poulsen@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (David K. Poulsen) (12/05/90)
I have a very simple, old-fashioned upgrade problem to solve. My old, real true-blue IBM AT (8MHz) is in need of another hard disk. It just so happens that I have a spare spot in the box and spare controller connections to support another drive. What I want to do is buy another 30Meg (possibly 20Meg) hard drive (half or full height, 5.25") that will fit in the box and plug into the existing controller. It's type (that infamous small integer that IBM BIOS assigns to hard drives) has to be one that is recognizable to the system, I assume, because 1) I want the existing controller to work, and 2) I am *NOT* using DOS on this system and do *NOT* want to write any new device drivers. The question is: what drive types (manufacturers, model #s) can I buy? Where can I purchase these drives, and how much will they cost? For the reasons mentioned above, I am not interested in solutions that are not compatible with old IBM iron or that require new controllers. Please email replies, as I don't read this group too much any more (yes, this machine is a dinosaur, isn't it). Thanks! Dave Poulsen poulsen@csrd.uiuc.edu
poulsen@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (David K. Poulsen) (12/06/90)
Some additional information. The disk that's in my AT now is a Seagate ST 4038, which the system sees as a "type 20" hard drive. I believe this is a MFM disk because I'm fairly sure the controller is MFM. I can't find anyone who would sell me this type of disk (it's probably obsolete). My JDR Microelectronics catalog sells some Seagate drives such as ST 225 (20Mb MFM) and ST 238 (32Mb RLL) but I have no idea if these are compatible with my system without getting a new controller or changing cabling or whatever. Dave Poulsen poulsen@csrd.uiuc.edu
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (12/07/90)
Excerpts From Captions of netnews.comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware: 5-Dec-90 New hard disk for old AT?! David K. Poulsen@sp1.csr (1129) >I have a very simple, old-fashioned upgrade problem to solve. My old, real >true-blue IBM AT (8MHz) is in need of another hard disk. It just so happens >The question is: what drive types (manufacturers, model #s) can I buy? Where >can I purchase these drives, and how much will they cost? Simple ... If you want a 20mb drive, get a Seagate ST-225. This drive is Type 2 and will work fine with your old IBM AT. Prices and locations to get them from may easily be found in any magazine. I hope this helps. __________ ___ / \ / / /_/ / /\/ _/ / / / __/. /__ / / / / / / / / "Happy Computing ..." / / Internet: Johnny.J.Chin@andrew.cmu.edu / ------- / 4730 Centre Ave. #412 BITnet: jc58@andrew \__________/ Pittsburgh, PA 15213 UUCP: ...!uunet!andrew.cmu.edu!jc58 Computer Dr. Carnegie Mellon University "If you don't like having backups ... try driving without your spare tire." ______________________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (12/07/90)
Excerpts From Captions of netnews.comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware: 5-Dec-90 Re: New hard disk for old AT?! David K. Poulsen@sp1.csr (557) >JDR Microelectronics catalog sells some Seagate drives such as ST 225 >(20Mb MFM) and ST 238 (32Mb RLL) but I have no idea if these are compatible >with my system without getting a new controller or changing cabling or >whatever. As I said earlier ... the ST-225 will work ... the ST-238 will *NOT*. As for the cabling ... if your cables are still the same from the day IBM installed them (ie. the 34-pin connector with the twist is connected to the existing hard drive), then all you have to do is change the drive select of the new drive from either DS0 to DS1, or DS1 to DS2 (whatever, the second lowest drive select). And then just connect the drive to the other connector. Do a low-level format (make sure you enter the bad tracks), followed by FDISK, and a DOS FORMAT ... you should be up and running. I hope this works out for you. __________ ___ / \ / / /_/ / /\/ _/ / / / __/. /__ / / / / / / / / "Happy Computing ..." / / Internet: Johnny.J.Chin@andrew.cmu.edu / ------- / 4730 Centre Ave. #412 BITnet: jc58@andrew \__________/ Pittsburgh, PA 15213 UUCP: ...!uunet!andrew.cmu.edu!jc58 Computer Dr. Carnegie Mellon University "If you don't like having backups ... try driving without your spare tire." ______________________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.
davem@nro.cs.athabascau.ca (Dave McCrady) (12/07/90)
poulsen@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (David K. Poulsen) writes: > Some additional information. The disk that's in my AT now is a Seagate > ST 4038, which the system sees as a "type 20" hard drive. I believe this > is a MFM disk because I'm fairly sure the controller is MFM. I can't find > anyone who would sell me this type of disk (it's probably obsolete). My > JDR Microelectronics catalog sells some Seagate drives such as ST 225 > (20Mb MFM) and ST 238 (32Mb RLL) but I have no idea if these are compatible > with my system without getting a new controller or changing cabling or > whatever. > > Dave Poulsen > poulsen@csrd.uiuc.edu The 4038 is an MFM drive, and it should be possible to add any drive using MFM encoding. Which you choose depends on the storage required. The choises from seagate range from the ST125 (20mb to the ST4096 (80 mb, fullheight...) Dave McCrady | davem@ersys.uucp +1 403-454-4054 (voice) | ersys!davem@nro.cs.athabascau.ca +1 403-454-6093 (public USENET) | decrwl!alberta!aunro!ersys!davem
poulsen@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (David K. Poulsen) (12/08/90)
I have received many helpful replies. Thanks to all that responded! Dave Poulsen