23 May
2023
23 May
'23
9:41 a.m.
On Mon, May 22, 2023 at 5:25 PM js(a)cimmeri.com <js(a)cimmeri.com> wrote:
On 5/22/2023 5:38 AM, Tony Duell via cctalk wrote:
I am sorry, but I think this
is a stupid suggestion for many reasons.
It is, however, a viable suggestion, and that is better than none :)
I do seriously wonder why nobody has been suggesting the
flux-transition type of device. If it can be got to work then it would
seem the ideal solution in that it can handle anything the disk drive
[1] can handle, including non FM/MFM formats. Is it that such devices
don't work, or what? The Greaseweazle has schematics, firmware source
and application source all available (OK I don't know python but would
be happy to spend time learning that if need be) and thus would seem
to be easier to keep going than some unknown PC.
[1] Actually, do any such devices handle hard-sector disks? There
seems to be no technical reason why not, but I've never seen it listed
as a capability. But as just about all my machines use soft-sectored
disks this is not really an issue.
[...]
I hereby formally retract my erroneous suggestion of a
"386 98,SP2 desktop
with floppies and USB", and replace my suggestion with:
"a PC with USB and floppies", and let Tony decide what vintage to use.
Fully concur. If it were me, I'd probably suggest some box with from
the end of the era which came with an onboard floppy controller, and
dual-boot 98SE and some old Linux that can handle such a thing, like
Slackware or Debian. That would cover the most bases. I wouldn't worry about the built in disk
controller. You can add the
functionality you need with an Adaptec SCSI controller w/ floppy.
Which AFAIK is no longer made and not necessarily available.
Why do you need a monitor and keyboard? And since you don't drive,
again, have you heard of eBay?
Well,, I need a monitor so I can see I've typed the command correctly,
use a GUI (if that's what the OS uses) and see error messages. I need
a keyboard to type the commands, and indeed to satisfy the POST of
most such machines.
I do not have such things around. Very few of my computers are PCs.
-tony