20 Nov
2009
20 Nov
'09
1:43 a.m.
Fred Cisin wrote:
MMFM?
Yes, with appropriate software.
Amiga (MFM, without IBM style sector headers)
Yep. Set the hardware to MFM-sync, using the sync-word 0x4489 (SYNC-A1).
Tandy PDD? (3.5" ""hard
sector"" (index off of spindle?))
Should be possible.
3" (Amdek, Amstrad, etc.)
3.25" (Dysan)
are hard to distinguish from 5.25"
If you can find me a drive and a pinout, I'll tell you :)
Some formats, such as Intertec Superbrain had the data
bits inverted
relative to the header bits
Some, such as TRS80, got weird with their Data Address Marks
That would be a software issue, not a hardware one. As long as there's
either an FM or MFM synch word to lock onto, or an index pulse, reading
the data should be possible. Decoding it might take some work.
2.5" and 2.9" There were some with
"conventional structures", and some
with single track spirals
That might involve increasing the buffer size on the analyser. My
prototype is 512K (because that's how big the SRAM on the Altera DE1
board is), but the "plan" is to use a 256K chip (big enough to allow a
track to be read index-to-index twice in one operation, making it
possible to find the "start" and "end" of a track in software).
Amlyn which preceded IBM's 1.2M is 5 1.2M disks in
a cartridge with a disk
changer mechanism
Kodak, Drivetec
2.8M "ED" "vertical recording"
3.5" 360 RPM, 1000K bits per second
I've got one of these drives somewhere.. an IBM thing with no pinout or
documentation. I know it's Shugart interface with a few extra pins added
(the ribbon cable provides both power and data IIRC).
"Floptical" (20M 3.5", SCSI interface)
LS120? (IDE interface)
Iomega products (only readable by Iomega drives until the Click of death)
Not a chance. I'm not doing IDE or SCSI, just the lower-level
interfaces: MFM, RLL and (possibly) ESDI.
Exatron Stringy Floppy
Tape drives that used an SA400 interface
Maybe, if someone writes the software.
I saw a "memory stick"? reader that was
shaped like a 3.5" floppy, and
inserted into the floppy drive
That would probably be SmartDisk's floppy-disc memory card reader. They
were talking about its potential uses in software protection dongles in
the mid-90s. I seem to recall there being an article in "Electronics:
The Maplin Magazine" about it, but I don't know which issue it's in (and
I have six A4 box files full of them).
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/