What is a Sirius? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

10 Jul 1999

Hi Tony,

...
 > Have you ever found software which will drive the
Centronics port
>as GPIB?.... 
...
 No. It wouldn't be too hard to write it, though...

All I/O is memory mapped. The base addresses for the 3 VIAs seem
to be.... 
Aha....you have detailed technical docs on the machine???

I managed to get a "service manual" several years ago but it has nothing even
remotely useful in it.... :-(

...
 What I was really looking for, though, was sound
_input_ software. The
hardware is almost there (you'd need a preamplifier, that's all). 
Sorry, I'd misunderstood what you meant.

...
 Aren't they 80 track? They certainly seemed to be.
Which of course means
the heads are different to the PC drive ones.... 
Augh, major brain fade....you're correct of course, the Sirius uses 80 track
drives (I'd been fiddling with an XT before I wrote the message).

What I think I was getting at....is that pretty much any 80 track drive from
that era should work, as long as you can remove the analogue/motor control
boards (which isn't usually possible on more modern drives).

  TTFN - Pete.

--
Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer.
Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC)

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