8 Nov
2007
8 Nov
'07
7:20 a.m.
On Wed, 2007-11-07 at 14:22 -0500, Allison wrote:
I may give that a try, then.
I suspected as much...maybe a good Christmas break project :)
Subject: Re: Kaypro 4/84 questions
From: Brian Wheeler <bdwheele at indiana.edu>
Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:26:54 -0500
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
On Mon, 2007-11-05 at 17:54 -0400, Roy J. Tellason wrote:
You may have to notify the software of what format is being used.
On Monday 05 November 2007 13:13, Brian Wheeler
wrote:
I've got the 3.5" drive installed and cabled and it seems to be working
rather well. I ended up using vice grips to get the screws loose in the
drive cage since the heads kept wanting to strip. As I suspected, it
really thinks its just a DSDD 5.25" drive. I formatted a disk using
mfdisk as an IBM 9 sector DS disk and could read it (as 360K) without
problems on my linux box.
The drive I ended up using was a chinon FZ-357 which has a jumper for
RDY as well as drive select jumpers. It also had the interface pins on
the same side as the original disk so I could use the original cable.
All of my other 3.5" drives had it on the other side, but the cable
wasn't long enough to shift sideways enough.
Its weird when it does a format since it counts tracks from 0 to 79 but
its really counting cylinder 1 as tracks 0 and 1, etc.
However, trying to read a kaypro formatted disk isn't working. It reads
4K and then fails. Anybody used setfdprm on linux to set up reading
kaypro iv/10 disks? They look like they're 10 sector (numbered 0x0a -
0x13), rate=2 disks. * I'd like to replace the 2nd drive with a
3.5" floppy. I've found a
Sony HD drive along with a power and plug converter. Knowing that PCs
use a twisted cable scheme, what things should I be aware of when
cabling in this new drive?
The twist in the cable was to not have to worry about jumper settings which
you had to deal with prior to that point. Those drive select jumpers are
marked, depending on the brand, either 0-3 or 1-4 on the drive electronics,
with the first two choices being the ones commonly used (0 and 1, or 1 and
2). The cable with the twist setup has both drives set to the second choice,
so you probably won't need to worry about messing with anything there,
selecting the drive should be apparent as Kaypros tend to leave the light on
all the time.
Will it be supported in some manner by the
software?
Hm, kinda doubtful, though I couldn't say for sure as it's been a long time
since I dove into those particular interface specs.
Its not a big deal if it turns out to be a 360K
3.5" floppy, as long as its
readable by my linux box.
That might just be what you end up with. Do tell us when you find out, I'd
be curious to know...
I'll probably mount the 5.25" DSDD drive
in my linux box as well, but
it'd be nice to know how to read disks without hassle :)
Now for some more questions:
* is it possible to run CP/M 3.x on it, or am I limited to 2.2G?
Yes, but without any banked memory.
* what's
the J9 header for? It looks like it has 8 data bits and 8
address bits wired to it (at least according to the schematics I've
found). Seems like it'd be possible to hang a home-made IDE interface
onto it (if I ever get time/inclination)
Its host interface for WD1001HDO HDC, Sorta like IDE save for the
board was bigger than the drive, it wasn't integrated, it was 8bit
and the registers were slightly differnt. To do IDE with that
should be easy as its basiccally the process or bus for IO. There
will not be software support (BIOS) unless you do it.
Allison
Thanks to all of the suggestions and advice!
Brian