I have a TEAC 3 1/2" drive. I am trying to determine if it is a dual read drive (LD and HD) or just a LD (720) drive. I find that there are many, many variations of this drive model. The numbers that follow the model number are 8334. I have tried (with no success) to find this variation of the FD 235HF drive. The drive I have does not have any switches on it. Anyone know where to look to find this model variant? Thanks for your help. Bill
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Rocky Mountains Need help on a TEAC FD-235HF 3 1/2" drive
- Thread starter willycp
- Start date
Covers: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado
twolazy
Veteran Member
Far as I know, all Teac 235HF drives are HD 1.44mb.
All drives in the FD235HF series support both normal and high density, irrespective of the numbers that appear after the FD235HF model number. There were a large number of variations of the basic drive design, reflecting both obvious differences like bezel color, less obvious differences like changes to the design of the logic board over time, versions intended for use in PCs (which sometimes had no option jumpers) and versions intended for non-PC applications (which had option jumpers).
Chuck(G)
25k Member
A bit on Teac nomenclature. A=180K single-sided, B=360K double-sided, E=360K single-sided, F=720K double-sided, G=1.2M double-sided H=1.44M double-sided, J=2.88M double-sided.
So, an FD55F is a 5.25" 96 tpi drive that does double-density.
An FD55FG is a 96 tpi drive that does both double-density (720) and high--density 1.2M
An FD235F is a 3.5" double-sided 720K drive
An FD235HF is a 3.5" double-sided drive that can do both 720K and 1.44M
An FD235HG is a 3.5" drive that can do 1.23M (360RPM) and 1.44M (and also 720K; Teac stops the suffixes at 2 letters).
The exceptions are the FD235J and FD235S, which are multi-denstiy 2.88M and SCSI drives, respectively.
Additional letters, such as -R or -V relate to special features.
So, an FD55F is a 5.25" 96 tpi drive that does double-density.
An FD55FG is a 96 tpi drive that does both double-density (720) and high--density 1.2M
An FD235F is a 3.5" double-sided 720K drive
An FD235HF is a 3.5" double-sided drive that can do both 720K and 1.44M
An FD235HG is a 3.5" drive that can do 1.23M (360RPM) and 1.44M (and also 720K; Teac stops the suffixes at 2 letters).
The exceptions are the FD235J and FD235S, which are multi-denstiy 2.88M and SCSI drives, respectively.
Additional letters, such as -R or -V relate to special features.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
So long as you're using real DD media and not HD, there's really no operational difference between the FD235F and the FD235HF. You can use the HF 1.44M drive where a 720K is specified. The media-sense hole in the floppy jacket determines how the drive is going to behave.
Hi Chuck, thanks for the information. I mainly wanted a 720k drive so that I could both read and write with it. So it sounds like if I have the FD235HF drive and I'm using only DD disks, I can use that drive for both reading and writing at the lower density. Am I reading your previous response correctly? And will the written disks also be readable by other DD drives? Thanks again for your help....
Chuck(G)
25k Member
You've got it right. No difference between 720K disks written by an HF drive or an F drive.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
One catch is that many systems which use 3.5" 720K drives use the drive select jumpers to determine which drive is A and B, rather than a twist in the cable. DS0 is A and DS1 is B. But TEAC dropped the drive select jumpers from their later 3.5" drives, which are hard-wired to DS1.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
It's still possible to set ID by moving 0-ohm SMT jumpers on those.