misha@daisy.UUCP (Mike Umansky) (06/18/86)
Has anybody out there tried connecting a high capacity (1.2MB) AT floppy drive to an XT? I have one and would like to be able to read AT floppies and also have a larger capacity temporary backup medium. Can the standard floppy controller communicate with the AT floppy drive without burning it or itself out? If the hardware is compatible, then, I guess, all that I will need is to write a driver based on the AT's BIOS, is that true? I appreciate all of the help that might be coming. Thank you. misha -- -- NAME: Michael Umansky (misha) E-MAIL: ucbvax!hplabs!nsc!daisy!misha WORK: Daisy Systems Corp. 700B Middlefield Road Mountain View, CA 94039-7006 (415) 960-7166 (work) HOME: 94 Cassia Ct. Hayward, CA 94544 (415) 886-4805 (home)
lau@ubc-ean.UUCP (Eric Lau) (06/20/86)
In article <167@daisy.UUCP> misha@daisy.UUCP writes: >Has anybody out there tried connecting a high capacity (1.2MB) AT floppy >drive to an XT? I have one and would like to be able to read AT floppies >and also have a larger capacity temporary backup medium. Can the standard >floppy controller communicate with the AT floppy drive without burning it >or itself out? If the hardware is compatible, then, I guess, all that I >will need is to write a driver based on the AT's BIOS, is that true? >I appreciate all of the help that might be coming. Thank you. >misha Tall Trees (JRAM Boards), makes a replacement drive controller for the PC's that has the capabilities to use both 360K and 1.2M drives at the same time.
del@pilchuck.UUCP (Erik "Hugable" Lindberg) (06/21/86)
In article <167@daisy.UUCP>, misha@daisy.UUCP (Mike Umansky) writes: > Has anybody out there tried connecting a high capacity (1.2MB) AT floppy > drive to an XT? I have one and would like to be able to read AT floppies > and also have a larger capacity temporary backup medium. Can the standard > floppy controller communicate with the AT floppy drive without burning it > or itself out? If the hardware is compatible, then, I guess, all that I > will need is to write a driver based on the AT's BIOS, is that true? Sorry, but this won't work. The AT controller actually selects different data rate for the 1.2MB floppy, and the XT controller does not have this capability. Furthermore, the signal interface is different (what do you mean 5 1/4" standard?) Note this also means that you can't even take a XT floppy drive and put it in an AT without a special adapter. Going the other way (AT -> XT) *might* be possible for the 360k low density drive, but definitely not the 1.2MB. Another odd offshoot of this problem is that 3 1/2" drives can not be plugged into the AT controller either, like they could on the XT. This is strange, since DOS 3.2 now supposedly supports 3.5" drives... Erik Lindberg aka del
mo@well.UUCP (Maurice Weitman) (06/25/86)
In article <360@pilchuck.UUCP> del@pilchuck.UUCP (Erik "Hugable" Lindberg) writes: >In article <167@daisy.UUCP>, misha@daisy.UUCP (Mike Umansky) writes: >> Has anybody out there tried connecting a high capacity (1.2MB) AT floppy >> drive to an XT? > >Sorry, but this won't work. The AT controller actually selects different >data rate for the 1.2MB floppy, and the XT controller does not have this >capability. Furthermore, the signal interface is different (what do you >mean 5 1/4" standard?) I believe Tall Tree sells a board that will allow using 1.2 drive on PCs. > Note this also means that you can't even take a >XT floppy drive and put it in an AT without a special adapter. Going the >other way (AT -> XT) *might* be possible for the 360k low density drive, >but definitely not the 1.2MB. > Not quite... I'm now using a Teac 55b from a PC in my AT (clone) and all I had to do was mask connector 30 (I think). It works fine. > >Erik Lindberg aka del -- Maurice Weitman 9600 ..!{hplabs,lll-crg,ptsfa,glacier}!well!mo | 57600 (415)549-0280 voice (415)549-0388 modem-2400 this^is not 300 mcimail mweitman a pipe 110 P. O. Box 10019 Berkeley, CA 94709
jimb@tekigm2.UUCP (Jim Boland) (06/26/86)
In article <1331@well.UUCP>, mo@well.UUCP (Maurice Weitman) writes: > In article <360@pilchuck.UUCP> del@pilchuck.UUCP (Erik "Hugable" Lindberg) writes: > >In article <167@daisy.UUCP>, misha@daisy.UUCP (Mike Umansky) writes: > > Note this also means that you can't even take a > >XT floppy drive and put it in an AT without a special adapter. Going the > >other way (AT -> XT) *might* be possible for the 360k low density drive, > >but definitely not the 1.2MB. > > Am I missing something??? Is not the floppy drive in a basic XT the same as the floppy drive in a PC?? Is it not a regular old 360K drive?? > Not quite... I'm now using a Teac 55b from a PC in my AT (clone) and all > I had to do was mask connector 30 (I think). It works fine. I took a standard garden variety floppy disk drive from a 68000 computer, put it on a PC for a while with no mods or problems and then put it on an AT with no mods. Just plugged it in. It works fine.