• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Conner 2MB Floppy Controller on IBM XT 5160

twolazy

twolazy

Veteran Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
2,271
Location
Chicago, IL
So think I screwed up, but purchased this controller for a decent deal, thinking it would work on the XT. There isn't much info available online about it, and only a few posts on here where one could get it to start booting, and another nothing at all. Has the jumpers to set it correctly (3F0H, IRQ 6, DMA 2).

Has anyone had this controller work in an XT? Don't mind if I am stuck to DD media.
 
s-l1600.jpg
 
Should be delivered Friday, so don't have possession yet... It has a stamp upper right corner saying 144, so assumed it was a floppy controller, but now believe it is a tape controller. Isn't listed in my copy of "THE REF" guide.
 
I do have an early Peacon (before lo-tech) rom board, that has XT-IDE on it. It's only using 32k of the 64k storage currently. Might be useful.

8bit-rom-board-assembled.jpg
 
Last edited:
Chuck(G) said:
Hmmm, I have a couple of those, but not Conner brand. They actually do use a floppy controller to function, but I've never tried to make one work that way. For one thing, mine have 48 MHz XCOs on i82078 controllers, so coding for them would be a little non-standard. At least one is ISA PnP (16 bit ISA connector, but only an 8-bit data path).

Still, if they're really cheap and plentiful, it might be worthwhile to work out some DOS drivers for them to run floppy drives--if all of the floppy control lines have be brought out to the connector.

Just one of those things I started to check out and never finished.
Click to expand...

This card indeed has a 48mhz crystal as well. :\
 
twolazy said:
so assumed it was a floppy controller, but now believe it is a tape controller.
Click to expand...
modem7 said:
But I see "FLOPPY CONTROLLER" printed on it.
Click to expand...
twolazy said:
Only real thread I could find for it. It was denoted in the thread...
Click to expand...
Well then, someone needs to go back through the company records, finding out who were the responsible people at the time, and bring them before the courts, to be held accountable for this blatant and heinous act of false advertising. :)
 
I think it would be worth swapping out the crystal with a 24MHz to give it a try. It's going to work or not going to work. I've done this with ExaByte tape controllers and it worked well.
 
I've got a couple of the tape controllers that look like this, complete with 48MHz oscillator. They can be used as a floppy controller, but you have to have the right BIOS/driver (depending on what OS is used) for it. I can't make out the markings on the chip, but I suspect that it's an 82078. Note that the driver for this thing is a little different when setting data rates, namely, the CLK48 bit in the configuration register.

The datasheet is here; note that there are really two datasheets in the booklet--the first is for a 44 pin version; the second is for a 64 pin version, which is what you have. If you're either scribbling up your own driver or have found one, there's no need to change the XCO.

But yes, this works with floppies as well as some floppytape drives.

It's a neat chip with some special features, one of which is a command to format and write a track in a single pass.
 
Last edited:
Ok so card arrived today, and after some drama, the machine at least see's a floppy controller. Spins the drive up to seek, no more 601 error. Downside, will not boot 720kb diskettes... Till I figure out what is going on with the keyboard situation, kinda stuck with diagnostics.

Did manage to get Landmark Diagnostics working, and shows a pass for floppy controller, but fail on seek test. But it is a step in the right direction.

Its strange I have 5 XT compatible keyboards, and none of them reliably work for more then a boot or 2. Wondering if the keyboard jack needs to be replaced.

Also managed to find a good deal on a MFM+Floppy controller card (Everex EV-390). Will update thread after figuring out why keyboards aren't working.
 
It's the 48MHz clock that's messing the XT up, since it can't set the configuration register to reflect that (said register didn't exist when the XT BIOS was written). Try either a 24MHz XCO or a 24MHz crystal. Note that seek rates are defined by the FDC clock, so of course, you're not going to pass a seek test.
 
I dont have any 24mhz crystals handy, So will order some this evening. Worst case I can throw it in the Compaq Portable. Be nice if it supports 1.2 / 1.44mb drives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top