Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!wotan!moxie!central!geraldo.Central.Sun.COM!male!jethro!exodus!stpeter.Eng.Sun.COM!cmcmanis From: cmcmanis@stpeter.Eng.Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Adding an IBM type 3.5" High Density Drive to Amiga Message-ID: <14368@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: 1 Jun 91 06:55:33 GMT References: <1991May7.002625.1696@tplrd.tpl.oz.au> <13613@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> <1991May21.025924.4583@tplrd.tpl.oz.au> Sender: news@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. Lines: 77 [bad day I guess] I wrote : >Nontechnical people shouldn't try things they don't understand. 1.44MB In article <1991May21.025924.4583@tplrd.tpl.oz.au> (Mark Bower) replied: >People who reply to the net should not make rash assumptions about the >technical background of net-users, its fair enough to make a technical >correction, but its downright unethical to _personally_ flame someone you >don't even know. To set the record straight, I'm an Electrical Engineer >(Computer Systems) which I would hardly describe as non-technical :-) Ok if you're an Engineer how come you didn't either know this or know how to figure it out? Basic research 101 here, "How does a high density floppy work?" well there are lots of ways to find out, look at the schematics of your PC, read the data sheet on the floppy disk controller, maybe read the application notes for the chip (Western Digital used to have the best in my opinion) I tend to get rather less than tolerant of people who call themselves "technical" because they know how to assemble a PC clone from boards. You're an EE why don't you know this? >Why can't I use an external buffer/500 kHz bit rate sync circuit? Thats >what my 8 bit HD Floppy controller does thats sitting in my PC. Granted, >it's more involved than simply plugging in a drive and using it but it's >certainly not impossible. That's a good start Mark, your next question should be "how does the Amiga floppy controller work?" And the answer can be found by reading the technical documents available from Commodore (it can even be deduced by reading the schematic, hardware manual, and then disassembling the trackdisk code but only Germans seem to do that :-) And do you know how you PC floppy controller works? Presumably you have access to a chip distributor, they will usually _give_ you the data manuals for a particular chip family, often for every chip they make in the hopes that you will design them into their product. Anyway, the point to this response is as follows. Computers, and engineering are complicated disciplines. People go to school for 4 - 8 years to become Engineers (either hardware or software or both) and the purpose of that education is to teach them how to figure things out and design new and better things to meet the current requirements. Unfortunately, personal computers tend to attract a bunch of high school hackers that know enough about digital logic to be dangerous but not enough to understand what it is they are trying to do. (these are the folks that don't believe you when you tell them that hooking up a VGA monitor to an Amiga won't give you any more colors or resolution than their old monitor did (unless their old monitor was monochrome ;-))) Anyway, the net has become full of these folks who get everyone fired up because they make it sound like they've _almost_ got something wonderful to happen, if they could just get that missing piece of info. A few years ago it was clock speed doublers. Now along comes your article about 3.5" disk drives making it sound like everything is working with those 1.44MB drives except you just can't get them into "high density" mode. And everyone jumps up and says "Yeah, I want those HD floppies too, and gee Mark almost has them up and running. Commodore, why can't you put those in standard?" When, in fact, to get them into "high density" mode you have to redesign the floppy interface including new drivers, a memory/bus interface, etc. And yet no one to date has ever posted a question like yours and followed it up with exactly what it takes to do it. Why don't you just get a SCSI to floppy converter. Then at least all you would have to do is write the software. Sure its a flame, but wouldn't it be nice if someone actually did some of the work and _then_ posted the article? Sorry to be so long winded, and I apologize for flaming Mark without first ascertaining that he didn't understand the answer. -- --Chuck McManis Sun Microsystems uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: Internet: cmcmanis@Eng.Sun.COM These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you. "I tell you this parrot is bleeding deceased!"