Starting over with 8" drive on PC

[Vintage Computer Festival]

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005, Randy McLaughlin wrote:

> From: "Vintage Computer Festival" <vcf at siconic.com>
> Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:49 PM
> > Ok, starting over here since there's been a long hiatus since the last
> > time I messed around with this.
> >
> > I'm experimenting with different 8" disks trying to figure out what's
> > going on.
> >
> > First, the basics: I know my controller can handle FM because I was able
> > to successfully copy all the files off an old 160K PC disk in my 1.2M
> > 5.25" drive.
>
> By 160K I assume you are refering to DOS 2+ 160K MFM format using 250kbs
> transfer rate.  This absolutely proves your system can handle MFM, I could
> have guessed that without looking.

Ok, silly me.  I thought a 160K disk would be FM, not MFM.

> The possible problems are innumerable.
>
> Start by using 22disk to try and read an APC double density disk.

Doesn't work.  I have an unregistered version of 1.44.  I have a
registered version of 1.2x (something like that) but I can't find it.

I tried all kinds of different formats for the hell of it and none work.

> You can try to format an 8" SSSD disk from the PC and copy files to it.

How?  DOS doesn't allow you to do this.  Don't have a Linux box handy.
Don't have time.  For fuck's sake, didn't anyone ever write any decent DOS
utilities to do this shit?  (Yes, I know I am whiny, but I'm tired.)

> Make sure you are running a real DOS and not a shell from within windoze.

Of course: DOS 6.22.  The last true DOS.  The only OS MS ever did that was
actual pretty stable and robust.

> Make sure you are using 22disk version 1.42.

1.44 unregistered.

The problem still remains I don't know if my controller handles FM.  I
don't even know if this is my problem, or if I even need my controller to
handle FM.  The disks I'm trying to read purport to be double density
anyway.  What the hell am I rambling about?  I have no idea.  I'm lame.
I'm going home.

-- 

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer Festival
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