[comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware] Hooking up an old 8" drive

v078p6g8@ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu (Richard M Wasserman) (12/15/90)

I realize this question may be rather arcane but I promised a friend so hear
it goes.  I've just come across a rather old ( & somewhat battered ) 8" 
Shugart disk drive - my friend has been planning on converting his office
over from an old Wang wordproccessor system w/ 8" drives to and ibm pc based
system (nothing fancy - no networking etc.).  My two fold question is - does
anyone Know how I might use the 8" drive I have to facilitate this (ie how can
I hook it up to an IBM) and secondly are there any pd or commercial text
filters out there to convert from Wang wordproccessor format to lets say 
WordPerfect.  Any replies would be greatly appreciated either on how to do the
above or on any way to cheaply convert the 8" Wang disks over to 3 or 5-1/4
using a service or whatever.  Direct replies would also be greatly appreciated
since I don't often read this group.  Thanks in advance.
			Rich Wasserman
			v078p6g8 @ UBVMS

donm@pnet07.cts.com (Don Maslin) (12/16/90)

v078p6g8@ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu (Richard M Wasserman) writes:
>system (nothing fancy - no networking etc.).  My two fold question is - does
>anyone Know how I might use the 8" drive I have to facilitate this (ie how can
>I hook it up to an IBM) and secondly are there any pd or commercial text
>filters out there to convert from Wang wordproccessor format to lets say 
>WordPerfect.  Any replies would be greatly appreciated either on how to do the
>above or on any way to cheaply convert the 8" Wang disks over to 3 or 5-1/4
>using a service or whatever.  Direct replies would also be greatly appreciated
>since I don't often read this group.  Thanks in advance.


Yes, it is possible to connect an 8" drive to a PC, but it is not practical
for the use that you have in mind.  Wang uses hard sector 8" diskettes in their
systems, and no PC controller that I am aware of can read a hard sector
diskette.

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rfutscher@pbs.org (12/20/90)

In article <51401@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, v078p6g8@ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu (Richard M Wasserman) writes:
> I realize this question may be rather arcane but I promised a friend so hear
> it goes.  I've just come across a rather old ( & somewhat battered ) 8" 
> Shugart disk drive - my friend has been planning on converting his office
> over from an old Wang wordproccessor system w/ 8" drives to and ibm pc based
> system (nothing fancy - no networking etc.).  
> 
We have a simular problem here at PBS.  We have a huge archive of close
captioning on 8" disks.  I found a card that will allow you to connect
an 8" drive to a PC.  It is a Compaticard I.  But I can't find any software
to read Zilog Z-DOS disk. They have 32 hard sectors.  If anyone can help
please send me a message.
    Robert Futscher  rfutscher@pbs.org