SA4000 [was: Disc drive READY output -- any standards?] - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

18 Jan 2011

...
  Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:13:08 -0600
 From: Jules Richardson <jules.richardson99 at gmail.com>
 Subject: Re: SA4000 [was: Disc drive READY output -- any standards?]
 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
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 Tom Gardner wrote:
  I believe it was the first HDD of any sort to use
a floppy disk type of
 interface.  It was followed by the SA1000 interface, which in turn
 became the ubiquitous industry standard ST506 interface.  Since it was
 first, it is not surprising that it had problems,
 many of which it inherited from the Shugart floppy interfaces
 it was trying to resemble so as to reduce design in times.  
 Was it really done that way because it was supposed to look just like a
 big floppy at the interface level?  That is my understanding from the folks at
Shugart who did it.

...
 Is that actually documented somewhere? Possibly,
how important is it to find it on paper?  It was explicitly stated
as an objective of the next generation, SA1000, "Command signals for the
SA1000 use the same pin configuration as its floppy counterpart. Data
signals are handled through a different data separator because of the higher
transfer rates" ED 9/13/1979

...
  What would be needed to add a parallel address
interface?  <snip>
Probably could make it look like an SMD interface with a microcontroller.

Tom