ltf@killer.Dallas.TX.US (Lance Franklin) (04/01/89)
I am looking for information on the Irwin Model 310 tape drive, to wit:
a) Hardware interface...pin-out on connector, how reading/writing/control
of the drive differs from that of a floppy, etc.
b) Software interface...does the tape need to be preformatted, how is
EOT sensed, what is the usual scheme used in formatting the tape
(fixed "tracks" or variable-length records and formatting while
writing), whether information can be garnered from the hardware
during a fast-forward or rewind (such as counting track separators
to aid in skipping files during a file search, or some similar
scheme).
Having picked up one of the drives for a fairly low price due to the absence
of software or documentation, I intend to play around with interfacing the
thing to another computer (an Amiga) that has a floppy-disk interface similar,
hardware-wise, to the IBM-PC. I would also be interested in hearing about
any similar efforts on other machines.
Lance
--
+-------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------+
| Lance T Franklin | | I never said that! It must be some kind of a |
| ltf@killer.DALLAS.TX.US | | forgery...I gotta change that password again. |
+-------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------+