Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!mandrill!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: Upgrading the Floppy Drive in a UNIX-PC
Summary: I like the idea of replacing the floppy with a tape
Keywords: floppy 3b1 7300 Unix-PC
Message-ID: <955@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 19 Jan 88 15:12:47 GMT
References: <696@mstar.UUCP> <3787@islenet.UUCP>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 25

In article <3787@islenet.UUCP>, richard@islenet.UUCP (Richard Foulk) writes:
> Some time back I saw some tape drives advertised for the ibm-pc
> that were supposed to plug into its floppy controller -- I think
> prices were less than $500.
> 
> This seems like the best solution if it works, even if it's slow.
> Does anyone have any experiences or additional information to
> add about them?


I bought a QIC-40 format 40 meg tape drive for my PC/AT compatible
machine.  It has an electrical interface that is the same as a
standard 5-1/4" disk drive.  From a local vendor, the tape drive
and PC driver software cost $350.  The tape drive is made by a
company called Archive.  The tapes are DC-2000 mini cassettes.  I
found a place in Computer Shopper that sells the cassettes for $16.75.
All in all , it is a very effective backup medium.

It would be sort of neat to replace the floppy drive in a 3b1 with
a tape drive.  The difficult part would be sriting the driver to
control the tape unit.  It opens up a lot of possibilities, as
software could be distributed on tape.  Any volunteers to write the
driver?

--Bill