GTHEALL@PENNDRLN.BITNET (George A. Theall) (05/27/88)
George, If your friend is just interested in transfering small files, he may be able to simply copy the files onto a disk on one machine and read from that disk on the other. No, the disk formats are not identical, but if the Rainbow drives are in alignment, you can read *and* write to a PC disk that's been formatted on the AT 1.2MB drive as single sided (FORMAT /1). On the Rainbow side you just need to turn MEDIACHK on before you read from the disk. Have him test it out - it works on my machine with no problem. Only one word of caution - don't erase files; once the disk fills up, just reformat it on the AT. I've trashed a few disks that way. Alternatively, your friend could install a device driver in his AT that will allow him to read and write RX50 (Rainbow) floppies using a 1.2MB drive. Since I see you're on the INTERNET, you can snatch this driver from SIMTEL20.ARPA - it's called RX50.ARC - and the last time I looked it was in directory PD1:<MSDOS.DSKUTL>. I've never used this, although it does get around the 170K limit my first solution imposes. If your friend's doing a lot of transfers and need to write to PC or PC/AT disks from a Rainbow he might think about investing in an I-Drive from Suitable Solutions. This is a PC drive which attaches to the Rainbow (as drive I) and provides true media compatibility with a PC. There's also a version available for an AT, if that's what's needed. I think the PC drive version goes for around $300, and there are both internal and external models. There may also be a program around called Media Master which would allow your friend to write to foreign media from the Rainbow or a AT. Back in 1984 many different formats were supported, most of them variations on CP/M. My only complaint about Media Master on the Rainbow is that it only runs under CP/M; it's been almost 4 years since I last looked at that operating system. Hope this helps. George /*--------------------------------------------*/ /* BITNET: GTHEALL@PENNDRLN */ /* INTERNET: GTHEALL@PENNDRLN.UPENN.EDU */ /* SnailMail: Department of Economics */ /* University of Pennsylvania */ /* 3718 Locust Walk /6297 */ /* Philadelphia, PA. 19104 */ /* AT+TNet: (215) 898-6741 */ /* ICBMNet: 39 57 N, 75 11 W, 200 Alt */ /*--------------------------------------------*/