Ok, apparently my PC knowledge is dated ;)
I've been working on rebuilding my Hercules setup (vm/360 with CMS and MVS/JES2). This
is currently a token ring setup with a 3179 terminal going to a 3174 establishment
controller. The 3174 connects to an IBM 8228 MAU. Also connected to the MAU is a token
ring card in a PC running Linux/Hercules. I'm changing it to a FreeBSD PC that
dualboots with FreeBSD (for hercules) and DRDOS (for PUTR which I'll use a 5.25 floppy
for, and for running PromLink to attach to my Data I/O, and several other classiccmp
related items that require DOS). Long story short, it will be a more "general purpose
(classiccmp)" PC. I'm getting rid of the token ring card in the PC (FreeBSD
dropped Olicom support, the only token ring card previously supported). So the PC running
hercules will connect to an IBM 8271 ethernet switch, which connects to an IBM 2210-24M
token ring/ethernet router. That will connect to the MAU and back to the 3174 and 3179.
Much to my chagrin, I've become aware when I started rebuilding that PC last night
with a modern mainboard that most mainboards these days that have a FDC connector (many
don't even have one) which only supports ONE floppy drive. I really need to have both
5.25 and 3.5 floppy drives, and they need to be recognized by DOS (which rules out any
cards that have special drivers). I can't find a PCI floppy controller, and even if I
could I'm worried DRDOS won't recognize it.
So, the only idea I can think of is would it be possible to put a small switch on the
front panel that allows me to switch between 3.5 floppy and 5.25 floppy? I realize I'd
have to reboot and change BIOS settings each time, but at least I would have to derack the
PC and open the case and move cables. Any ideas if that is feasible or anyone have some
other ideas?
Jay