On 13 Mar 2007 at 11:32, Jules Richardson wrote:
As hinted at in another post a few days ago, I'd
like to add an 8" drive (or
possibly more than one if necessary) to my Imagedisk machine in order to be
able to archive 8" media.
...
On many 8" drives, HS and SS operation is set by jumpers on the drive
electronics board. Some drives have an onboard FM data separator.
Seek rates and mechanisms can be all over the map. Pinout need not
be the same (IIRC, Calcomp drives feed their power through the 44-pin
connector). There is less of a standard form factor ((i.e. floppy
slots and latch positions are not usually the same from manufacturer
to manufacturer). Power connectors can be significantly different.
Some drives have binary select; others have radial select; many have
both. Options (e.g. door lock, eject) can vary. Some require +24,
+12, +5 and -5 power supplies; others will get by fine on +24 and +5
only. Some have a DC motor; most full-height models use an AC mains-
powered motor. Some are single-sided only--others are double-sided.
Generally, the later the drive was produced, the more likely it is
that it conforms to a Shugart SA-850 interface. Early 8" drives
mostly demonstrate how different implementations can be. For me,
some early Japanese drives are still a mystery.
Forget about using a hard-sector drive with a 765-type controller.
It doesn't work that way. Get a Catweasel if you want to do those.
That's what I can think of at the moment. I'm certain there's more.
Personally, I have a liking for the full-height Siemens and Qume
drives. I never cared much for the half-height 8" drives.
Cheers,
Chuck