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Does anyone have a working 8-inch disk drive?

Vailen

Member
Joined
May 27, 2024
Messages
38
Location
New Jersey
Hello everyone. I have an IBM 5110-3 (or 5120) and want to create disk images of software i found for the computer, and it will be a while before I can purchase the additional hardware I need to create my own 8-inch disk images.

If anyone can help me out please contact me. Thanks for your help.
 

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I could, however I should be your last resort as I am located in Europe.

By the way, you posted in the wrong subforum. Maybe asking a moderator to move this thread to the non-PC category would help you get more attention with 8" stuff.
 
Hello everyone. I have an IBM 5110-3 (or 5120) and want to create disk images of software i found for the computer, and it will be a while before I can purchase the additional hardware I need to create my own 8-inch disk images.

If anyone can help me out please contact me. Thanks for your help.
You could try signing up for a repair workshop at InfoAge and see if someone can get a drive setup for you.
 
You know the more I think about this, perhaps you should consider patching in a GoTEK or 5.25" drive and then go from there, creating 8" disks with native software.

Or you could go the other way, and pull one of the 8" drives out and connect it to a PC in order to create disks with imd.

p.s. also, do you have blank 1.2MB 8" Floppies?
 
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I recently purchased DS/DD 8-inch floppy disks. I took your advice and contacted InfoAge. They can make these images, and I am working with them to schedule a time.
 
I have qty3 8" drives, but I have no idea if they work. It would be expensive to get one to you only to find out that it's not operational. But if you are willing to take the chance hit me up.
 
They are GSI Model 110H.

But they will require a complete rebuild. So if you're limiting yourself to working only then these aren't the drives you're looking for.

1726589611017.jpeg

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1726589650410.jpeg
 
I appreciate the offer, but I do not have the technical skill to rebuild these drives (wish I did). I am glad you are still holding onto to these. Maybe in the future someone will want to restore them.
 
VeryVon said:
Or you could go the other way, and pull one of the 8" drives out

Not that easy, he needs to build himself an adapter cable, and not all PC floppy drive controllers do 1K sector sizes (or 128 byte FM for single density formats).
Also, DougM's drives seem to be single-sided only, they won't do 1.2MB images. You'd need a double-sided head.

European here. I can do it for you, provided you send me a package with the blank disks and return postage.
 
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Not that easy, he needs to build himself an adapter cable, and not all PC floppy drive controllers do 1K sector sizes (or 128 byte FM for single density formats).

European here. I can do it for you, provided you send me a package with the blank disks and return postage.
There are at least 6 of these 8" floppy adapters that do all the work for you and use regular cables I can think of off the top of my head. That part is "EASY"... getting it all working.. another story.



Just a red flag. OP HAS NOT stated what format they need these disks written to and for what machine. Pretty sure thats a very important variable to address first.
 
VERAULT said:
There are at least 6 of these 8" floppy adapters that do all the work for you and use regular cables (...) OP HAS NOT stated what format they need these disks written to

Actually he has, his archive contains 6 IMD files for the IBM 5110. By using IMDV analysis, all of them have the following geometry of 77 tracks and 2 sides, and are of the IBM Diskette 2D type. In those images, cylinder 0 on head 0 is always 26 sectors of 128 byte FM; head 1 on same cylinder 26x256B MFM. The rest of the tracks are 15x512B MFM. I do not consider myself a floppy drive whiz by any stretch of the imagination, but I wish you good luck writing those with a random PC floppy controller with some cable (I'd yet to see a "regular cable" for an 8" drive, especially those not following the Shugart bus pinout). You might aswell give him a helping hand. Don't forget the TG43 line while at it.
 
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Could "Vailen" confirm, they have a working IBM 5110-3 (or 5120)? Does it already have 8-inch floppy drives that are the correct IBM model to work with that computer? It's unclear from their short post, what they have exactly.

Vailen says "purchase hardware I need to create my own 8-inch disk". That could mean either "I need floppy drives for my 5110-3" or "I need to set up some other computer, buy 8-inch drives, buy/use an appropriate floppy controller, with software X, and then produce diskettes from the image-files I've obtained (from location unstated)". Either is challenging. The more information provided, the more targeted the help that Vailen will be offered.

As far as where to post this request. The first key is about working with disk formats and floppy drives. Already got targeted response on the 5110 disk formats in the IMD file. Now it's a "tools" question. later, it may be IBM 5110 questions, content-search of the forums will find where those questions get best responses.

Fortunately, the IMD internal infor, appears to reference a common-enough diskette format, for possible diskette reproduction by old-school (IBM-PC floppy) controllers. But it would take someone familiar with 5110's with floppy drives (kinda rare), to *confirm* results from particular non-5110 hardware will actually work. Someone could end up postal-mailing this Vailen some produced diskettes.

The traditional alternative for use of IMD images, is to download (serial) a format-and-write program into the target computer (the 5110), which then formats a diskette on the target computer. That program may also write a downloaded disk image to that diskette. Alternatively, two programs to do those things.

It's possible, the origin of those 5110 disk images, includes information on who provided those images, and how they can be used or were used. It's to the owner's benefit to touch bases with as many 5110 people as they can find, not to mention disk-imaging people with 5110 experiences.

- regards Herb Johnson
 
I own an a fully functional IBM 5110-3 (aka 5120) with dual 8-inch disk drives. Based on my research, DS/DD 8-inch disks will work, but I will need to format them first. I am in communication with InfoAge and they have offered their assistance.

As far as the hardware I would eventually need to purchase to create 8-inch disk images myself, that will be in the distant future and I will definitely start a new thread at that time to discuss the hardware I will need.
 
Thanks Vailen for the responses. So buying disk drives and floppy controllers for them is moot. I hope your IBM floppy drives are operational. You have as you said, "InfoAge" (VCF-MidAtlantic chapter) to assist you. I'm aware of that, there's a discussion thread on their email list, archived here for those interested:


under "Next Repair Workshop Oct 4 & 5". Apparently they (whomever is involved specifically) are now in private discussion with you.

There's no point second-guessing what they might do, apparently using USB-controllers operating floppy drives. Some of those USB controllers' software, support IMD disk image information. Meanwhile, I stand behind my post of (someone else's) possible use of old-school disk imaging methods with IBM-PC class floppy controllers on 8-inch floppy drives using MS-DOS "imagedisk" from Dave Dunfield. That's the "IMD v118" program referenced in this thread. Running code on the 5110 itself to produce disks "cold", seems to be an unnecessary last resort.

Hopefully, someone somewhere can hand you 8-inch diskettes with the content of the IBM 5110 IMD images you referenced. And hopefully your IBM hardware will boot them successfully. Good luck.

Regards Herb Johnson
 
Thanks for your feedback. For now, all I can do is try and see if InfoAge’s method will work. If this fails, then I will have to investigate how the image files were created (if that’s even possible), or continue searching the Internet and forums for people who may be able to assist.
 
Vailen said:
then I will have to investigate how the image files were created (if that’s even possible),

The 6 disk images in your first post's attachment were archived in March 2022 using ImageDisk version 1.18. For example GAMES1.IMD was saved from the disk to file on 24th of March 2022 at exactly 10:53:36 PM.
The sticker on the floppy disk said "Load 28 and RUN" and had a datestamp of 8/31/79.
Magic, ain't it!

hjohnson said:
It's to the owner's benefit to touch bases with as many 5110 people as they can find, not to mention disk-imaging people with 5110 experiences.

English is my third language, but from a sentence formed like this I'd almost say you're an AI generated post.
 
The AI folk probably tuned for an informative non-condescending tone in responses.
So maybe good AI responses sound like Herb? :)
 
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