[Coco] [Color Computer] RE: Dumb drive question?

[Keith Krehbiel]

I have no lack of senior moments but am pretty sure that all Coco drives
are double density (DD).  The standard Radio Shack drives were single
sided, double density (SSDD) 35 track drives.  That was what RSDos was
programed to handle.  Most of the drives sold by Tandy were really 40
track SSDD drives since the industry moved on and no longer made 35
track drives for most of the run of production of Color Computers.
Most, if not all, of the third party OS's allowed for 40 track drives to
be fully utilized and most, if not all, also allowed double sided (DSDD)
drives but only three per machine.  The reason for only three was that
the line used to select the fourth drive was the standard line for side
select with the controller chips used and it was needed to select the
side on the three drives on the system.  The net result was 100 more
sectors assuming a fully loaded system and usually a cheaper setup since
two or three DSDD drives could be had for less than four Tandy SSDD
drives.  Please feel free to jump in and correct any of the above.  As I
said at the outset,  I am not immune to senior moments either.
Keith


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