GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Gern) (03/27/90)
Due to utter cretinisms of the Internet powers that be, NYSERNET connectivity (To which TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL's net connects to that runs INFO-HZ100) was interrupted for the past week. It may be stable now, it might not be - so INFO-HZ100 email service may be flakey without notice. It is easily possible to put a 5.25" 1.2MB (AT type) drive on the Z-100 8" connector with a home made or store bought (REMARK magazine ads) cable. I believe info is in our PD Lib on PD3:<HZ100> on SIMTEL20.ARPA. Without the software patches, the 1.2MB runs as a Z-100 naive format (actually true IBM format that IBM ignored for the AT format) 1.2MB 8" drive that is not interchangeable with the AT format without running the software patches as detailed in REMARK magazine. Basically, the cable gets you the Z-100 realm of interchange, FORMAT and DISKCOPY support it, etc. The software patches the MS-DOS/disk read/write to use the unsupported AT format, other programs (in the PD LIB) must be used to FORMAT the AT type disk. I am shooting for 1.44MB 3.5" disks on the 8" connector. REAL SOON NOW. Cheers, Gern -------
djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) (03/28/90)
In article <12577047218.9.GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL> GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Gern) writes: <stuff deleted> >It is easily possible to put a 5.25" 1.2MB (AT type) drive on the Z-100 >8" connector with a home made or store bought (REMARK magazine ads) cable. ... >I am shooting for 1.44MB 3.5" disks on the 8" connector. REAL SOON NOW. > >Cheers, >Gern What's the difference between going this route and purchasing the $39 Disk Pack device driver package that Paul Herman now sells? In both cases you need to purchase drives and a 50->34 pin adapter, unless you are adept enough to build one (not this whale!). Are these two approaches to the same goal? I can't wait to get a 1.2M and a 1.44M into my Z. Floppy exchange has been a bear up till now in this office. Obsolete machine, my foot!! :) :) "Moby" Dick O'Connor ** The only difference between Washington Department of Fisheries ** a lazy man on a riverbank Olympia, Washington 98504 ** and a fisherman is a pole Internet Mail: djo7613@blake.u.washington.edu ** and a length of string.
sampson@cod.NOSC.MIL (Charles H. Sampson) (04/11/90)
In article <12577047218.9.GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL> GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Gern) writes: >It is easily possible to put a 5.25" 1.2MB (AT type) drive on the Z-100 >8" connector with a home made or store bought (REMARK magazine ads) cable. >I believe info is in our PD Lib on PD3:<HZ100> on SIMTEL20.ARPA. Without >the software patches, the 1.2MB runs as a Z-100 naive format (actually true >IBM format that IBM ignored for the AT format) 1.2MB 8" drive that is not >interchangeable with the AT format without running the software patches as >detailed in REMARK magazine. Basically, the cable gets you the Z-100 >realm of interchange, FORMAT and DISKCOPY support it, etc. The software >patches the MS-DOS/disk read/write to use the unsupported AT format, other >programs (in the PD LIB) must be used to FORMAT the AT type disk. My dealer created something like this for me when I bought my Z-100 many years ago. (I was certain that 400KB disks would be limiting.) In the prices of those days the 4.77Mhz Z-100 with 192KB memory and the standard floppy drives replaced by two 1.2MB drives cost around $3200, and it was only that low be- cause my dealer was pretty cut-rate. (Notice, no printer at that price.) The necessary disks listed at about $15.00 apiece, but I got them for around $5.30, again thanks to my dealer. The problem was that because the Z-100 thought it was working with 8" drives, they were powered up at all times and the heads wore through the surface of those disks at amazing speed. It didn't show up when the dealer was experi- menting because he just ran short test to make sure that everything was cabled up properly, but in actual use a few 4 hour sessions were all a disk could stand. Maybe these problems have been solved in the intervening years. Have they?
koziarz@halibut.nosc.mil (Walter A. Koziarz) (04/11/90)
In article <1864@cod.NOSC.MIL> sampson@cod.nosc.mil.UUCP (Charles H. Sampson) writes: > Please don't think me a 'prick with ears' but I *HAVE* to correct some mis-information --- > >My dealer created something like this for me when I bought my Z-100 many years >ago. (I was certain that 400KB disks would be limiting.) In the prices of ^^^^^ at the time of the 192K motherboards, the floppies were 320K (360K when Z-DOS was replaced by MS-DOS) >those days the 4.77Mhz Z-100 with 192KB memory and the standard floppy drives ^^^^^^^ Nope, nope, nope there never was a 4.77MHz Z-100, that ridiculous clock rate was an artifact of the I(nferior) B(ut) M(arketable) el-cheeeeeepo design strategy. Z-100's came initial in 5.0MHz and later 8.0MHz (the 8-bit side was always 5.0MHz) > >The problem was that because the Z-100 thought it was working with 8" drives, >they were powered up at all times and the heads wore through the surface of >those disks at amazing speed. It didn't show up when the dealer was experi- > Son-of-a-Gun, your dealer wasn't up on the *RIGHT* way to make the cable, the 8 inch controller's 'HEAD LOAD' should have been connected to the high-density drive's 'MOTOR ON' line. THIS would have performed proper motor on/off. I hope this didn't sound too much like a flame; it WASN'T intended too. I just get like this when I see IBM-influenced miss-information (like the 'DOS 640K BARRIER', etc). Anyway, I am the happy user of a 2MB Z-100 (768K user RAM + 1256K of RAMDrives) AND a 1.2MB high density floppy, 8087, two 360KB floppies and a 10MHz clock. Walt K.