new_castle_j
Experienced Member
I have a couple disks that I'm trying to identify. Can anyone tell me what system would have used MSDOS on an 8" floppy?
- VCF South West - June 14 - 16, Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas
- VCF West - Aug 2 - 3, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
- VCF Midwest - Sept 7 - 8 2024, Schaumburg, IL
- VCF SoCal - Mid February 2025, Location TBD, Southern CA
- VCF East - April 2025, Infoage Museum, Wall NJ
-
Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
Help identify these disks, what computer ran MS DOS with 8" floppies?
- Thread starter new_castle_j
- Start date
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Several, actually. Probably the most common would have been the NEC APC. ISTR that some Compupro systems used 8" disks with MSDOS. There were others.
It's interesting that the labels say "PCSIG disk", since PC-SIG published (IBM) PC software.
According to this catalog, PCSIG disks #1022 and #1023 should contain Qmodem SST v4.1. FWIW, the wording on the labels makes me think that "MSDOS" refers to the disk format, not the contents.
[EDIT] Contents of the above-mentioned PCSIG disks: 1022, 1023
According to this catalog, PCSIG disks #1022 and #1023 should contain Qmodem SST v4.1. FWIW, the wording on the labels makes me think that "MSDOS" refers to the disk format, not the contents.
[EDIT] Contents of the above-mentioned PCSIG disks: 1022, 1023
new_castle_j
Experienced Member
Fantastic detective work! I'll bet you're right, these are probably not MS DOS boot disk at all.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Did anyone say they were? PC-SIG stuff is on archive.org--and I've got a CD-ROM of it also.
The physical format (SSSD 26x128 sectors) is very common because it's the original 8" IBM 3740 standard. Disks were sold pre-formatted this way. Somewhere, buried within early versions of MS-DOS, I believe the format was actually defined.
The physical format (SSSD 26x128 sectors) is very common because it's the original 8" IBM 3740 standard. Disks were sold pre-formatted this way. Somewhere, buried within early versions of MS-DOS, I believe the format was actually defined.
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
But still, what machine would take 8" disks, read DOS FAT disks, and run QModem all the way in to 1988?
I do seem to recall reading that Columbia Data Products sold an 8" disk drive floppy disk controller for their CDP 1600 (the FDC on the motherboard is low-density only), but those came standard with 360K 5.25" drives.
Although it could be that "PCSIG" refers to something else here.
I do seem to recall reading that Columbia Data Products sold an 8" disk drive floppy disk controller for their CDP 1600 (the FDC on the motherboard is low-density only), but those came standard with 360K 5.25" drives.
Although it could be that "PCSIG" refers to something else here.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
The NEC APC had integrated 8" drives. I've still got some factory MSDOS (yes, the operating system) disks for one. There were others. One thing that 8" floppies had over the smaller sizes was reliability. Finding an APC in 1988, particularly with color graphics would not be hard. 5.25" floppies were, in some environments, considered to be "consumer grade".
tipc
Banned
What immediately.comes to mind is the Canon AS-100 and the XeroX 16/8. Didn't the Zenith Z-1x0 have an 8" option? There were likely others.
The NEC APC had an aftermarket 5 1/4" option. I have the hardware, but the drivers are likely irrecoverable, if I have the disks anymore.
The NEC APC had an aftermarket 5 1/4" option. I have the hardware, but the drivers are likely irrecoverable, if I have the disks anymore.
tipc
Banned
as someone pointed out, the reference to MS-DOS probably has to do with the format and not contents.
It should also be pointed out that even if these disks had standard IBM compatible DOS on them, they wouldn't be compatible w/any of the known or mentioned units that used DOS (i.e. their DOSs weren't standard and wouldn't boot a regular pc. Heck the Xerox didn't even have a standard video subsystem, it used the 820II or rough equivalent that sat on top of it as a termnal. A weird beast, albeit likely the undisputed sexy beast of all the pseudo compatibles. Too modern for an early Star Trek episode, would have fit well into a sci fi setting circa 1970-5 though).
Ok, who took the picture matters. I have shots of it that showed off it's best side. Can't find anything close on the net unfortunately.
It should also be pointed out that even if these disks had standard IBM compatible DOS on them, they wouldn't be compatible w/any of the known or mentioned units that used DOS (i.e. their DOSs weren't standard and wouldn't boot a regular pc. Heck the Xerox didn't even have a standard video subsystem, it used the 820II or rough equivalent that sat on top of it as a termnal. A weird beast, albeit likely the undisputed sexy beast of all the pseudo compatibles. Too modern for an early Star Trek episode, would have fit well into a sci fi setting circa 1970-5 though).
Ok, who took the picture matters. I have shots of it that showed off it's best side. Can't find anything close on the net unfortunately.