes something called the model 32 SCSI<->ST406 for around U$150, that usually goes in a box with a drive for attaching an external floppy to a Mac. Getting small quantities might be difficult, and the total cost would be > $180 anyway, but it shows that the Mac world might be a place to look. Dave Bowman has found a possible source of ~ U$100, 2.88M, 3.5" SCSI floppy drives, BUT: a) we don't know for sure that they work with the PC532, b) we don't know for sure that they can read/write 1.44M floppies (they are supposed to), c) we don't know how many we can get, and d) we don't know the final price. We should have answers to a) and b) by the end of April, I'll post more info as soon as I have it. (I'm waiting as fast as I can!) I realize the above is somewhat vague, but you did ask for comments :-) ---- Tom Rushworth (604) 733-0731 [FAX: 733-0634] | uunet!ubc-cs!van-bc!tacitus!tbr Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants | or: tbr@tfic.bc.ca
sverre@lev.Seri.GOV (Sverre Froyen) (04/09/91)
> >>I am starting to realize that I need a floppy drive for the pc532 > >Me too. We should be able to do better than the $180 TEAC though. I was hoping somone would say that :-) > >NCR makes something called the model 32 SCSI<->ST406 for around U$150, >that usually goes in a box with a drive for attaching an external floppy >to a Mac. Getting small quantities might be difficult, and the total >cost would be > $180 anyway, but it shows that the Mac world might be >a place to look. For an external floppy, that is probably the way to go. This controller allows all sorts of floopy drives to be used. The reason I prefer the TEAC is that I don't want to mount another card inside my pc532. > >Dave Bowman has found a possible source of ~ U$100, 2.88M, 3.5" SCSI >floppy drives, BUT: > a) we don't know for sure that they work with the PC532, > b) we don't know for sure that they can read/write 1.44M floppies > (they are supposed to), Can they write 1.44? In this not like the cartridge tapes where the number of tracks increase and therefore the track width becomes too narrow. Since I want the drive for exchanging files with other systems being able to write 1.44MB floppies is imperative. > c) we don't know how many we can get, > and > d) we don't know the final price. This could be the other TEAC model (FD-235JS). The price I have seen for that one is $219 (from Tulin Corp in San Jose). I have not made any extensive search for the lowest price so it may very well be possible to get these for less. I did however call several distributors and stores in Denver/Boulder and none of them could supply the drives. A call to the official TEAC distributor in Denver revealed that they were not allowed to sell quantities less than one hundred drives -- which I guess explains why computer stores don't carry them. >We should have answers to a) and b) by the end of April, I'll post more info >as soon as I have it. (I'm waiting as fast as I can!) Please keep us informed. -- Sverre Froyen sverre@seri.gov, sunpeaks!seri!sverre
rhyde@koufax.ucr.edu (randy hyde) (04/11/91)
I, too, have been considering a floppy for a little while now. As soon as I can figure out how to program that *damn* SCSI bus I'll be a lot more interested (BTW, I'm hung up in protocols now, I know the command set, I know how the chip works, I can't quite seem to connect the two). One suggestion, there are several manufacturers coming out with 2.88mbyte SCSI floppy disk drives (for the NeXT). They're somewhat expensive right now ($300-$600) but I suspect the price will start coming down soon since IBM is planning to adopt the 2.88 mbyte format. Of course, they read 1.44 and 720K diskettes. I would kinda' suggest that if we're trying to form a PC532 standard we adopt the state-of-the-art, even if it is a little more expensive. BTW, is there anyone around here who understands SCSI inside and out who would be willing to answer some questions I have? So far I've managed to send an indentify command to the disk drive (The MINISCRIBE 330mbyte) and send a read command to the device. It returns Busy and never comes out of it. If someone knows how all this works I could use some help! Thanks. Natually I'd post the results of my work once complete. *** Randy Hyde
ian@sibyl.eleceng.ua.oz.au (04/12/91)
Sverre Froyen writes: > The only company I have found producing > embedded SCSI floppies is TEAC and their model FD-235HS (1.44MB, 3.5") > costs approximately $180. Since this is less than the at least $200 > to produce a PCB for the 532 I suspect this is the way to go. > If anyone else is interested in this product let me know > and I will look for volume discounts. Comments anyone? I am interested. Ian Dall
ian@sibyl.eleceng.ua.oz.au (04/17/91)
randy hyde writes: > One suggestion, there are several manufacturers coming out with > 2.88mbyte SCSI floppy disk drives (for the NeXT). They're somewhat > expensive right now ($300-$600) but I suspect the price will start > coming down soon since IBM is planning to adopt the 2.88 mbyte format. > Of course, they read 1.44 and 720K diskettes. I would kinda' suggest > that if we're trying to form a PC532 standard we adopt the > state-of-the-art, even if it is a little more expensive. Depends what you want it for. Personally, I don't have a lot of use for a floppy, but it would be nice to allow friends to transfer stuff to/from PC's. If I want high capacity I'll use my tape drive. Even 25MB for the "flopticals" is not very good for backups. I guess I would go for them if they were cheap enough, but strange as it might sound, I am only prepared to pay a *very* small premium for 25MB over 1.4MB. My idea is to get a dirt cheap floppy and save my pennies for a DAT or Exabyte. Ian