Atari PCH204 help needed

[KLund1]

Hi Everyone,

Not sure if this is the right forum for this. It is for an Atari computer, just not a 6xxxx based machine.

I have a working Atari PC1. All seems good with it. But I have a matching but sick Atari PCH204 Hard Drive unit. The actual drive that came with it, an Epson HMC-755 is completely dead. So I trolled ebay and found a similar sized drive, a Seagate ST351A/X. I've have jumppered it several ways and the PC1 will not recognize it. I do not get a 1701 error any more (as when the Epson was installed). But Fdisk from DOS 3.3 reports no fixed disk attached. The drive spins up fine. Perhaps this drive is just not compatible. But the specs show that it is ok for XT and AT uses. I'm assuming the PC1 is an XT clone with some internal upgrades from Atari. I was thinking I need to use the DEBUG command in Dos to low level format this HD, but I have no clue as to what parameters/switches to use. I have received some limited help from VintageComputers.com but nothing that really helps.

Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas?

Thanks

(I'm going to post this in the 8-bit forum too)

 

[Zogging Hell]

Did the PC1 have an ASCI interface like a Mega? There is a comment on old computers.com which seems to suggest it is.

 

'I bought one of these when I attended college in 1988. The Ram was expandable to 640K. However the selling point was it had an ST compatible floppy/HD connector which meant that you could add ST floppy and hard drive which were alledgedly cheaper than the PC equivalent.'

 

Perhaps this is the problem? I wonder if you could add a Satandisk or something to it...?

 

Also what type of drive is it, MFM or RLL presumably from that period?

[tjlazer]

I'll have to try an Atari ST with mine and see if it works. Wonder if an ultra satan works on it!!!

[KLund1]

There is a floppy port that may work with an ST FDD. I have not tried it. But the HD connection is a very wide ribbon cable. I think 50 pins? Much wider than an IDE cable. This connects the PCH204 to the PC1. I put some pictures of the inside of the 204 on AtariAge 8-bit forum posting with this same thread title.

The original drive was an XT (8-bit) IDE connection HD. Newer then MFM of RLL.

[tjlazer]

I can confirm that an Atari ST SF314 drive works as a 720k drive on the PC-1