[Coco] 80 trk drives

[Roger Merchberger]

Rumor has it that XYZ may have mentioned these words:
>I have extended ADOS-3 and it can be setup for 80 trk drives my question 
>is a 80 trk drive a 3 1/2 drive or a 5 1/4 drive

Yes.

;-)

Most 3.5" drives are 80 track (Technically - 80 *cylinder*; being 
double-sided they'd be 160 track total! ;-) and can use 720K floppies 
easily enough. OS-9 works well for those, too.

For 5.25" drives, you'd need to check on the model numbers -- there's the 
possibility of 35, 40 and 80 track drives. Be careful - some 80 track 
drives may not work, since the 1.2Meg drives (unless they're jumperable to 
720K only operation) require a different data rate; and rotate at a 
different speed. 720K drives need a 250Kbit data clock, the HD drives (and 
8" drives) need a 500Kbit data clock.

[[ Most 3.5" drives will automatically shift their required data rate and 
rotational speed based on the existence of the "HD hole." Just make sure 
you're using good 720K floppies (1.4Meg are not interchangeable due to 
different magnetic characteristics) and you should be fine. ]]

There are instructions for modifying the old, original (read: requires 12V) 
floppy controller to run 8" and HD drives...

... Me, I'd much rather have a Frank Hogg Labs Eliminator. Anyone got one 
they wanna get rid of? ;-)

Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger

--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger   | Anarchy doesn't scale well. -- Me
zmerch at 30below.com.         |
SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers