Actually they could all write MFM (double density). The problem was that
some couldn't read what they had written because there was inadequate write
precompensation and the waveform peaks were at the wrong time during read
and their amplifiers weren't sensitive enough to catch them. In any case
what the COULD and what the DID were often not the same.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: tandon 848-2 8" floppy drive
>>
>> Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
>> floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
>
>Easiest way to see how many sides it can do is to look at the number of
>heads. If the thing on the 'top' side (away from the spindle) is a head
>(i.e. it has wires going to it), it's double sided.
>
>Also look at the number of index sensors. Most (all?) double-sided drives
>have 2 of them as the index hole is in different places on SS and DS 8"
>disks.
>
>AFAIK, almost all 8" drives, other than possibly the _very_ early ones
>can do double density.
>
>-tony
>
It's really quite simple. I looked at mine (not an easy trick, considering
where they were) and saw that they were plugged into the same oiwer supply
as my QUME or Shugart or whatever they were had been. They appear to have
the same power huukups as the older drives, except that there's no AC
power. Now, I can't swear to that, since it was dark in there, but I surely
didn't see an AC cable to the slimline drives. I don't know whether this
particular box has -5 or -12 to the drives, but I believe it's -5. That
works in more cases than the -12, since only SOME drives have the onboard
regulator for the negative supply.
As usual, you can be pretty safe assuming the obvious. I doubt the
manufacturers would have used the same supply connector if they hadn't
intended one to use the same supply.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 3:48 PM
Subject: Re: tandon 848-2 8" floppy drive
><Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
><floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
><so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
><connector it uses.
>
>DS is easy, look for a top and bottom head. DD is easy as with rare
>exception all can do DD.
>
>The power connector is a different matter.
>
>Allison
>
Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
connector it uses.
-Lawrence LeMay
lemay(a)cs.umn.edu
<Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
<floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
<so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
<connector it uses.
DS is easy, look for a top and bottom head. DD is easy as with rare
exception all can do DD.
The power connector is a different matter.
Allison
I have a couple of these, but, unfortunately no data. In my case, however,
they're in a system which, though it hasn't been turned on in five or six
years, is presumably functional. I imagine that at a minimum I can provide
you with information about power and jumpers for my CP/M application. These
drives are DSDD, by the way, and step at 3 ms or, in some cases, faster,
though my controllers won't go faster.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence LeMay <lemay(a)cs.umn.edu>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 2:18 PM
Subject: tandon 848-2 8" floppy drive
>Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
>floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
>so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
>connector it uses.
>
>-Lawrence LeMay
> lemay(a)cs.umn.edu
<It's been my experience that the ONLY way to ensure that the autoinstall
<software of one of SMC's network boards works properly is to put it in a
<system which does not have PLUG_N_PLAY capability and then ensure it's the
Just installed one at work into a file/printserver (W95 and HP6000).
Did it by the book and it went as no big deal. I did as usual remove the
bad one delete it from the device profile first or W95 will get stupid.
I have PnP system of the early genreation types most are P133 and P166
with loads of lagacy stuff around and generally they behave. when they
don't I've found the manufacturers disk to be handy (Intel EPRO10/PnP
especially) to sort out the occasional errant card pulled from the spares
bin (used but known good).
Allison
Out of curiousity does anyone have a Harris H-500 preserved in their
collection? I was thinking about this today, I've not seen anything on any
Harris Mini's. This was the first real computer that I used/worked on.
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
The computer has bays for two floppy and two hard disk drives. You do have
to open it up to see them, but if you've seen the controller board, and if
you've seen the dip switches, you must know whether or not you have the
winchester drive(s). A -20 normally had a single 20MB drive, which, for
those days, was pretty decent. Two of them - WOW! that was a BIG machine.
If you haven't got hard disks in the box, or if they're disconnected, you
should probably connect them up and try to see if they boot. That "IPL . .
." message is what you get when it sees there's nothing in the Floppy Drive.
Do you have a floppy drive? Let's figure out what's on this machine before
we go off half-cocked.
The boot disk is no big deal to create, though my '806's are both sitting
outdoors, having had their HDD's cannibalized years ago. I can probably
read the things with my AMPRO, which means I should be able to write them as
well.
I need to know whether your floppy drives are 48TPI or 96 TPI drives, since
both were in common use.
Next time you're inside the box, see what else is inside. Are there any
daughterboards, or are there any empty sockets?
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:28 PM
Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>I hadn't known thats what they were for (winch)...If I ever get some, I bet
>I can rig something up. After fiddling around some more (thanks for the
>info, all), I've got it to work...kind of...When it starts it now says
>"System IPL from Hard disk in progress". Then no more... I know the disk
>booted before ...I could type garbage back when I was getting garbage
>(about 4 times before it quit)... It would be great if you could send me a
>boot disk... Televideo hasn't replied to my e-mails yet...I'll give them a
>few more days..
>
> T.H.x.
> Devon
>
>At 06:24 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>Well, I'm not sure I agree about the relative importance of cables with
>>which to interface a hard disk. That's probably the one thing that makes
a
>>computer compute fast enough to be useful.
>>
>>First of all I'd try 9600 baud before anything else, since I believe
that's
>>the default. I don't remember what the board switches do, but I can hunt
>>around for the manual and get back to you. I wouldn't use PCAW, as a
>>terminal, myself. I haven't had good luck with it. How about
Hyperterminal
>>of Procomm. I've used both of those in connection with a PC and had
better
>>luck than with PCAW, though I've had good luck using PCAW for file
>>transfers, etc.
>>
>>This box was ostensibly a file server and probably contains VERY important
>>software, e.g. the MMMost (or whatever it was called) network OS, which
>>isn't around any longer. This box is capable of serving as a single-user
>>system, but if you still have the HDD, from which it should boot all by
>>itself if it hasn't been roached up, you might want to preserve it.
>>
>>Well you're in luck . . . I got a phone interruption after which I thought
>>of a place to look for the manual...Oddly enough, that's where it was.
>>
>>The manual says the "upper" four bits of the dip switch is used for baud
>>rate settings. The lower four bits (5,6,7,8) are unused except for
position
>>8 which is reserved for diagnostics. Obviously, the one who wrote this
>>manual was on drugs. A closed switch is a zero.
>>
>>The baud rates go from 19.2K down to 75, with ascending values from 0000
to
>>1000, remembering that a 0 means CLOSED. Switch 1 is the lsb.
>>
>>I hope that helps you get it going!
>>
>>If you need a boot diskette, maybe I can help you there as well.
>>
>>Televideo, by the way, is still in business, so it's not inconceivable
they
>>might be able to help too, if you ask them.
>>
>>Dick
>
It's been my experience that the ONLY way to ensure that the autoinstall
software of one of SMC's network boards works properly is to put it in a
system which does not have PLUG_N_PLAY capability and then ensure it's the
only card other than the controller and video board. That will tell you
right away whether it's jumpered/set-up the way you thought, and it will
allow you to fix it provided you're not trying to program a conflict of
either address space or interrupt.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: OT request: need SIIG and SMC network drivers
>On Sat, 12 Jun 1999, Francois wrote:
>
>> I sometimes found cards that did not work and were impossible to
configure
>> though EZSTART or whatever the utility is, it would tell me that there
was
>> no NIC in the computer. In that case I always had to toss the card and
try a
>> new one.
>
>Darn, I was hopeing you were going to pass on some wisdom as to how to get
>the card working again. I'm getting the same symptoms, so I guess its
>time to toss the card and try a new one.
>
>Thanks for the help, All.
>
>Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
>
> Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
> See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
> [Last web site update: 05/25/99]
>
Damn, the only two ISA network cards I can find and can't get drivers for
niether. What a pain in the arse.
I've got a SIIG network card with the driver RETH.COM (ODI driver for
Netware) but for the life of me can't figure out how to pass in the IO
address and IRQ parameters. Siig's website makes no mention of their
network cards oddly (rather stupidly) enough.
I've got an SMC Ether EZ 10Mbps but can't find the proper Netware
ODI driver for it on their stupid website.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 05/25/99]
