[Coco] Re: [Color Computer] Re: using Tandy FD drives in a PC

[Peter Singfield]

There was a Coco software we used especially for this -- believe it was
called "Clone" -- or Clone Master???

Basically -- it does a complete bit image of one disk to another.

Like Norton Ghost does today.

Actually -- should not Norton Ghost work??

Some software protection depended on leaving specific tracks unformatted.

"Cloning" worked well for those.

Peter Singfield / Belize

At 12:41 PM 6/4/2004 -0000, Charlie wrote:

>The FD-501 drive worked perfectly in the 486 system. I was able to 

>format and read, write 180K disks under DOS and Anadisk worked great.

>

>I was able to copy COCO disks and they worked great. However anadisk 

>did not copy the COCO3 Sundog copy protected games. Sinistar, Warrior 

>King, Quest for Thelda all copied but didn't work the same as if I 

>had just done a BACKUP 0 TO 1 in the COCO itself.

>

>Anadisk was able to copy the COCO2 game White Fire of Eternity and I 

>believe that is copy protected. I'll have to try other games tonight.

>

>So in the end, I'm still not able to make backups of my favorite COCO 

>games :(

>

>-Charlie

>

>

>

>--- In ColorComputer at yahoogroups.com, "Mike Pepe" <lamune at d...> wrote:

>> The reason your drives are both being selected at the same time has 

>to do

>> with a quirk of PC floppy cabling. It has nothing to do with the 

>age or cpu

>> type or speed of the PC you're using.

>> 

>> All PC floppies are shipped from the factory set as "drive 1". (or 

>is it 2?

>> I'm not sure now) The twist in the cable determines which actual 

>drive

>> select line goes to the proper drive. Thus, you plug a drive into 

>the first

>> connector and it's "A", the second is "B".

>> 

>> There are two ways to solve this:

>> 

>> 1- use the PC cable, but set your CoCo drive to DS1 (or 2, if 1 

>doesn't

>> work) or:

>> 

>> 2- use a straight through cable without the twist. Set your A drive 

>to DS0

>> and your CoCo drive to DS1

>> 

>> Don't forget to remove or disable the termination on the drive 

>that's not at

>> the end of the chain.

>> 

>> I'm pretty sure the FD-501 drive has drive select jumpers, but if 

>it does

>> not, as you discovered, you can connect it as the only drive and it 

>should

>> work in any PC. You may need to experiment with the twisted/non-

>twisted

>> sockets and whether the PC thinks it's drive A or drive B.

>> 

>> > -----Original Message-----

>> > From: Charlie [mailto:chazbeenhad at h...]

>> > Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 8:57 AM

>> > To: ColorComputer at yahoogroups.com

>> > Subject: [Color Computer] Re: using Tandy FD drives in a PC

>> > 

>> > --- In ColorComputer at yahoogroups.com, Robert Emery

>> > <theother_bob at y...> wrote:

>> > > >   ----- Original Message -----

>> > > >   From: Charlie

>> > > >

>> > > >   I could NOT get the FD-501 drive to work as drive B on any 

>of 3

>> > > >   different PCs last night.

>> > > >

>> > > >   1st of all, as it was with a 1.44 floppy on the ribbon cable

>> > both

>> > > >   drives acted as A at the same time.

>> > > >

>> > > >

>> > > >   Any tips on getting this 180K fd-501 disk to work on a PC?

>> > > >

>> > > >   -Charlie

>> > >

>> > > --- sadolph <sadolph at m...> wrote:

>> > > > There is a resistor network that needs to be uninstalled, on 

>the

>> > b drive I

>> > > > believe.

>> > > >

>> > > > Also, you have to jumper the drive to be drive b.  there are

>> > usually markings

>> > > > that identify which jumper it needs to be.

>> > > >

>> > >

>> > > If your cable allows it, try putting both drives on the same 

>side

>> > of the twist

>> > > (if you can't find the DS jumpers.) The terminating resistor

>> > network should be

>> > > removed if it's not the last drive on the cable.

>> > >

>> > > Bob

>> > >

>> > 

>> > Yesterday I did get the FD-501 drive working in a Asus A7a-266 

>mobo

>> > with an Athlon 900 cpu running DOS.

>> > 

>> > My FD-501 drive has no jumpers at all. There is a spot that says 

>DS0

>> > DS1 DS2 DS3 but there are no jumper pins, the DS0 and DS1 are

>> > soldered together. Regardless, It was working as a single drive 

>A. Of

>> > course I told the bios it was a 360K floppy, but I got no error 

>and

>> > Anadisk was writing and reading from the drive just fine.

>> > 

>> > Still though, at the COCO the disks were no good. No DIR, nothing

>> > just IO errors. I took the FD-501 drive out of the PC and threw in

>> > one of the 360K drives I use on my COCO and got the same results.

>> > 

>> > So maybe it has to do with the disk controller on the mother 

>board.

>> > Or, a combo of both .....

>> > 

>> > I guess I'll have to search around here at work for the oldest 

>system

>> > I can find with a 486 or 386 cpu.

>> > 

>> > -Charlie

>> > 

>

>

>

>

>

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>

> 

>

>



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