Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!umich!sharkey!aucis!easton
From: easton@andrews.edu (Jeff Easton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.zenith
Subject: re: hard drive controller
Message-ID: <27331201890@andrews.edu>
Date: 18 Jan 90 17:19:30 GMT
Lines: 31

In article <5355@blake.acs.washington.edu>, djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) writes:
> In article <488@opus.NMSU.EDU> wprice@nmsu.edu (William Price) writes:
> 
> >-  Finally, I would like to upgrade the floppy drives to 1.44 M microfloppies in the near future.  Zenith has given me three different opinions about the upgrade  a)  "If the monitor ROM is right (ie the right version?) no problem"
> 
> (omissions again)
> As I understand it, you *may* need a ROM upgrade as well.  If your current
> ROM supports the 101-key keyboard, then I believe it can speak to 1.44 M
> floppies.  Then you need a controller that can handle them; it's very
> unlikely that the stock Z158 controller could do it, since the Z158
> predates 3.5 inch floppies by a year or two.  I pondered this upgrade as
> well, but then just bought a Z248/12 from the HUG Bargain Center, and got
> *everything* upgraded at once!
 
Well, yes and no.  The Z158 ROM has very little to do with it.  The main
problem is that all PCXT style disk controllers including the Z158's
cant handle the higher transfer rates requires by a 1.44M drive.  They
are set at 250Kb/sec where as the 1.44M drive requires 250K and 500K.
So yes, the 1.44M drive would work in the Z158, as a 720K drive only.
I did hear of some third party manufacturers that sold a new disk controller
with new disk device handlers that would allow 1.44M drives in PCXT's.
Check your local mail order place.
 
> "Moby" Dick O'Connor                            ** DISCLAIMER: It would
 
        Jeff Easton                     Zenith Data Systems
        Systems Engineer                OEM Engineering
        easton@andrews.edu     -or-
        ..uunet!zds-asg!zds-oem!easton
         I'd rather be Water Skiing...