CP/M 2 - what's its legal status? (Vector box cards)

[Chuck Guzis]

On 11/24/2005 at 2:21 AM M H Stein wrote:

>But the question still remains whether the FDD is soft or hard
>sectored; it does indeed look like a Tandon and not the usual
>Micropolis and if the model number can't be relied on, how
>could one tell (other than by trial & error)?

Sorry, I meant Bitstreamer, not Flashwriter.  

The drive model isn't going to tell you anything but the track density and
the one/two sidedness of the recording capabilities (but then, you could
tell the sidedness by looking at the heads--SS drives have a felt pad and
not a head on one side.

I've seen soft-sectored diskettes only on late Vectors like the 4; this
isn't one, so it's a pretty safe bet that it's a HS diskette.  If the drive
is indeed a Tandon TM-100-4M, it's 100 tpi.  It *might* also be 100 tpi if
it says TM-100-4, rather than 96 tpi.  That can be verified easily enough
by using the drive on something like a PC to format a soft-sectored
diskette, then checking the result on a 96 tpi drive.  If track 0's in the
right place, it's 96 tpi;  otherwise it's probably 100 tpi.

Just wondering if the serial number if this unit is the same 1003 that the
1999 posting describes.

In any case, give Herb Johnson a call; he's got a pile of Vector manuals,
the last I heard.  He's also got 16-sector 5.25" diskettes for sale.

Cheers,
Chuck