1 Oct
2002
1 Oct
'02
4:55 a.m.
On Mon, 30 Sep 2002, Robert Little wrote:
Got a question...
I have just received an original IBM PC; actually, 2
of them (one had to be parted out). I still haven't
checked the BIOS date, but the machine does have an
origianl Intel 8088 and the power supply appears to be
the original design. Here is the crux of the
problem...
I want to refit the machine with a 720 KB 3 1/2"
drive. This was a fairly easy mod that we used to
perform on XT's, but it seems to have problems finding
the drive. Anybody out there have any experience with
this?
Did you set the dipswitches for number of drives?
There is literally NO difference between the PC and XT for installing a
floppy drive. What EXACTLY do you mean by "problems finding the
drive"? What DOS error message do you get? What Int13h error number do
you get?
If you are concerned about maintaining the pristine "original" nature of
it, then install the drive as the third or fourth (external) drive. The
original PC and XT disk controllers had a DC37 connector for that. OR,
find one of the "rare" IBM original 3.5" retrofit kits with the big
faceplate.
If you want MS/PC DOS support of it, then you need to use version 3.20 or
above, and use DRIVER.SYS. (DRIVPARM is present in both MS-DOS, and
PC-DOS (undocumented), but does not work properly with those original IBM
BIOSes) Some OEM versions of 2.11 supported 3.5" drives, but those were
custom versions, and MODE.COM, etc. may not be right for it. OR, use
third party drivers, such as John Henderson's (Tall Tree systems)'
JFORMAT. , or Manzanita, or, ...
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred