Date   : Fri, 06 Apr 2001 19:26:50 +0100
From   : Philip Peake <philipp@...>
Subject: Re: Q: BBC Model B + 3.5" FDD

The Intel 8271 disk controller can't drive a 3.5" drive (the timings are
all wrong)

Only one of the Western Digital 1770 based upgrades could cope (you
might have quite a problem finding one outside of a computer though) -
it would also need a new DFS or ADFS ROM.




Chris + Tina Saddler wrote:

>  I recently bought  a BBC Model B. It came with NO disk drive but it
> does
> have the 8271 DFS upgrade and the DFS 0.9 ROM installed.
>
> I'm trying to hook up  a 3.5" 1.44Mb Floppy Drive (from a PC) and I'm
> running into some problems. The Floppy Drive that I have is an EPSON
> SMD-340. It has several jumpers on the PCB including one to select
> DS0/DS1.
> I have it set to DS0. I have connected the FDD to the BBC Model B Disk
> to
> the disk drive edge connector with a 34-way ribbon cable (no twist).
>
> When I try to format a disk with the command *FORMAT, the Beeb
> responds
> after a short pause with the message "Disc fault 18 at 00/00".
> I also tried formatting a disk using ANADISK on my PC. This appeared
> to
> work, but when I tried to save a file to that disk from the Beeb it
> gave me the
> same error message as above.
>
> I have seen some references to DNFS 1.21 or 1.20a which are DFS
> versions that
> have been patched to allow the use of 3.5" FDD's. Do I need this?
>
> My question is what do  need to do to get a 3.5" FDD to work with the
> 8271
> disk interface?
>
> Any help and advice is welcome. (Please remove NO SPAM form my address
> to
> respond by e-mail.)
>
> Chris.
>
>