Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!mks
From: mks@cbmvax.UUCP (Michael Sinz - CATS)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: replacement of 3.5 drives
Message-ID: <8912@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 9 Dec 89 13:16:14 GMT
References: <751@mindlink.UUCP> <1246@corpane.UUCP> <8859@cbmvax.UUCP> <16757@ultima.cs.uts.oz>
Reply-To: mks@cbmvax.UUCP (Michael Sinz - CATS)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 50

In article <16757@ultima.cs.uts.oz> nigel@ultima.cs.uts.oz (Nigel Pearson) writes:
>From article <8859@cbmvax.UUCP>, by mks@cbmvax.UUCP (Michael Sinz - CATS):
>>>
>>>>I would recommend getting 720K MSDOS drives and not the 1.44M ones. 
>>>
>>>	Would 1.44M drives work on an Amiga (other than software-wise)?
>>>I looked at the old Hadrware manual, and I don't see why not.  Why didn't
>>>C= stick them into the 2000?
>> 
>> Well, the data rate is too high on the 1.44Meg floppies.  (Actually, 2Meg
>> unformatted...)  The PAULA chip can not transfer data fast enough to
>> attain that density.
>
>	Does anyone know if it would be possible to make a board (DMA?)
>which is fast enough to use these drives? Also, would it be possible to
>have the machines boot from it? (Should be possible on the A500/2000, but
>I don't know about the A1000s) Would be neat to be able to put a bigger
>default ( DF0: ) drive in.

There is no REAL reason something like this would not work.  You would build
it just like a AutoBooting HardDisk controller.  However, be warned that
doing this a REPLACING DF0: would be trouble for all those programs that
go directly to the hardware to do the copy protection or other such tricks.
If you write some tricky code, the replacement of trackdisk.device could
be achieved but the hardware-level replacement can not be.

However, I would LOVE to see someone with such a beastie as that would make
it possible to read/write 1.44 MS-DOS and 1.76 AmigaDOS and the new 1.6
MAC disks.  This would really give interconnectivity to the Amiga.  (We
can read/write any disk format, so there...)  Just do it like CrossDOS
did but with that new hardware/drive combo...

>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Nigel Pearson, overpaid research assistant @ University of Technology, Sydney.
>
>     "Do you want to live for ever?" - Conan the Barbarian & Highlander.
>
>ACSnet:  nigel@ultima.cs.uts.oz     Phone: (+61 2)[OS] (02)[Aust] 281 2552
>Surface: Nigel Pearson, Key Centre, UTS, PO Box 123, BROADWAY, Australia, 2007
>______________________________________________________________________________


/----------------------------------------------------------------------\
|      /// Michael Sinz -- CATS/Amiga Software Engineer                |
|     ///  PHONE 215-431-9422  UUCP ( uunet | rutgers ) !cbmvax!mks    |
|    ///                                                               |
|\\\///          When people are free to do as they please,            |
| \XX/                they usually imitate each other.                 |
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