sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) (03/21/91)
I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? Is it the 8088 chip itself? Is it the (Phoenix) BIOS? Is it the floppy disk controller? Or it it something that I haven't mentioned? What do I need to upgrade in order to get this to work? In case you're thinking, "why not just get a new machine?" -- I *have* a new 386SX already, but I have no real reason to scrap my trusty old XT just yet. It works just fine for a lot of simple chores, and it's useful to have around as a spare. The only thing is that it's irritating to have to use 360K disks all the time -- they don't hold enough, and it's a pain to have to copy files from one disk size to another if I want to bring home work from the office (where they use 3.5" disks exclusively). Thanks for all tips, -Eric Sadoyama
c60b-1eq@web-1f.berkeley.edu (Noam Mendelson) (03/22/91)
In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: >I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like >to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've >been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? >Is it the 8088 chip itself? Is it the (Phoenix) BIOS? Is it the floppy >disk controller? Or it it something that I haven't mentioned? What do I >need to upgrade in order to get this to work? I assume you have the XT's original floppy disk controller. You'll need a new one which recognizes 1.44Mb drives. Also, if you're going for internal, make sure you have a spare power supply lead and, of course, a free slot for the drive ;-) =========================================================================== | Noam Mendelson ..!ucbvax!web!c60b-1eq | "I haven't lost my mind, | | c60b-1eq@web.Berkeley.EDU | it's backed up on tape | | University of California at Berkeley | somewhere." |
hollen@megatek.UUCP (Dion Hollenbeck) (03/23/91)
In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: > I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like > to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've > been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? > I went through this with an old DTK 8088 motherboard and DTK BIOS and eventually ended upgrading to a 286. Yes, I was in the same situation as you, I wanted larger floppies on my wife's trusty 8088. I got the proper controller, which will most likely be necessary since XT's did not generally recognize 1.44m drives. Then, I could not get it to be recognized by the BIOS. Tried installable device drivers, these failed too. Upgraded the BIOS (actually tried 6 different versions from different makers) and finally got a DTK BIOS new enough to be able to recognize the drive. The trouble was that even though FASTBACK could use the drive, and NORTON SF could format a disk, DOS format kept giving me a "general failure" error. I tried upgrading to DOS4.01from 3.2. This did not help. The bottom line is that it MAY be possible to get the right combination of controller, BIOS, device driver and DOS to get what you want, but I would bet dollars to donuts you are going to go through a lot of money and more time and cursing trying to get it to work. -- ----- Dion Hollenbeck (619) 455-5590 x2814 Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121 uunet!megatek!hollen or hollen@megatek.uucp
mstr@vipunen.hut.fi (Markus Strand) (03/23/91)
In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: >I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like >to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've >been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? > It is possible to add a 1.44M drive to a XT or PC, but you must have a BIOS that supports the drive. As there are no new BIOS for a XT that support the 1.44M drive you must have a new diskcontroller, with its own BIOS. Your XT would, however, support a 720k drive. So if you can cope with a 720k drive it's easy to change. You must have a driver.sys or drvparm line in your config.sys. Markus Strand mstr@vipunen.hut.fi
davem@nro.cs.athabascau.ca (Dave McCrady) (03/23/91)
sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: > I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like > to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've > been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? > > Is it the 8088 chip itself? Is it the (Phoenix) BIOS? Is it the floppy > disk controller? Or it it something that I haven't mentioned? What do I > need to upgrade in order to get this to work? > Most XT-type floppy controllers don't support high density. There are some replacements around that will let you do this .. notably the Compaticard from Micro Solutions. It can be had from Emerald Microware in Beaverton, Oregon .. 503-641-8088. Last advertised price I saw was $119.95. Bundled with UNIFORM-PC, $179.95. I've dealt mail-order with these folks a number of times; they're OK. The above card supports four drives. They also offer a two-drive version, the Compaticard II, at $89.95. Dave McCrady | ersys!davem@nro.cs.athabascau.ca +1 403-454-4054 (voice) | Disclaimer? Who needs a disclaimer? +1 403-454-6093 (public USENET) | I >own< the joint.
leoh@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Leo Hinds) (03/23/91)
In article <HOLLEN.91Mar22081840@tau.megatek.UUCP> hollen@megatek.UUCP (Dion Hollenbeck) writes: >In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: >> I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like >> to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've >> been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? >I went through this with an old DTK 8088 motherboard and DTK BIOS >and eventually ended upgrading to a 286. Yes, I was in the same >situation as you, I wanted larger floppies on my wife's trusty 8088. >I got the proper controller, which will most likely be necessary >since XT's did not generally recognize 1.44m drives. Then, I could >not get it to be recognized by the BIOS. Tried installable device >drivers, these failed too. Upgraded the BIOS (actually tried >6 different versions from different makers) and finally got a DTK >BIOS new enough to be able to recognize the drive. The trouble was >that even though FASTBACK could use the drive, and NORTON SF could >format a disk, DOS format kept giving me a "general failure" error. >I tried upgrading to DOS4.01from 3.2. This did not help. I converted my true blue (5 slot/256Kmb) IBM PC to use 1.44 MB floppies. What I had to do was the following: 1) upgrade to dos 4.01 2) Use a sysgen omni-bridge (4 floppy) controller. I tried about 6 or 7 different controllers with no good results until I tried the sysgen. The sysgen controller acts like a XT HD controller (ROM that takes over during the boot process). The only negative I could see is the the sysgen is a little slow with the 1.44 drive (or it just might be the drive - teac). >The bottom line is that it MAY be possible to get the right >combination of controller, BIOS, device driver and DOS to get >what you want, but I would bet dollars to donuts you are going >to go through a lot of money and more time and cursing trying >to get it to work. Bottom line, no trouble from any standpoint in the recognition of the 1.44 by DOS of any other program. leoh@hdw.csd.harris.com Leo Hinds (305)973-5229 Gfx ... gfx ... :-) whfg orpnhfr V "ebg"grq zl fvtangher svyr lbh guvax V nz n creireg ?!!!!!!? ... znlor arkg gvzr
gt7865a@prism.gatech.EDU (COMER,MATTHEW BRIAN) (03/25/91)
The controller in my XT has the wrong type connectors for a 720K 3.5 floppy.
How can I make it work, as the above poster mentioned??
--
Comer, Matthew Brian
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt7865a
Internet: gt7865a@prism.gatech.educur022%cluster@ukc.ac.uk (Bob Eager) (03/25/91)
In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: > I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like > to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've > been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? All you need is a new floppy controller card and a driver for it. No BIOS support is needed. You can't boot from it, though. Both Sysgen and MicroSolutions make these, among others. I have the MicroSolutions CompatiCard (they are in DeKalb, Illinois; don't know the address, I'm in the UK). CompatiCards support either two or four drives, max, and may be primary or secondary controllers. They come with drivers, and even support 8 inch disks. The basic problem is not just BIOS support, you see (the driver can fix that); you need a controller that can do high density writes. There are no doubt clone controllers too, but they probably DO need a BIOS upgrade (if you can get one....) My CompatiCard works fine on a 4.77MHz Taiwan clone XT. -------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Bob Eager | University of Kent at Canterbury | +44 227 764000 ext 7589 -------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
Kevin.Gmyrek@p5.f121.n324.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Kevin Gmyrek) (04/02/91)
> In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> > sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: > >I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like > >to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've > >been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? > >Is it the 8088 chip itself? Is it the (Phoenix) BIOS? Is it the floppy > >disk controller? Or it it something that I haven't mentioned? What do I > >need to upgrade in order to get this to work? > > I assume you have the XT's original floppy disk controller. > You'll need a new one which recognizes 1.44Mb drives. Also, if > you're going for internal, make sure you have a spare power supply > lead and, of course, a free slot for the drive ;-) > > | Noam Mendelson ..!ucbvax!web!c60b-1eq > | c60b-1eq@web.Berkeley.EDU Well, Noam, it's not quite as easy as just that! Let's assume that Eric's got a DOS version later than 3.3 which is the first version that supported 1.44 Mb 3.5" floppy disks (720Kb supported in DOS v3.2). In addition to this you also need to have an AT or PS/2 BIOS in order to support high density disks. The PC and PC/XT BIOSs only support low density disks (360Kb 5.25" and 720Kb 3.5"). Although looking at the BIOS diskette calls (Int 13h) I think you might be able to get a 1.44Mb disk working on an XT. The AT BIOS contains functions to get and set the media type but on the XT those functions are not available. The information comes from a disk parameter table whose address is stored in the vector for interrupt 1Eh. I would assume that if you could set the proper value of 18 sectors per track (as opposed to 9) into this table then you MIGHT be able to format a 1.44Mb disk. As far as reading and writing to this disk... who knows? Kevin --- FD 1.99c * Origin: My two cents worth... (worth about 1.3 cents) (1:324/121.5) -- Kevin Gmyrek - via FidoNet node 1:324/121 (UUCP/UseNet<->FidoNet gateway) UUCP: wizvax!buscard!121.5!Kevin.Gmyrek ARPA: Kevin.Gmyrek@p5.f121.n324.z1.FIDONET.ORG \wizvax!buscard!121.5!Kevin.Gmyrek
c60b-1eq@web-1c.berkeley.edu (Noam Mendelson) (04/04/91)
In article <126.27FA60A4@buscard.FIDONET.ORG> Kevin.Gmyrek@p5.f121.n324.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Kevin Gmyrek) writes: > > > In article <12206@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> > > sadoyama@argon.berkeley.edu (Eric Sadoyama) writes: > > >I've got an old Leading Edge Model D (an XT-compatible) that I'd like > > >to add a 3.5" 1.44M drive to, either internally or externally. I've > > >been told that for various reasons, I can't do this. Why? > > >Is it the 8088 chip itself? Is it the (Phoenix) BIOS? Is it the floppy > > >disk controller? Or it it something that I haven't mentioned? What do I > > >need to upgrade in order to get this to work? > > I assume you have the XT's original floppy disk controller. > > You'll need a new one which recognizes 1.44Mb drives. Also, if > > you're going for internal, make sure you have a spare power supply > > lead and, of course, a free slot for the drive ;-) > Well, Noam, it's not quite as easy as just that! Let's assume >that Eric's got a DOS version later than 3.3 which is the first >version that supported 1.44 Mb 3.5" floppy disks (720Kb supported >in DOS v3.2). > In addition to this you also need to have an AT or PS/2 BIOS in order >to support high density disks. The PC and PC/XT BIOSs only support >low density disks (360Kb 5.25" and 720Kb 3.5"). ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I had no problems with the installation on a blue XT. No BIOS upgrades were necessary to read and write 1.44M diskettes, and the system has been working flawlessly for the past two years. +==========================================================================+ | Noam Mendelson ..!agate!ucbvax!web!c60b-1eq | "I haven't lost my mind, | | c60b-1eq@web.Berkeley.EDU | it's backed up on tape | | University of California at Berkeley | somewhere." |