Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!know!news.cs.indiana.edu!ariel.unm.edu!triton.unm.edu!klingler
From: klingler@triton.unm.edu (David Klingler)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: 1.44m Floppy Problems
Message-ID: <1991Jan20.065544.5603@ariel.unm.edu>
Date: 20 Jan 91 06:55:44 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM
Lines: 29

Question: Does anybody know of a 1.44 meg, 3 1/2" Floppy drive controller that
          has built in ROM drivers and toggles pin 2 (of the drive cable) in
          search of valid media?

Here is my problem:  I have an old pre 3 1/2" compatible AT compatible (with
faster than normal DMA speed, I'm told).  I have a DTK Floppy disk controller
that has built in ROM support and claimes to support 1.44 meg drives.  I also
have a Toshiba 3 1/5" (model ND3561) drive.  This drive has a jumper on it that
can let the state of pin 2 on the drive/controller connector select the density
of the media (1.44m vs 720k) INSTEAD OF using the notch sensor built into the
drive.

Right now, by changing a jumper on the drive and by jumpering the ROM BIOS
on the controller ON, I can format cheaper low density diskettes to 1.44 meg
with good luck.  If however I want to read or write a 720K Disk, I have to
change a jumper on the drive, unjumper the ROM BIOS, and install the DOS 3.3
DRIVER.SYS program! (no other combination seems to work)  In this mode however,
the drive is really slow, and it no longer reliably reads 1.44m disks (even 
when I jumper the drive back forcing the 1.44m mode).

What I would like is something like how my 5 1/4" drive works now:  You put
any density disk in, the controller toggles pin 2 trying to lock on to a 
valid data stream, then reads the disk.  This is reguardless of if there is 
some tab knocked out of the corner of the disk or not.  If I can't have this,
can I at least have a system that can do a 1.44m and a 720k format without
ripping the computer apart each time? 

                                                           Thanks
                                                             Jim