ISA ( PC ) 8" floppy disk CONTROLLER ???

[Fred Cisin]

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, GerardCJAT wrote:
> For an OLD PC  ( ISA slot )  obviously ....
> Does this "beast" ever existed ??
Yes
> Does anyone recall some manufacturer's name ??
Yes
> Have I any chance to find one on Ebay or other at this time ??
Slim
> Or is "DBIT" adapter the only way to go ?
Do you mean the CABLE adapter (that also adds TG43)?  That adapts 34 pin
to 50 pin cabling, but does NOT provide any sort of FDC operation.


Do you need SD/FM?  Or will DD/MFM suffice?


For 8 bit (PC/5150, XT/5160) ISA:

Flagstaff Engineering marketed an 8" drive system for PC/5150.
It consisted of an OEM IBM 5150 FDC, or infringing clone, with
a few trace cuts and extensive green wire mods.
Doctor Marty reverse engineered the mod and converted a few FDCs.

Vista sold an FDC with 8" support.
Maynard sold an FDC with 8" support.
Talltree (JRAM/JLASER/etc.) sold an FDC with 8" support.
Did MicroSolutions (Uniform) Compaticard support 8"?
There were generic FDCs with 8" support.
Not all supported SD/FM


For 16 bit (5170/AT) ISA:

All of the above, and
almost any controller that supports "1.2M" will do 8"
The "1.2M" drive started its design life as an 8" drive cut
down to use 5.25" disks.  The early drives even had 50 pin cable.
Later drives had 34 pin cable.
THAT is where your DBIT adapter can help, if you can't make your own
cable.  (and, it adds TG43 support, which is not necessary for reading.

BUT, many/most of the "1.2M" controllers are hardwired for DD/MFM
(see David Dunfield's site for some info about SD/FM support)


Software is a separate issue.

--
Grumpy Ol' Fred     		cisin at xenosoft.com