22 Dec
2005
22 Dec
'05
3:15 a.m.
On Wed, 21 Dec 2005, Al Kossow wrote:
The problem comes with discovering the format.
I've read and re-read the
8272 and 765 data sheets. From what I can see the only way to see what
sectors are on the current track is to use the ReadID command. This
returns the ID bytes from the next sector header to pass under the head.
There is no way to automatically dump all the IDs from all the sectors
from index pulse to the next index pulse (if there is, can somebody
please enlighten me).
You can read multiple IDs during a revolution (200msec)
If you don't get 'em all, put in a different delay.
A flux transition board (CopyII option board),
or a machine with a 179x can do a track read, that can be analyzed at a
glance.
Got Trakcess in your TRS80 M3/4 software?
You can analyze MOST formats by trying to read a 256 byte, a 512 byte, and
a 1024 byte sector, such as #2, and then trying the numbers up and down to
find first and last. Won't work for sectors whose numbering don't start
with 0 or 1, or ones with invalid headers (such as side B of Kaypro)