TI99-4/A Disk drive help

[Charlie_]

Also post in a Yahoo TI99 group:

 

I was told when I purchased my PEB that it had the stock TI drive and

controller. Was the drive used a SS or DS drive?

 

When I make TI disks on my PC that are SS,SD they work great.

 

When I make TI disks on my PC that are DS,SD they don't seem to work.

I can get a catalog but it will fail with an error.

When I use DM2 and do an error check I get bad address on everything over 360.

All the way up to 720.

These are the disk images I'm using Ti99-pc to make:

ftp://ftp.whtech.com/emulators/v9t9/Funnelweb/

 

When I formatted a disk in the Ti with DM2 and it asked me Single Sided I

answered no, but when I put that disk in the PC ti9-pc says its a SS,SD disk. I

think I did something wrong though...

Tracks per side 40

Single sided N

Single density Y

Does that yield a DS,SD disk?

 

Also when I catalog the DS,SD disk in ti99-pc I get a full list of the files

with no error.

 

Could it be a single sided drive? I have a few in a couple of my TRS-80 drive

units... Maybe something is broken?

[oracle_jedi]

Also post in a Yahoo TI99 group:

 

I was told when I purchased my PEB that it had the stock TI drive and

controller. Was the drive used a SS or DS drive?

 

 

The stock TI drives are SS/SD.

 

I believe the controller can handle DS/SD, but not double density.

 

If you want DS/DD you will need a upgraded controller, such as a Corcomp or Myarc controller, and a DS/DD drive too.

 

These controllers tend to fetch high prices on Ebay these days and are really quite rare.

[Charlie_]

Also post in a Yahoo TI99 group:

 

I was told when I purchased my PEB that it had the stock TI drive and

controller. Was the drive used a SS or DS drive?

 

 

The stock TI drives are SS/SD.

 

I believe the controller can handle DS/SD, but not double density.

 

If you want DS/DD you will need a upgraded controller, such as a Corcomp or Myarc controller, and a DS/DD drive too.

 

These controllers tend to fetch high prices on Ebay these days and are really quite rare.

 

Thanks. Since I posted this I installed two 360K drives in my PEB and now I can use DS,SD disks.

Not knowing enough about the TI99 and its disk system, and no idea what type of hardware was in the PEB had me very confussed.

I have it all sorted out now.

[snume]

Also post in a Yahoo TI99 group:

 

I was told when I purchased my PEB that it had the stock TI drive and

controller. Was the drive used a SS or DS drive?

 

 

The stock TI drives are SS/SD.

 

I believe the controller can handle DS/SD, but not double density.

 

If you want DS/DD you will need a upgraded controller, such as a Corcomp or Myarc controller, and a DS/DD drive too.

 

These controllers tend to fetch high prices on Ebay these days and are really quite rare.

 

Thanks. Since I posted this I installed two 360K drives in my PEB and now I can use DS,SD disks.

Not knowing enough about the TI99 and its disk system, and no idea what type of hardware was in the PEB had me very confussed.

I have it all sorted out now.

 

Where'd you get the drives from? And/or what type of drives did you use? I want to set up mine with one 5 1/4" and two 3 1/2" drives but I'd like them to be DS/SD rather than SS/SD. I'm prety sure I'm getting a stock TI controller and it's be nice to have the drives available when the controller shows up.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[S1500]

IIRC the TI disk drives are no different than the floppy drives used on a XT at the time. Yes, common hardware between IBM & TI.

[Charlie_]

IIRC the TI disk drives are no different than the floppy drives used on a XT at the time. Yes, common hardware between IBM & TI.

 

That is correct. I happened to use the drives from a spare TRS-80 coco drive setup I had just sitting on a shelf.

If I remember correct those drive I got from ebay many years ago.

[snume]

IIRC the TI disk drives are no different than the floppy drives used on a XT at the time. Yes, common hardware between IBM & TI.

 

That is correct. I happened to use the drives from a spare TRS-80 coco drive setup I had just sitting on a shelf.

If I remember correct those drive I got from ebay many years ago.

 

Do you know which model TRS-80 drives they are? Were they together as a sets? And did you look in the PEB to see if you have the stock TI controller or a 3rd party?

 

Thanks,

Steve

[Charlie_]

IIRC the TI disk drives are no different than the floppy drives used on a XT at the time. Yes, common hardware between IBM & TI.

 

That is correct. I happened to use the drives from a spare TRS-80 coco drive setup I had just sitting on a shelf.

If I remember correct those drive I got from ebay many years ago.

 

Do you know which model TRS-80 drives they are? Were they together as a sets? And did you look in the PEB to see if you have the stock TI controller or a 3rd party?

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

You can use any IBM compatible 5.25" 360K drives. I have the stock TI controller. It supports Double sided, but only single density. So the most you will get from the 360K drive is 180K. Still its a whole other side of a disk and double the 90K of the stock drive.

 

Also the PEB doesnt have the correct holes to mount 1/2 height drives. I drilled holes in the peb for this. If you want to have 2 drives you will need to make a custom cable with 2 card edge connectors for the drives and a female pin connector for the controller. You cant use a PC twisted cable. The last drive on the cable needs to be terminated. All the drives I have, this is a chip that plugs in.

 

Obvious but you will also need a Y adapter for the power plug if you want 2 drives.

[snume]

You can use any IBM compatible 5.25" 360K drives. I have the stock TI controller. It supports Double sided, but only single density. So the most you will get from the 360K drive is 180K. Still its a whole other side of a disk and double the 90K of the stock drive.

 

Also the PEB doesnt have the correct holes to mount 1/2 height drives. I drilled holes in the peb for this. If you want to have 2 drives you will need to make a custom cable with 2 card edge connectors for the drives and a female pin connector for the controller. You cant use a PC twisted cable. The last drive on the cable needs to be terminated. All the drives I have, this is a chip that plugs in.

 

Obvious but you will also need a Y adapter for the power plug if you want 2 drives.

 

Okay, so let's say I only use the one 5 1/4" that's coming in the mail. What about adding 3 1/2" Drives? Isn't there some kind of jumper on the Drive that has to be set or soldered or a trace that has to be cut?

[Charlie_]

You can use any IBM compatible 5.25" 360K drives. I have the stock TI controller. It supports Double sided, but only single density. So the most you will get from the 360K drive is 180K. Still its a whole other side of a disk and double the 90K of the stock drive.

 

Also the PEB doesnt have the correct holes to mount 1/2 height drives. I drilled holes in the peb for this. If you want to have 2 drives you will need to make a custom cable with 2 card edge connectors for the drives and a female pin connector for the controller. You cant use a PC twisted cable. The last drive on the cable needs to be terminated. All the drives I have, this is a chip that plugs in.

 

Obvious but you will also need a Y adapter for the power plug if you want 2 drives.

 

Okay, so let's say I only use the one 5 1/4" that's coming in the mail. What about adding 3 1/2" Drives? Isn't there some kind of jumper on the Drive that has to be set or soldered or a trace that has to be cut?

 

Try this site. It may be able to help you.

 

http://web.lowcountry.com/~compdr/