[comp.sys.zenith.z100] 1.2M 5 1/4" Floppies using 8" Controller

bfag@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Meneldur) (08/11/89)

Greetings!

I recently saw the offer on the Clarkson University Z100 sale and couldn't pass it by.  Jeez, they even threw in COBOL with my system.  Anyhow, I understand it is possible to connect 1.2M 5 1/4-inch floppy drives to the Z100's 8-inch con-
troller.  I've seen ads for the necessary cable in REMark, but would prefer to
make up my own to save a little money for other goodies.

Would anyone be able to provide me with the proper connections to convert the
50 pin header to that required by the 5.25s?  (Alas, the one thing that didn't
come with the Z100 system was a set of schematics for the sucker.)  All help is
appreciated!

By the way, the 100 sure is a nice little machine.  And it neatly fits the gap
between my old H8 system and my newer H248.  Now, if I can just find something
in the lab to connect it to...


					Bill Faggart
					Department of Geological Sciences
					University of Rochester
					Rochester, NY 14627

 

GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Gern) (08/14/89)

The pinouts are somewhere, anyone?

Be advised that the default 1.2 is the IBM 8" drive disk format, which
IBM lived up to Inconsistant But Marketable and used a different format.

Therefore, a 1.2 High Den drive on the Z-100 8" controller will format
to 1.2Mbytes which will not be compatible with the PC/AT 1.2MByte format.

There are programs (some from REMark) to run to allow the Z-100 MS-DOS to
use the PC/AT 1.2MB formats okay and I believe to also FORMAT them as well.

Cheers,
Gern
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GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Gern) (08/16/89)

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Date: 15 Aug 1989 22:51-CDT
Sender: SAC.DYESGPF@E.ISI.EDU
Subject: Re: 1.2M 5 1/4" Floppies using 8" Controller
From: SAC.DYESGPF@E.ISI.EDU
To: gubbins@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL
Message-ID: <[E.ISI.EDU]15-Aug-89 22:51:25.SAC.DYESGPF>

I have been trying to reply to the 10 Aug request for infomation on using
1.2M drive on the Z100 by the mailer here doesn't seem to like the address.
(I tried using REPLY and direct addressing both).

After the second or third reject I sent a copy to info-hz100-request which
is where our system receives INFO-HZ100 DIGEST from.  That was on 11 Aug and
that message seems to have gotten lost in the system.  I would appreciate it
if you would post the following to the digest or if you can find my previous 
message, please post it instead.  Thankyou.


In-Reply-To: <2708@ur-cc.UUCP>
Subject: 1.2M 5 1/4" Floppies using 8" Controller

I have a 1.2M drive connected to my Z100 which works just fine.  The Z100
format program formats disks to 1.25M which is not compatable with (I)nferior
(B)ut (M)arketable AT format.

Available by anonymous ftp from WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL in directory PD1:<HZ100>
is file MFORM100.EXE which is a self extracting achrive in which I have placed
the pin connection infomation and some utilites to allow the Z100 to read, 
write and format the AT 1.2M format.

The source code is included for the software and I have released the entire 
package to the public domain.  I have not heard or read of any bugs or problems
with this package but do read the documentation as there are some limitations
and warnings.

ALLEN E. HOLECEK, MSGT, USAF
<SAC.DYESGPF@E.ISI.EDU>
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Disclaimer: The afore-mentioned software and documents were
prepared during my off-duty time on my own Z100 at home.
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