Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cbmvax!ditto
From: ditto@cbmvax.UUCP (Michael "Ford" Ditto)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Non-clicking drives?
Keywords: hardware no-click possible?
Message-ID: <5289@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 22 Nov 88 01:47:30 GMT
References: <1082@esunix.UUCP>
Reply-To: ditto@cbmvax.UUCP (Michael "Ford" Ditto)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 22

In article <1082@esunix.UUCP> blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner) writes:
>I've seen some recent ads in Amiga World and Amazing Computing for disk
>drives that do not click. Does anyone own one of these, and do they
>really work?

I don't know.

>Assuming they do, the next question is how they do it.

My guess is that they effectively AND the STEP signal going to the
drive with the CHNG* signal coming from the drive so that the head
won't step when the drive is empty.  The unmodified step signal would
still be passed to the CHNG latch that the Amiga reads.  This would
be just one additional gate in the little extra circuit that Amiga
drives already need; it might not even require another IC.
-- 
					-=] Ford [=-

"The number of Unix installations	(In Real Life:  Mike Ditto)
has grown to 10, with more expected."	ford@kenobi.cts.com
- The Unix Programmer's Manual,		...!sdcsvax!crash!elgar!ford
  2nd Edition, June, 1972.		ditto@cbmvax.commodore.com