Date   : Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:23:14 +0100
From   : philb@... (Phil Blundell)
Subject: reading data from old hard disk

On Wed, 2009-06-24 at 00:21 +0100, Alex Taylor wrote:
> 2009/6/23 Phil Blundell <philb@...>:
> 
> >  If I remember right, ADFS uses 512-byte sectors
> > natively on the Archimedes.
> 
> Looking into it, I think you're right. For some reason I'd assumed
> they were 256-byte sectors.

Well, funnily enough, the A400/R140 service manual does seem to support
that point of view.  In the hard disk section, under "Format", it says
that there are 32 sectors per track; which in turn would suggest 256
bytes per sector.

Unfortunately I don't have an A-series with an MFM controller anymore.
There was a 4x0/1 listed on ebay the other day but it sold for something
like ?70 which is rather more than I was hoping to pay.  I'll keep my
eyes open though and, in the meantime, I might have a go at getting that
Xebec bridge board to work instead.

Before that, though, I need to repair some of my other hardware.  To my
frustration I discovered the other day that my A5000, two beebs, MDFS,
and one M128 have all developed (different) faults since I used them
last.  One of the beebs now seems to be working OK after replacing its
LM319s; the MDFS "just" needs a new hard disk, although 50-pin SCSI
drives seem to be something of a rarity nowadays; but the others all
look like they will need more determined investigation.  So, drat.

p.