Chromedome45
Veteran Member
Hey all I need the link to the 2nd drive Mod for PCjr can't seem to locate it! any help appreciated. 
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IBM PC jr 2nd drive mod
- Thread starter Chromedome45
- Start date
strollin
Experienced Member
Mike's PCjr site has links to 2 different mods in this thread: http://www.brutman.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=182
I did the "crumley" mod many years ago and it worked fine but, IMO, using an Iomega Zip drive with the PalmZip device driver is much easier and gives you three 30M partitions on a single 100M Zip disk. No mods are necessary, just need a parallel sidecar. Link to PalmZip
I did the "crumley" mod many years ago and it worked fine but, IMO, using an Iomega Zip drive with the PalmZip device driver is much easier and gives you three 30M partitions on a single 100M Zip disk. No mods are necessary, just need a parallel sidecar. Link to PalmZip
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Chromedome45
Veteran Member
Mike put the link up on his Jr Forum. So i have the instructions i was looking for. I tend to agree the zip may be the way to go. I do have a parellel version I could use.
Are you looking for a second drive, or mass storage?
Zip requires the Palmzip drivers if you have an 8088. They are fairly slow, but they work. If you have a NEC V20 you can run the native Iomega "Guest" drivers.
XT-IDE can be made to work too, but that's a little more effort. We're talking about how to bring XT-IDE to the PCjr masses over at the forum. The three current options are a generic ISA bus adapter (done before, and can be done again), a sidecar (new territory) or an expansion chassis.
Zip requires the Palmzip drivers if you have an 8088. They are fairly slow, but they work. If you have a NEC V20 you can run the native Iomega "Guest" drivers.
XT-IDE can be made to work too, but that's a little more effort. We're talking about how to bring XT-IDE to the PCjr masses over at the forum. The three current options are a generic ISA bus adapter (done before, and can be done again), a sidecar (new territory) or an expansion chassis.
Chromedome45
Veteran Member
Hey Mike I was looking to go the Zip-100 way using parellel port, but I am going to need a Parellel sidecar to do it. I have access to a V20 so I would use the Iomega drivers. As to the Xt-IDE ISA option one would need to build a ISA bus extension for the JR. I know you did it and was wondering if you had some schematics on how to build. But for now I think the ZIP is the way to go after thinking about it.
Got any Parellel sidecars at a reasonable price?
Got any Parellel sidecars at a reasonable price?
Got any Parellel sidecars at a reasonable price?
I might have one for you. I have 4 side carts, though I think they may need some repair. Let me make a list today and get back to you.
I have:
1. IBM 128k RAM expansion side card, only 64k RAM is picked up by the system.
2. Tecmar JrWave Expansion Memory Side cart. System does not pickup any extra RAM when it is plugged in.
3. Tecmar JrCaptain Memory, Printer, Clock, Software Cart. The system does not pickup any extra RAM when it is plugged in.
4. Tecmar JrCaptain Memory, Printer, Clock, Software Cart. The system does not pickup any extra RAM when it is plugged in.
You are welcome to any of them for the cost of shipping if you like. I did not do extensive testing, just plugged them in and saw what happened. Just PM if you are interested.
1. IBM 128k RAM expansion side card, only 64k RAM is picked up by the system.
2. Tecmar JrWave Expansion Memory Side cart. System does not pickup any extra RAM when it is plugged in.
3. Tecmar JrCaptain Memory, Printer, Clock, Software Cart. The system does not pickup any extra RAM when it is plugged in.
4. Tecmar JrCaptain Memory, Printer, Clock, Software Cart. The system does not pickup any extra RAM when it is plugged in.
You are welcome to any of them for the cost of shipping if you like. I did not do extensive testing, just plugged them in and saw what happened. Just PM if you are interested.
If the Tecmar sidecars have a power connector on them, then they are not going to report in unless they are powered. The jrCaptain definitely needs power.
If nobody else claims them I can take them - the IBM sidecar sounds like it needs debugging. The jrWave is new to me - I'd like to dissect it. I have more jrCaptains than power supplies, but they are useful enough where they should not go to the dump.
(Installation instructions for the jrCaptain are on my web site.)
Mike
If nobody else claims them I can take them - the IBM sidecar sounds like it needs debugging. The jrWave is new to me - I'd like to dissect it. I have more jrCaptains than power supplies, but they are useful enough where they should not go to the dump.
(Installation instructions for the jrCaptain are on my web site.)
Mike
I'll send you the JrWave if you like. It appears to be simply a memory expansion board. It looks like it is set for 512kb with the appropriate chips. I took them off and tried them on the MS Booster card just to see if it was as simple as changing out the chips (it wasent). The interesting thing about the JrWave is that it has way more than 8 DRAM chips (I think there are like 18 or something like that) on it and it also requires external power.
Cool, but just a word of caution - don't get too swap happy with the parts. I'd like to see things in original condition to document it properly. The more changes that get made the harder it is to figure out what is going on ...
I won't do any more than that. I prefer to try and make changes when I have the manual or at least some sort of reference.