Free NCR tower in Miami FL. - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

8 Dec 1999

On Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:37:24 -0700 "Richard Erlacher" &lt;edick(a)idcomm.com&gt;
writes:
...
  MFM disk
controller was made by NCR, but it looks like a 'cookbook'
design using the WD-100x chipset.

 SMILE when you say that, pahdnuh!  That cookbook design is what made 
 the microwinchester drive so simple to include that anyone with two grey 
...
  cells and a little PLL knowledge could put together a
winchester 
 interface. That's why they became so cheap.  It was the only way to do your
own
...
  controller at a competitive price for several years,
until SMC brought out
...
  their 9224 chip.  Unfortunately, by that time the
patent on RLL recording
...
  had expired, so everybody wanted RLL. 
Well, I merely wanted to state that while NCR 'rolled their own', 
it really wasn't anything special.  The wd-100x chipset certainly
was revolutionary, however.  That meant almost anyone with a wire-wrap
tool and enough parts could interface a winchester to just about
anything (like say, a Xerox machine?).  That was a major breakthrough
in 1981, but by 1984 (when my machine was built), it was pretty standard.

Who held the patent on RLL, and (consequently) lost their shirt 
when it became standard on 'smart' disk drives?

Jeff

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