------------ ************ Topic 7 Tue Nov 03, 1987 W.HATCH [Belgarion] (Forwarded) Sub: C=128 & 4040 DRIVE... HELP!!! I HAVE ACCESS TO A 4040 DRIVE. IT WOULD BE NICE TO USE A DUAL DRIVE WITH MY C=128. IS IT POSSIBLE? WHAT DO I NEED? DOES THE SOFTWARE OUT THERE SUPPORT IT? 5 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 17, Topic 7 Message 1 Mon Nov 09, 1987 DEB (Forwarded) Well, W.Hatch, the 4040 is an IEEE disk drive, and it is indeed very possible to use it with your 128. You will find that all of the Commodore IEEE series of peripherals were heavy duty and had pretty decent track records. There are two IEEE interfaces that I know of, the ELink, from Progressive Peripherals, which will not give you the speed of the drive, but will give you a very transparent operation...and QuickSilver 128 from Skyles Electric Works. The QuickSilver is the one I use, and is BLAZING fast...! It does require changing a ROM in your 128, and if you want to use CP/M you have to actuallly add a piggy back board and a switch to enable it. Other than that, tho, it has few other disadvantages. Do note that if you do decide to purchase and use a 4040 that they are only READ compatible with 1541 drives, not WRITE compatible. Writing on the 4040 format by a 1541 will result in a *TRASHED* disk and bam. Conversly, writing on a 1541 format disk with a 4040 will *TRASH* it just as well. I presume the 4040 can read a single side of a 1571, but I've never tried it. I use the large 1 meg SFD drives with my QuickSilver and my 128, and both the amount of storage and their speed has spoiled me rotten...! *deb!* ------------ Category 17, Topic 7 Message 2 Thu Nov 12, 1987 W.HATCH [Belgarion] (Forwarded) Thanx for the response. You mentioned the need for changing a ROM in the 128. Which ROM? I have the new upgrades, or is it something different? Do I use the same proceedure for a 64? I enjoy CP/M on the 128, so what piggyback board do I need to add? When you say *BLAZING* ast what do you mean? How does it compare to the 1571? Do you know of anyplace or anyone that has the schematics or service manuals for the drive? (BOY I do ask a lot of questions, huh?) Thanx for your help so far, it's <<GREATLY>> appreciated! ----====> Belgarion <====---- ------------ Category 17, Topic 7 Message 3 Fri Nov 13, 1987 DEB (Forwarded) The ROM you have to replace comes WITH the QuickSilver. And when I say BLAZING fast, I mean it! <grin> The piggyback board for CP/M is also available <at an extra charge, of course> from Skyles. You should contact them for more info, I guess. With the exception of possibly burst mode program loads, the QuickSilver is FASTER for all other disk operations than a 1571. Especially for manipulations of data/SEQ files. Anything that uses Block Reads/Writes, for instance, is about twice to three TIMES faster than a 1571. At any rate, enjoy the drive, just make sure you have the 4040 checked out before you purchase it! <grin> Drive 0 likes to go out to lunch on those old puppies. *deb!* ------------ Category 17, Topic 7 Message 4 Sun Nov 15, 1987 W.HATCH [Belgarion] (Forwarded) Thanx for the info. I'll get in touch with Skyles and see what's up. The drive was pretty expensive... all of $0.00!!! Couldn't go wrong!! I checked with the local Commodore technician and he didn't even know what a 4040 drive was. Said he couldn't get any schematics OR parts for it, so if it doesn't work, I don't know what I'll do with it. thanx again... ----====> W. HATCH <====---- ------------ Category 17, Topic 7 Message 5 Mon Nov 16, 1987 DEB (Forwarded) If its not working right, leave a mail message for LYLEG, I'm certain he can fix it! What a silly technician you have...declares it unfixable before he even sees it. <grin> *deb!* ------------ ************ Topic 31 Sat Oct 10, 1987 TOUCHSTONE at 03:38 CDT Sub: 8050 drives A discussion on interfacing the 80 series drives onto newer CBM machines I.I. c-64 and 128 17 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 1 Sat Oct 10, 1987 TOUCHSTONE at 03:40 CDT 0=000 I would like to find the best way to interfact tehse disk drives to a newer computer for BBS purposes. ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 2 Sat Oct 17, 1987 S.LEWIS at 21:38 MDT Skyles IEEE-Flash, direct from Skyles for $99 or so, and add $10 for overnight UPS delivery! ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 3 Thu Oct 22, 1987 MIKEM [- Mike -] at 18:41 PDT <shudder> ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 4 Mon Nov 09, 1987 S.GUSTAFSON at 23:37 EST IEEE-Flash and Quicksilver 128 don't work so hot with BBS software that reads SEQ files. I posted a half-fix for one BBS prg in the BBS bulletin board. ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 5 Fri Nov 13, 1987 DEB at 20:53 EST I've been using a QuickSilver 128 <NOT the IEEE Flash> with SEQ files as long as I've had a 128 <which was a lonnnng time>, and they read and write SEQ files just perfectly! Thats not a problem with the interface, it must be a problem with the software, S.Gustafson. Are you using it in 128 mode or in 64 Mode?! <I was never very happy with Any of Skyles' IEEE stuff in 64 mode>. Its worked flawlessly with ARC <64 mode>, InfoQuick <64 mode>, BobsTerm Pro 128, SuperScript 128, SuperBase 128, and a myriad of my own utilities which manipulate data files in 128 mode. Unicopy 128 works great, too. *deb!* ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 6 Sun Feb 21, 1988 BILLYBEESKOW at 21:08 CST I'M NOT REAL SURE THIS BELONGS HERE, BUT THE TOPIC IS 8050 DRIVES SO HERE GOES... A FRIEND OF MINE BOUGHT THE C128B SYSTEM FROM A MAJOR 'OUTLET'. IT CAME WITH AN 8050 DRIVE AND HE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS GETTING THE DISKETTES FORMATTED. I BROUGHT THE SYSTEM HOME WITH ME TO 'TOY' WITH AND I FOLLOWED INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. UPON ENTERING THE '?DS$' COMMAND, AFTER GIVING THE 'NEW DISK' COMMAND, I RECEIVED THE LINE '21,DRIVE NOT READY,39,00,00'....OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT. THE WRITE PROTECT NOTCHES ON THE DISKETTES ARE NOT COVERED. I WAS THINKING THAT THERE MIGHT BE A CHANCE THAT THE L.E.D.'S OR THE PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS USED IN THE WRITE PROTECT NOTCH CHECK MIGHT BE DEFECTIVE, OR THAT THE ASSOCIATED CIRCUITRY MIGHT BE AT FAULT. IS THERE ANYONE THAT COULD PLEASE HELP ME? THANKS, BILL P.S.: PLEASE FORGIVE THE 'ROUGHNESS' OF THIS MESSAGE, I'M VERY UNFAMILIAR WITH THE SYSTEM. ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 7 Mon Feb 22, 1988 DEB [*SysOp*] at 00:45 EST Billy: Its a MUCH greater chance that the 8050 drive is enough out of alignment that it cannot format a disk. The IEEE drives came with an automatic disk speed checking routine which would not allow a disk to be formatted if the alignment or drive speed checking routine was not right on the nose. Take it to a service center and have it aligned...! *deb!* (Who has had numerous 8250's aligned...) ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 11 Sat Jul 16, 1988 BILLYBEESKOW at 18:57 CDT Hi! I'm back again. I pulled the B-128 and 8050 out of the 'junk room' and started up Superbase. It ran fine.... until I tried to format a disk, which is when it (Superbase) gave me this error.... "75,format speed error,01, 00,1"... So my question is, are the heads out of line, throwing off the speed, which in turns doesn't allow the format to take place, or is it just the speed that is off which is not allowing the disk to be formatted? Also, according to the manual, a Z80 or an 8088 micro-processor can be installed in the system allowing CP/M (Z80) or DOS (8088) to be run on the system. Is this true??? If so, I would like to '88 it and set up a BBS on it. Or is there a good BBS for the B-128? Thanks very much, Billy Beeskow ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 12 Sun Jul 17, 1988 D.SCHMOLDT [Dave/SysOp] at 23:34 EDT Billy, I'm far from being an expert on 8050s, but a speed format error message sounds to me like the drive speed is off, rather than heads out of alignment. If a drive is out of alignment, it can usually still format disks, it just might have trouble reading disks from other drives. I don't know anything about the 8088 microprocessor, as far as plug and go goes. I've heard of folks who have set up their B128 to run MS-DOS, but I think it was more involved than just popping in the 8088. I *think* there is a PC adaptor kit out for the B128. As far as I know, there is no BBS program for the B128. In fact, the last I heard there were very few term programs for it. Dave ------------ Category 17, Topic 31 Message 13 Sun Jul 17, 1988 BILLYBEESKOW at 22:54 CDT Dave, Thanks much for the info. As per my earlier message, I live pretty far from a repair shop, and I would like to do the repair myself. To adjust the speed of the drives, do I adjust the variable resistors located on the PCB above drive 0? Or is this another repair job that will have to be done...
Amiga7878