Any AMIGA users? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

3 Jan 2002

...
  -----Original Message-----
 From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) [mailto:cisin@xenosoft.com] 
...
  IRRELEVANT.
 The discussion was how to make an Amiga disk using a PC.
 It can not be done with the stock PC hardware.  
 Somebody said that it could be done with the stock PC, by using Linux.
 THAT IS WRONG. 
Well, you don't have to shout. :)  That statement would obviously be incorrect. (I
admit that I missed this assertion the first time around)  It can _possibly_ be done with
a modified peesee, and it can probably be done with a couple of other machines unmodified
(but still using linux and the normal floppy drivers).

...
  The "standard linux floppy disk driver" will
operate the 
 Catweasel card?
 (It is NOT a floppy disk controller in terms of BIOS level 
 interaction.) 
I was under the impression that it would drive a catweasel card.  I was not aware that the
card was significantly different than other (normal peesee) floppy interfaces, though, so
perhaps I got the wrong idea from somewhere.  

On the other hand, the linux "floppy driver" is, as I understand it, actually a
collection of drivers, and the same code-base may actually be used to handle all manner of
strange disk/drive setups.

...
  Or 
 The "standard linux floppy disk driver" will do stuff that is 
 impossible
 with the PC hardware, without needing the Catweasel? 
Obviously not. :)  Well, not if you're running linux on "PC hardware."  If
you're running linux on, for instance, a Macintosh, it will read and write 400 and
800k mac disks, which is impossible on "PC hardware." ;)  (Let's not get
into that again, though...)

...
  It WOULD be possible to write a floppy disk driver for
Linux 
 that could
 make use of the Catweasel.  But it has, apparently NOT been done, and
 therefore suggestions of USING that are inappropriate. 
True enough, and as I said, I've heard of no special catweasel driver; just that linux
would operate the catweasel controller.  Since I don't have a catweasel, I can't
really verify that.

...
  > Or ... one could write an amiga filesystem for
linux.  I actually
 > wonder why this hasn't been done. 
...
  For use with linux on an Amiga? 
No, for use with hard disks, SCSI removable media, and the like, which could likely be
transported without trouble.

...
  Or are you trying to say that writing an amiga
filesystem for 
 Linux, would
 permit a PC running Linux to read and write Amiga disksettes without
 special hardware? 
Well, for all I know, Amiga may have had a 1.44MB format which could work, but that's
just a guess, based on the fact that Apple's works fine.

...
  Could you also write one for NorthStar-DOS?
(hard-sectored) 
Given a hard sectored drive, I would guess... (Or what about putting a soft-sector drive
in the NorthStar?)

It's a pretty normal format otherwise, right?

...
  How about one for Apple-DOS?  (GCR) 
That's more difficult.

...
  How about one that reads 8" diskettes in a
5.25" drive?  
 (Maybe trimming
 the edges, and not being able to read some outer tracks :-) 
Actually you might be able to get by with it in a high density drive, given some way of
attaching the disk to the "spindle" of the drive, and provided that you
didn't really want to keep the disk anyway (or possibly the drive!), and if you were
willing to write mind-numbingly useless special-purpose software.  Otherwise, I hear that
CompatiCard will drive an 8" floppy ;)

Regards,

Chris

Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL

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