Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!xanth!nic.MR.NET!hal!ncoast!mikes
From: mikes@ncoast.ORG (Mike Squires)
Newsgroups: comp.os.cpm
Subject: Re: adding a hard disk to your floppy-only system
Summary: You need the HDC manufacturer's BIOS
Message-ID: <13546@ncoast.ORG>
Date: 9 Apr 89 18:22:06 GMT
References: <7316@cadnetix.COM>
Reply-To: mikes@ncoast.ORG (Mike Squires)
Organization: Cleveland Public Access UN*X, Cleveland, OH
Lines: 20

In article <7316@cadnetix.COM> rusty@cadnetix.COM (Rusty) writes:
>
>Well, I just bought myself a nice hard disk controller for my S100 system.
>Having looked over the CPM manual for a bit, it seems to me that I *should*
>be able to accomplish the task of adding the controller and hard disk to
>my system.

The vendor of the HDC usually provided a BIOS in source that had to be added
to the system BIOS to connect the drive.  I would assume that it would be
possible to boot off the HD, but none of the systems I every used did (S-100
systems with Advanced Digital, Morrow, and Jade HDC's).  The AD HDC came with
autoinstall software; the other two required revisions of the BIOS.  One of the
last books about CP/M to be published had a BIOS based on the JADE controller.
I believe that old SIG/M and CP/MUG disks may also have BIOSes.

Mike Squires Allegheny College Meadville, PA 16335 814 332 3347
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