Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:44:06 -0700
From: Al Kossow
Has anyone ever documented what the encoding and disk
format is on
these floppies?
I was approached several years ago to decode a pile of Victor 9000
diskettes and got as far as deciphering the GCR. The customer then
decided to abandon the project, so I never got any farther than that.
I think that I still have the samples I worked with in my collection.
GCR wasn't terribly unusual in the 70s. Commodore was definitely not
the first to use it on disk drives, in spite of what some may claim
(it may have been Sperry/ISS).
ISTR that one of the rags (EDN, perhaps) had a great article at the
time on exactly how the whole Victor disk thing worked. I never
bothered to keep a copy of it, unfortunately.
I never liked Victor as a company. Early on, they made it a point to
file suit for trademark infringement against any US electronics
operation with the name "Victor", including, IIRC, an appliance store
owner who had been using the name for 20 years. It was a bullying
tactic that I found distasteful.
I remember that the sign on their building was quite visible as you
drove on highway 17 through Scotts Valley.
Cheers,
Chuck