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IBM 5170 with a 1.44mb floppy

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k2x4b524[

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I know there are articles on this and all that, but i'm trying to use an epson SMD800 dual drive, 2 drives stuffed into one bay, it works, right, but even if the at is set to see a 720kb drive, it only will recognize the 3.5 at 1.2mb, not 720kb or 1.44mb, the 5.25 drive is ok, i would like to use my own controller *has 2.88mb support*, how do i disable the controller for the floppy drive that is on the stock ibm card? I think my AT is an earlier one, and i'm not sure where to go with this.
 
The issue isn't the diskette controller, but rather the BIOS. Both 3½" 1.44M and 5¼" 1.2M use the same data rate. Have you tried overriding the default for the A: drive using a DRIVPARM statement in your config.sys?
 
i actually thought about trying that, that should work, i had kinda given up after gsetup failed to give results, i actually thought it might be the 2-in-1 drive setup too, my teac variant of that kind is very touchy. Chuck, do you have any experience with qram and an everex ram 3000?
 
I think the only Everex RAM board I've dealt with was the 10000 or something like that. It wasn't EMS--just pure XMS. I'll have to check to make sure.

I don't like the combo drives, but I still have them on some machines (Teac 505s).
 
Chuck(G) said:
The issue isn't the diskette controller, but rather the BIOS. Both 3½" 1.44M and 5¼" 1.2M use the same data rate. Have you tried overriding the default for the A: drive using a DRIVPARM statement in your config.sys?
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You mean the AT 'autodetects' the floppy drive and ignores/overrides what's set in the BIOS? Granted, I've only used them as far back as 386s, but I don't recall problems with dual drives; kinda like 'em, in fact.

Is it jumpered correctly re A/B? Cabled correctly?
 
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k2x4b524[, I hear you on the teac being touchy. I got one at a recycling place and even though it's detected, test in the POST, and tries to read the disks when accessed, it gives me bad sector errors. I'm guessing it's misaligned or maybe dirty. First nonworking floppy drives I ever met.
 
oh yea, i'm gonna try *the drivparm trick* i've also got a 16bit everex MFM controller that may work, and tackle that one tommorrow, i also want to use a UMB with it to get the most out it's 3mb ram, but i'm thinking i need to use something like emm386, the everex driver won't go anything more than the 64k page frame. For that, is there anything available? Also, mark2000, sent ya a pm
 
k2x4b524[ said:
oh yea, i'm gonna try *the drivparm trick* i've also got a 16bit everex MFM controller that may work, and tackle that one tommorrow, i also want to use a UMB with it to get the most out it's 3mb ram, but i'm thinking i need to use something like emm386, the everex driver won't go anything more than the 64k page frame. For that, is there anything available? Also, mark2000, sent ya a pm
Click to expand...

I think you might be best off declaring the 3½" as a 1.2M drive and then adding the DRIVPRM for it. It's been a long time since I had to do this and I'm not certain that I remember what I used to do.
 
It could also be the DOS version, if I recall correctly, DOS versions less than 3.3 don't do 1.44. What DOS Are you using?

Kipp
 
LOL don't worry mike, it was jumpered properly, i think it's just a quirk in the AT itself now, i'm going to try that drivparm suggestion when i get home tonight, and yes, they are jumpered properly, AND cabled properly, the dualie drives have an odd combo of jumpers to select which drive is a and which is b.

MikeS said:
Sigh... why do I bother...
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i'm using dos 6.22
 
k2x4b524[ said:
LOL don't worry mike, it was jumpered properly, i think it's just a quirk in the AT itself now, i'm going to try that drivparm suggestion when i get home tonight, and yes, they are jumpered properly, AND cabled properly, the dualie drives have an odd combo of jumpers to select which drive is a and which is b.

i'm using dos 6.22
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FWIW, My Canon drives want to be connected to the B connector (i.e. no twist).
 
MikeS said:
FWIW, My Canon drives need to be connected to the B connector (i.e. no twist).
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I've had the same problem with mine as well, but its a Teac. Some odd reason if you use the twist the 2nd drive doesnt respond correctly. On top of that, mine hardly works either. :( The 1.2 is shot, which really bugs me. I had the drive since new, came in my dell 486. Barely even used the 1.2. Yet I have abused 1.2s that work fine, go figure. One of them I found bits of a sandwich in, and after cleaning still works! (even if it kinda smells like 3n1 oil and hot dogs ROFL)

Guessing these drives arent made all that well.

Went and grabbed mine - Its a Teac FD-505
 
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Hmmm, I can use either twisted or non-twisted cables depending on how I set the jumpers on the 505.

The 5¼" drives are the weak part, IMOHO. The 3½" drives are pretty standard FD05 parts and have been used on laptops and USB floppies for a long time. If you're space-challenged, they're okay, but not wonderful.
 
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