Tony Duell wrote:
Be careful!
The first (only if you are using only one)
hard disk drive uses DS3. The RX50 rarely needs any
settings changed - I would not know how if asked since
I have never used more than a single (dual) RX50.
There is a single, unmarked, jumper on the seek/interface PCB in the RX50
-- the one mounted verticalled at the back of the drive that the
interface cables plug into. It's normally unjumpered. Jumering it will
change the drive selects from 0,1 to 2,3. I don't know if that's what
needs to be done, but it seems likely.
Jerome Fine replies:
As usual, the expert knows a bit more.
Do you need to remove the case to find the jumper?
The last time I removed the case was to toss the
RX50 and insert TWO RX33 drives instead. These
are (for those who know) standard HD 5/14" PC
drives, but of a specific make and model. Others
who remember (remember I am 66 years old now)
can provide the information. I added a Y power
connector and used a 34 pin (did I get it correct
this time?) PC floppy cable without the "twist".
There was a 34 pin female header at one end and
2 edge connectors at the other end daisy chained
to the 2 5 1/4" floppy drives. The first drive
is (I am still using them) jumpered for 0, the
second for 1. Naturally an RQDX3 is REQUIRED to
use the RX33. What is EXTREMELY unusual is that
DEC allows the RT-11 command:
FORMAT DU0:
which actually can perform a LLF (Low Level Format)
on RX33 media which then have an LLF identical to
the HD 1.2 MByte PC media per 80 tracks with 16 blocks
per track and double sided.
I must admit that the only other time I removed
the RX50 case was to give one that did not work
to my grandson. I had rescued about 50 from a
dumpster and could not use them all. He was very
angry that day and used a big hammer to convert
the RX50 into very small pieces. It was such
fun that he stopped being angry. It seemed like
a good cause at the time. I still have 25 more
RX50 drives to toss after I removed the bottom
black plastic. For personal pickup in Toronto!!
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
--
If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail
address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk
e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be
obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the
'at' with the four digits of the current year.
