Date   : Mon, 20 Jun 2005 15:58:33 +0100
From   : Mike Howard <aixguru@...>
Subject: A couple of questions - Econet & 1770 Disc Interface

Hi All,

I have a few BBCs which, for reasons I won't bother you with, I'm about 
to ECONET together. With Econet fitted to an Issue 7 BBC/B I get the 
expected boot up message 'Econet Station xx No Clock'. With Econet 
fitted to a couple of Issue 4s I get no such message even though they 
are not yet networked and therefore there is no clock. Is that normal? 
I'll no doubt find out when I do actually wire up the network but I just 
thought I'd ask before I go any further.

I also have an Issue 7 BBC/B who's history I know little about (I 
believe it came from the Depatment Of Chemical Engineering at Nottingham 
University) and cannot get the disc interface to work. I'm using a known 
good floppy drive, known good disc interface, known good 7438s and the 
link is fitted at IC86. IC87 is fitted with a 74LS123 but unfortunately 
not socketed.

If I do a *cat, the drive led lights up, the disc whirrs then nothing, 
the led goes out and the beeb just sits there until I press ESCAPE. If I 
do a *form 80 0 the led lights up, the disc whirrs, the initial 
'formatting track 00' message appears and then the beeb hangs again. 
This time requiring a CTRL BREAK.

Is there anything simple/obvious that might make this happen or does it 
sound terminal (as far as disk is concerned)?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers,
-- 
Mike Howard                    aixguru at blueyonder dot co dot uk
Eccleston                       (Hotmail Reply-To is a spam trap)
UK