Using an 8" drive on a PC (WAS RE: "Smartcom II" package available)

Chuck, Thank you for clarifying that. I was not aware of that particular issue. So is this only an issue when trying to use a HD drive (e.g. 5.25" HD or an 8" DD made to simulate 5.25" HD) or can the card be used at least as a secondary controller for SD drives (e.g. 5.25" 320K/360K and 3.5" 720K)? Also does this apply if I set the drive as type 4 w/ CCDRIVER.SYS? I.E. is Type 4 considered HD even though it is to deal with SD and DD 8" drives? Speaking of the DISKETTE.CFG file I ran across your "Notes for Micro Solutions CompatiCard(tm) Users" while searching the web for more info on this. I wish I had seen it first as you clearly state the HD issue in there. I will try contacting Dave Dunfield and see if he can/is willing to support the CC II in his program. I got the impression from reading that document that all old Sydex products used that CFG file (e.g. Teledisk). I have been following the XT-FDC on and off but I thought it was still in the design and testing phase. I had asked if it would be possible to combine it with a XT-IDE for an AIO controller (i.e. FDD and IDE HDD/CF) but there wasn't much support for that. Is there another run of PCBs planned? Also, I have no idea how much PCBs cost, but was cost the reason not to go with 3/4 length board? -Ali -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Guzis Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 7:29 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Using an 8" drive on a PC (WAS RE: "Smartcom II" package available) Ali, The point I was trying to make about the CC I and II is that the operation of the density select register is completely unknown to utilities such as ImageDisk, since it's in a non-conventional place (IIRC, if the controller base port address is 0x3f2, the density select register is 0x7f2--and the meaning of the register bits themselves is different. 22Disk can handle the controller if you indicate it in the DISKETTE.CFG file, but it--and Microsolutions own products and drivers are the only other programs that do. Also, to your list of controllers, don't forget the XT-FDC project over at Erik's Vintage Computer Forum. There are PCBs available--and that one even has a 50-pin header for connecting 8" drives. --Chuck