7 Sep
2013
7 Sep
'13
11:20 a.m.
A few monthes ago there was a discussion about modifieng 12 secor packs to
make them 16.
very handy but not something I have the equiopment to to, however I have
been experimenting with softsectoring an RK05 and tonight got a susessfull
16 sectore format of a 12 sector pack.
How 'repeatable is it? If you format a pack as 16 sectors, remove it,
wait a bit, put it back in, does it all work? I assume so, but it can't
hurt to check.
Im pulling out the raw secotor/index pulse train from
the M7700, feeding
this into a PIC18F8720 and using this to synthesize a 16 sector train which
is fed back into the M7700, ok it does mean I have to modify the M7700 but
its only 1 cut track and 2 wires out, also its not at all peroid correct (
I really do prefer to keep my clasiscs using technology that could have
been around at the time (actually, one reason I use classic computers in
the first place is that I find the hardware a lot easier to understnad
than the modern stuff, but anyway). I am just wondering how impossible it
would be to implement much the smae solution with simple logic ICs.
sorry Tony ) but if it means I can have more than
the 1 usable 16 sector
pack I have right now then im a happy bunny.
Sure...
My more immeidate problem (for suitable values of immediate, it's not
going to get worked on in the nxt few months) is to come up with a
working HP 25 sector drive.
I do have an HP7900, which is the right drive for what I want to do, but
it is not in good shape, and the heads may well not fly. If I can get
that drive to work, the problem then becomes making a 24 sector pack,
soemthign which is easier than making a 16 sector one (it is just a
matter of cutting an extra notch between each pair of existing notches
(well, ignore the index one).
If the HP drive is not repairable, then I have to come up with some
alternative. IIRC HP drives spin faster than DEC ones (and hav a higher
data rate as a result), so using an RK05 is not going to be totally
trivial.
Well shall see...
-tony