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From: schwalbe@pinocchio.Encore.COM (Jim Schwalbe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 4 Floppy Controllers
Message-ID: <14028@encore.Encore.COM>
Date: 11 Feb 91 20:13:49 GMT
References: <1848@devildog.att.com>
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Reply-To: schwalbe@pinocchio.UUCP (Jim Schwalbe)
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In article <1848@devildog.att.com> jdalin@devildog.att.com 
(Jimmy Dalin) writes:
>I'd like to know about a 4-floppy controller cards.  I have an AT (286)
>machine that I'd like to add a third floppy to.  I understand that the
>4-floppy controllers have to have their own ROM.  It raises some questions:
>1. What drive letters are assigned to your third and fourth floppy?  I assume
>the first two are "A:" and "B:", but I've always assumed that your hard drive
>always has to be C:. Further, if you have more than one hard drive partition
>where do the 3rd and 4th floppy drives go, letter-wise?  After the last hard
>drive partition?
> 

Not necessarily true.  I have seen some that have their own ROM.  I believe
(although not sure) that these will make floppy 3 and 4 be C: and D:.  The one
I have is a 2 Hard drive / 4 Floppy controller.  It comes with and installable
device driver that gets loaded in config.sys.  It puts floppy 3 and 4 *after*
all other drives so on my system, I have 4 logical hard drives so floppy 3
is drive G:

 
>2. Does DOS have any problems recognizing the 3rd and 4th floppy drive? What
>about other software (Windows, PCTOOLS, Norton, etc.)?  Assuming that the 3rd
>and 4th floppies are, let's say, your E: drive and F: drive, will a backup
>program (PCBACKUP, Fastback, etc.) allow you to back up a hard disk to your E:
>drive and/or F: drive?  If I have a new piece of software to be installed
>from a floppy, can I install it from (for example) my E: or F: drive?
> 

The only problem I have had is with the DISKCOPY command.  Someone told me
you can't diskcopy with a 3rd or 4th floppy and sure enough it doesn't work
on my system either.  All other software works fine on the drive.

>3. Do you need a device driver or other TSR?  Does the controller card come
>with a floppy with the driver, format program, etc?

See above.

> 
>4. My current disk controller card is a standard MFM 2 hard / 2 floppy
>controller card.  a) Do I control all 4 floppies from the new card, or do my
>first two floppies stay on the hard/floppy card and the second two floppies
>plug into the new card?  b) If I plug all four floppies into the new card, is
>there anything that I need to do to disable the hard/floppy controller's
>"floppy section"?
> 
 
The card I have allow you to disable the Hard drive controller, the primary
(A/B) floppy, and the secondary (C/D) floppy controller so you can use them
in conjuction with other disk controller cards.  BTW, my card is a noname
taiwaneese clone that I picked up at a computer flea market.

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: Jim Schwalbe               .----------------. "Half of what I say is      : 
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