17 Oct
2001
17 Oct
'01
9:01 a.m.
--- Chris <mythtech(a)Mac.com> wrote:
I just dug out my 2 "hard drive on a card"
units... One is a Plus
Hardcard (says so right on it), I have NO idea what kind of
a drive is connected to it (4 small ribbon cables marked R/W, Encoder,
Motor, Rotor... don't know what kind of drive connects that way)
I've seen those hardcards - they made them fit the available space
by folding the drive's analog hardware and the ISA controller into
one board. Remember; early drive controllers were longer than a
short card. By combining the functions, there was now room for a
tallish 3.5" drive and all the support circutry.
My initial reaction to them was that they were a doomed design because
you had to replace the entire unit; it wasn't feasible to upgrade just
the drive. Eventually, they went to XT-IDE - I have one in my Commodore
Colt (because I was having problems with the internal XT-IDE interface).
I pulled the card and drive from the frame and mounted them semi-normally.
It's been a while since I've been inside the Colt, but ISTR there isn't
room for full-length cards in there (since by then, most of the options
were 2/3 length and the Colt has just about everything you'd ever want
in an XT, already on the mainboard. I use mine for driving an EPROM
burner that is speed sensitive and won't work in a 486).
Hardcards are very nice for putting stuff into a PC or XT when you
have already filled the drive bays with floppy drives. I was thinking
about moving one from my Compaq luggable to the Amstrad. I wasn't sure
the PSU could take it, though.
-ethan
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