Tim Haynes wrote:
We all know that a PC cannot read/write an A2 disk because of basic MFM/GCR differences.What about the possibility of putting together a specialized cable that would adapt a standard A2 5.25" drive to a PC's serial port?
You need a data rate of 255,682 bits per second, and you need to keep that rate quite exactly; that's beyond the capability of standard PC serial ports. Plus, the drive can't deal with the start/stop bits which the serial port expects. Plus, the voltages are wrong.
On the paralell port, maybe; but at least write timing will be problematic, and still some voltages will be wrong.
The cable would also have to pull power from somewhere - possibly from a molex connector hooked into the PC's power supply?
If you don't mind that the drive will always spin, this will be easy; otherwise you need to build something to switch the motor power on and off. Standard PC ports can't source enough current by far to run the drive motor on a switchable line without external electronics.
And then we'd need some specialized PC software to actually do the reading/writing.
Right; and it would in all probability run only in pure MS-DOS mode. Otherwise correct timing is probably impossible to get.
Does this seem at all feasible? Any thoughts?
Maybe it's doable, but it wouldn't be too easy. -- Linards Ticmanis