Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!parc!mdixon From: mdixon@parc.xerox.com (Mike Dixon) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: floppy options Message-ID: Date: 13 May 91 17:27:59 GMT Sender: news@parc.xerox.com Distribution: comp Organization: Xerox PARC Lines: 28 like many other pioneers, we're in the position of having a bunch of cubes upgraded to 040s & 2.0, but without any way of reading next's latest fad for distribution media (2.88M floppies). next says we should buy a 3rd party scsi-mounted floppy drive, but judging from the experiences reported here they're flakey, not perfectly integrated with the rest of the system, and somewhat overpriced. it seems to me that we ought to be able to buy one of the floppy drives next installs in new machines, free up a bay on one machine, plug it into the controller hardware and power supply that are already there, and have a 100% compatible cheap floppy drive. of course, we'd probably have to pull one of our ODs to make room, but we don't really need one on every machine. has any one tried this? is there any reason it wouldn't work? why doesn't next encourage it, instead of promoting the scsi "solution"? (of course, this would be easier if the opening required for the floppy drive was exactly the same size as the opening provided for an OD; i'm hoping that they're close enough that i don't have to hack up the face plate.) (i suppose the floppy drive might also require different mounting holes in the drive bay, but i'm not above drilling a few myself.) -- .mike.