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Modern USB to Floppy adapters that are NOT do-all

NeXT

NeXT

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
8,231
Location
Kamloops, BC, Canada
This switch to a 64-bit OS ha been pretty rough for me so far. All of my older DOS/CLI-based utilities no longer work and my new system has a neutered floppy controller. For 3.5" disks I've been able to get away with a teac 3.5" USB floppy drive and a few Windows applications for handling images and normal disk access but I got nothing for 5.25". Sure there are garbage products like the KryoFlux that will work and people swear by but I don't need to support a bajillion formats with weird modes. Just PC standard 1.2mb and 360k formats. The last adapter I saw on the market that came remotely close to supporting a 5.25" drive was read-only. Has there been any advances in adding a simple USB interface to 5.25" drives?
 
64 bit Linux still has support for legacy floppies, the last I checked.

But making an external USB device for 5.25" drives sounds nontrivial to me. First of all, 5.25" drives generally need +12 and +5, so a special PSU. Then there's the matter of writing firmware after the PCB design is done. Easier to use a networked 'tweener, I think.
 
That didn't answer my question though.

We already have USB to floppy adapters for more advanced tasks and even single-chip USB to floppy adapters for 3.5" drives. For neither is the power requirement of the drive a significant issue. Has nobody filled the hole for USB 5.25" solutions already? I find it hard to believe the only solutions are "use another OS/Use another dedicated machine/Buy the more expensive adapter"
 
What's the market? Enough to pay for hardware/firmware/driver development? It could certainly be done, but given that 5.25" drives of any stripe are getting hard to come by, I can't imagine that many people would opt for such a solution.

Those USB floppy drives have all of the USB and drive control smarts integrated into a single chip that forms the drive electronics. They're basically SCSI drives wrapped in USB protocol

SMSC did have a chip in their offerings that was an external USB 1.1 support device for separate legacy drives. But it's been long out of production. Similarly, there were SCSI adapters to go between a drive and the SCSI bus, but who has SCSI on their laptop?
 
So when what you are telling me is: No, nobody has released anything in the last few years that lets you plug a 5.25" floppy drive into one end and the USB end plugs into your computer and blam, it appears as a 5.25" floppy drive.

I don't care about firmware or designing or drivers. I was asking if someone had built something.
 
There are plenty of "garbage" low-level flux devices like the Kryoflux or Greaseweazel, but I'm pretty sure Chuck is right that nobody's currently making a "block-device" level device that lets you just plug-and-play a 5.25" drive like you can a normal USB floppy drive. Is the main objection to a Greaseweazel the fact you're stuck doing "disk-at-a-time" reading and writing (and thereby stuck extracting or adding data to image files) verses a simple copy?

For individual file transfers it really might make more sense to wedge a network connection (even if that means something via a parallel port, etc) into one of your old DOS machines and go with that. I have Flashfloppy-modded Goteks in my older machines but I only ever use them if I need to boot, pretty much use network transfers exclusively.
 
Chuck(G) said:
That's correct. I've not seen anything in the last few years. Maybe you can find one of these fossils and adapt it--shouldn't be too difficult.
Click to expand...

It's funny, I looked up the datasheet for the SMSC USB floppy ASIC mentioned earlier and it's almost exactly the guts of that ancient drive stuffed into one chip; an 8051-microcontroller core with USB interface, 4K data buffer, and a licensed 765-compatible floppy controller IP core. It's so exact I have to wonder if the driver code for the 8051 is compatible.

(If you did find an older USB floppy drive that still had this as a separate chip and used normal signals to drive the floppy, albeit probably through one of those micro 26 pin connectors, if the datasheet is correct by setting the right bits in the configuration EPROM you *might* be able to convince it to drive a 5.25" drive and handle at least a subset of standard DOS formats.)
 
Dammit I knew it was somehow possible without BS adapters and software.

https://youtu.be/Bjd2jSHBw7E

It's brilliant and kinda what I suspected: Some early USB to floppy adapters CAN support 5.25" floppy drives as-is for reading, writing AND booting because the controller interface is overly generic. Things get complicated once you start using more advanced operating systems (but not UEFI as seen in the above video) that replace the standard floppy driver with one of their own. In this case the standard controller driver assumes there can ONLY be a 3.5" drive attached which causes problems.
If it's as trivial as modifying the driver to believe there's a 5.25" drive installed instead of a 3.5", well then that's it. What I've been asking has been answered.
 
You might be able to stuff your floppy drives into an older machine running Linux and then use the network block device driver to access them from your main machine. At least that is what I plan to try once I start getting my computer room put back together.
 
Shrug. We've been over this. In the beginning there were separate USB 1.1 chips-to-floppy interface on these old adapters. I've written about it before. The chip you're looking for is the SMSC USB97C210. It does seem to be limited to 720K/1.44M type operation.

Ask the question again in a few years and I'll probably be alive to answer it...again. :(

And I left a comment on the YT video explaining the guy's results.
 
Still raises questions, no? Aside from ideal parameters and planetary alignment this is considerably more useable than we expected.
 
I don't know much about this topic. But I can say, with my limited skills in this area, the only way I have been able to transfer 5.25 floppy images to a modern computer is via my IBM 5155 computer.

It has a Teac dual 5.25 and 3.5" drive. I copy the 5.25 disk to the 3.5" floppy. Then I can transfer that to a "new computer" on an external
USB 3.5" floppy drive ( I use vintage IBM and Imation USB drives, because the cheap foreign drives are, in my view, defective, that is a whole other story of woe).

But, I might point out, this 2003 vintage HP Pavillion XP computer is running 32 bit OS and an Athlon CPU. I have not tried it on a 64 bit system, and I doubt if I would even consider that, because I know it would slap me across the face.

Also, I noted that when I tried to move to a 64 bit platform, it killed all the drivers for my camera, scanner etc. So I thought, ok I'll just download new drivers. Lo & Behold, the manufacturers of these hardware devices had not constructed 64 bit drivers, I wonder why. I tried running a virtual 32 bit XP inside a 64 bit platform, but it does not work as well as the original 32 bit platform.
 
Sure there are garbage products like the KryoFlux
Click to expand...
You might be surprised how many oddball or non-standard formats are out there. Especially in the domain of 5.25" disks. USB drives also can't handle copy protection. For people doing archival, a flux-level device is a must.

Yes, they are a pain in the ass for simply copying a file between computers, because they do so much more. In theory, the provided software could provide a simplified interface for working with files on standard formats, but they choose not to.

Going forwards, I don't believe that relying on Microsoft Windows' built in FAT support is something that can be relied on. I fully expect them to drop support because securityyoucantbetoosafethinkofthechildrenpollywan nacracker. It is already not really FAT, it is VFAT (long file names) and it writes lots of extra crap to the disk.

Actually, does Windows 11 even work with real floppy controllers any more? Given its strict fake requirements, the only machines that it could run on that might appear to have a real motherboard FDC are virtual machines.

Some early USB to floppy adapters CAN support 5.25" floppy drives as-is for reading, writing AND booting
Click to expand...
Which reminds me, are there even still any new motherboards that support BIOS booting? (oh noooes, that would be inshekures!)
 
The Applesauce FDC is not a generic USB FDC, but it does a fantastic job reading and writing a ton of formats. There is only Mac software, so far, but Windows and Linux support is coming. I run mine from an Arch host, using Mac OS in a VM, on VirtualBox.

- Alex
 
If you were to purchase a Hard Drive Tray something like this on Newegg "StarTech.com Black Aluminum 5.25in Rugged SATA Hard Drive
Mobile Rack Drawer (DRW150SATBK)," you could have the OLD OS on one physical hard drive, and the new 64 Bit OS on the second hard
drive. That is one easy possibility that will allow you to stay with Windows and do what you require.

You could even have Windows installed on one Partition and Linux on another Partition (Dual Boot) and boot the OS of your Choice to copy.

Since you have the Computer with a Floppy Disk Controller (FDC) that has worked well in the past, I'd suggest using Debian Linux to copy
the Floppy's or files you need transferred. I know Debian and Ubuntu have supported Floppy's farther back than Ubuntu 8.04. I've got
Ubuntu 8.04 running on an old hard drive and it supports 5.25" and 3.5" Floppy's. Debian also supports the same floppy's from Ver 6.0 thru
the latest Version 11.0 (64 Bit).

The supported floppy formats are in the /etc/mediaprm file which I have renamed to "mediaprm-11-Bullseye.txt"

Code: 
# /etc/mediaprm - floppy disk parameter table
# NB: this file was formerly named /etc/fdprm.

################################################## ######################
# Standard linux disk formats. Names are of the form
# actual media capacity/maximum drive capacity
# (Note: although 5.25" HD drives can format disks at 1.44M, they're listed
# as 1200 because that's the common maximum size.)

# size sec/t hds trk stre gap rate spec1 fmt_gap

"360/360":
DS DD sect=9

"1200/1200":
DS HD sect=15

"360/720":
SS DD sect=9

"720/720":
DS DD sect=9

"360/1200":
DS DD sect=9

"720/1200":
DS QD sect=9

"1440/1440":
DS HD sect=18

"2880/2880":
DS ED sect=36

"2880/2880":
DS ED sect=36

"2880/2880":
DS ED sect=36

"1440/1200":
DS HD sect=18

"1680/1440":
DS HD sect=21

"410/1200":
DS DD sect=10 cyl=41

"820/1440":
DS DD sect=10 cyl=82

"1476/1200":
DS HD sect=18 cyl=82

"1722/1440":
DS HD sect=21 cyl=82

"420/1200":
DS DD sect=10 cyl=42

"830/1440":
DS DD sect=10 cyl=83

"1494/1200":
DS HD sect=18 cyl=83

"1743/1440":
DS HD sect=21 cyl=83

"1743/1440":
DS HD sect=21 cyl=83

"880/1200":
DS QD tracksize=11b ssize=1KB

"1040/720":
DS QD sect=13

"1120/720":
DS QD tracksize=7KB mss

"1600/1200":
DS HD tracksize=10KB mss

"1760/1440":
DS HD sect=11 ssize=1KB

"1920/1440":
DS HD tracksize=12KB mss

"3200/2880":
DS ED sect=5 ssize=4KB

"3520/2880":
DS ED tracksize=22KB ssize=4KB

"3840/2880":
DS ED sect=3 ssize=8KB

"3840/2880":
DS ED sect=3 ssize=8KB

"1840/1440":
DS HD tracksize=23b ssize=2KB

"800/720":
DS DD sect=10

"1600/1440":
DS HD sect=20

################################################## ######################
# CP/M formats
#
# the name is constructed as CODsize, where COD identifies the
# brand of the computer having formatted the disk

# Generic CP/M - SSSD 8"

"GEN250":
SS DD sect=24 dtr=0 fm=1 cyl=77 ssize=128

# ABC-80 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ABC160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Actrix (Access Matrix) - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ACT180":
SS DD sect=9

# Adler Textriter - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ADL160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Advanced Digital Super 6 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ADV160":
SS DD sect=4 ssize=1KB

# Advanced Digital Super 6 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ADV640":
DS QD sect=4 ssize=1KB

# Altos Series 5 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ALT720":
DS QD sect=9

# Amigo - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"AMI200":
SS DD sect=10

# Ampro - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"AMP200":
SS DD sect=10

# Ampro - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"AMP400":
SS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Amstrad PCW8256 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"AMS720":
DS QD sect=9

# Archive I - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ARC400":
SS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Archive II & III - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ARC800":
DS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Arisia - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ARI180":
SS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# ATR-8000 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ATR200":
SS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Beehive - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"BEE400":
DS DD sect=10

# Bitelex - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"BIT160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# BMC IF800 Model 20 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"BMC400":
DS DD sect=10

# Burr-Brown - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"BUR360":
DS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# Cal-PC - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CAL400":
DS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Cashcom 100 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"CAS640":
DS QD sect=4 ssize=1KB

# CDI-5000 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CDI400":
DS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# CMC Supersystem 2 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"CMC800":
DS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Coleco ADAM, 40 track - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"COL160":
SS DD sect=8

# Compugraphic MCS-5 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"COM160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Compupro (Viasyn) (1024 bytes/sector) - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"COM800":
DS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Cromemco CDOS - SSSD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CRO80":
SS SD sect=16 dtr=1 fm=1 ssize=128

# Cromemco CDOS - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CRO200":
SS DD sect=10

# Cromemco CP/M - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CRO200":
SS DD sect=10

# C/WP Cortex - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CWP200":
SS DD sect=10

# Cykey - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"CYK320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# DEC DECMate II - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"DEC400":
SS QD sect=10

# DEC Rainbow - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"DEC180":
SS DD sect=9

# DEC VT-180 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"DEC180":
SS DD sect=9

# Direct 1025 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"DIR320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Discovery - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"DIS640":
DS QD sect=8

# Eagle II - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"EAG400":
SS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Epson QX-10 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"EPS400":
DS DD sect=10

# Epson QX-10 (256 bytes/sector) - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"EPS320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Epson PX-8 - DSDD 3.5"

"EPS320":
DS DD sect=8

# Ericsson DTC - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ERI320":
SS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Ericsson Step One - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ERI720":
DS QD sect=9

# Florida Graphics - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"FLO640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Formula 1 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"FOR360":
DS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# Fujitsu Micro 16 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"FUJ320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Fujitsu Micro 8 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"FUJ320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# HCL System 2 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"HCL800":
DS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Heath H89, Magnolia CP/M - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"HEA180":
SS DD sect=9

# Heurikon MLZ-91A - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"HEU640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# IBM PC, CP/M-86 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"IBM160":
SS DD sect=8

# IMS 5000 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"IMS160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# IMS 5000 TurboDOS - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"IMS800":
DS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Intel iPDS 100 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"INT640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Insight Enterprises - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"INS320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Ithaca Intersystems - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ITH360":
SS QD sect=18 ssize=256

# Jet-80 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"JET400":
DS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Lexoriter - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"LEX160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# LNW 2 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"LNW180":
SS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# Macsym 150 - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"MAC320":
SS QD sect=8

# Magic - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"MAG400":
DS DD sect=10

# MAI Basic Four - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"MAI640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Micron Quark - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"MIC320":
DS DD sect=4 ssize=1KB

# Monroe 8800 Series - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"MON320":
SS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Morrow MD2 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"MOR200":
SS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Morrow MD3, 5, 11, 16, 34 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"MOR400":
DS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Morrow TurboDOS - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"MOR320":
DS DD sect=4 ssize=1KB

# NCR FirstStep - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"NCR640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# NEC PC-8001A - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"NEC160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# NEC PC 8801A/8831A - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"NEC320":
DS DD sect=8

# NEC PC 8500/8431A, Starlet - DSDD 3.5"

"NEC320":
SS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Nixdorf 8810/30 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"NIX800":
DS QD sect=10

# OKI IF800 Model 20 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OKI400":
DS DD sect=10

# Olivetti ETV300 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OLI180":
SS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# Olivetti M20 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OLI320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Olivetti 250 - SSDD 3.5"

"OLI320":
SS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Olympia EX-100 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OLY360":
DS DD sect=9

# Olympia ETX II - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OLY180":
SS DD sect=9

# Osborne 1 - SSSD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OSB100":
SS SD sect=10 dtr=1 fm=1 ssize=256

# Osborne 1 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OSB200":
SS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Osborne Executive - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OSB200":
SS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Osborne 1 + Osmosis - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"OSB400":
DS DD sect=10

# Osborne Vixen - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"OSB400":
DS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Osborne Executive w/Z3 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"OSB800":
DS QD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# OSM Zeus 4 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"OSM640":
DS QD sect=8

# Panasonic KX-E828 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"PAN320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Pegasus Data Logger - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"PEG360":
DS DD sect=9

# Philips PC-2010 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"PHI160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Philips PC-3000 - 3004 - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"PHI320":
SS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Pied Piper - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"PIE800":
DS QD sect=10

# PMC Micromate - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"PMC400":
DS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Proglas 770KB - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"PRO800":
DS QD sect=10

# Royal Alphatronic - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ROY320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Sage IV - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"SAG640":
DS QD sect=8

# Sanyo MBC-1000, MBC-1150 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SAN320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Sanyo MBC-1250 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"SAN640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Seequa Chameleon - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SEE160":
SS DD sect=8

# Seiko - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"SEI640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Siemens PG-685 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"SIE720":
DS QD sect=9

# Siemens PG-675 DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SIE360":
DS DD sect=9

# Siemens PG-635 DSDD 3.5"

"SIE720":
DS QD sect=9

# Sorbus TurboDOS - 5.25" DSHD (or 8" DSDD)

"SOR1232":
DS HD sect=8 cyl=77 ssize=1KB

# Sperry UTS 30, UTS 5000 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"SPE720":
DS QD sect=9

# Superbrain JR - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SUP175":
SS DD sect=10 cyl=35

# Superbrain 40 track - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SUP200":
SS DD sect=10

# Systel 2 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SYS180":
SS DD sect=9

# Systel 3 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"SYS360":
DS DD sect=9

# Televideo 801, 806 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TEL360":
DS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# Televideo 1603 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"TEL720":
DS QD sect=9

# TI Professional, CP/M-86 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TI1160":
SS DD sect=8

# Toshiba T100, T200 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TOS320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# TRS-80 Model 1, Omikron CP/M - SSSD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TRS0":
SS SD sect=16 dtr=1 fm=1 cyl=0 ssize=128

# TRS-80 Model 1, Color Power II - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TRS180":
SS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# TRS-80, MM CP/M - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TRS200":
SS DD sect=10

# TRS-80 Model 4, MT CP/M - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TRS180":
SS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# TRS-80 Model 4, MT CP/M - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TRS360":
DS DD sect=18 ssize=256

# TRS-80 Model 4 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"TRS160":
SS DD sect=8

# Visual 1050 - SSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"VIS400":
SS QD sect=10

# Wangwriter - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"WAN320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Wave Mate Bullet - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"WAV200":
SS DD sect=5 ssize=1KB

# Xerox 820 - SSSD 48 tpi 5.25"

"XER80":
SS SD sect=16 dtr=1 fm=1 ssize=128

# Xerox 820 II - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"XER160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Zenith Z-37 Disk - SSSD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN100":
SS SD sect=10 dtr=1 fm=1 ssize=256

# Zenith Z-37 Disk - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Zenith Z89, Heath H89 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Zenith Z89, Heath H89 - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN640":
DS QD sect=16 ssize=256

# Zenith Z90 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN160":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Zenith Z90 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN320":
DS DD sect=16 ssize=256

# Zenith Z-100 - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN160":
SS DD sect=8

# Zenith Z-100 - DSDD 48 tpi 5.25"

"ZEN320":
DS DD sect=8



################################################## ######################
# Other interesting formats, please contribute ;-)
#

# Commodore 1581 (the 3 1/2 drive of the Commodore 128)
"CBM1581":
DS DD sect=10 cyl=80 ssize=512 fmt_gap=35 gap=12 swapsides

# CMD FD2000 disk drive, a third party floppy disk drive for the
# Commodore line of computers with double of the capacity:
"CMDFD2M":
DS HD sect=10 cyl=81 ssize=1024 fmt_gap=100 gap=12 swapsides

# Color computer, sides 1 and 2
"COCO1":
SS DD sect=18 cyl=35 ssize=256

"COCO2":
SS DD sect=18 cyl=35 ssize=256

# TRS-8- Color Computer os9 formats (to be confirmed). Needs
# zero-based floppy patch
"COCO360":
DS DD sect=18 cyl=40 ssize=256 tpi=48 zero-based

"COCO720":
DS DD sect=18 cyl=80 ssize=256 tpi=96 zero-based


# TO7 (Thomson), sides 1 and 2
"TO7-1":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256

"TO7-2":
SS DD sect=16 ssize=256 swapsides


As you can see the typical VFAT formats are in the beginning of the file, with the standard 5.25" and 3" definitions.

If you want more details on howto access the files, I can give you a detailed document. It's easy after you get the
parameters loaded for the type floppy you want to access.


Larry
 
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