Date   : Sun, 02 Jun 1991 19:40:37 GMT
From   : motcsd!mcdcup!mcdhup!mcdchg!laidbak!amiganet!austral!rrezaian@apple.com (Russell Rezaian)
Subject: Re: CP/M disk formats (was Re: CPM to DOS exchanger)

In article <822@spam.ua.oz> dcook@spam.ua.oz (David Cook) writes:
>
>   While on the subject of disk formats, are there any programs
>that will read Microbee 3.5" CP/M disks. As far as I am aware, the
>Microbee (an Australian designed and built CP/M machine, which also
>had some graphics support, until the company went broke :-( )
>is the only CP/M machine that uses 3.5" disks, which hold 390K.
[...]

       Not really very helpful, but...   There are a few other CP/
computers that use 3.5 inch drives.  We had a lot of discussion about the
Epson Geneva a little while ago.  That strange beast not only used 3.5 inch
dirves it also used Micro Cassttes, and roms...  If I remember right it
also used a 390k format.
       Yet one more CP/M computer that uses 3.5inch drives is the
painfully slow Commodore 128.  It ran CP/M+ on a Z80, would read Kaypro,
Osborne, and a few other 5.25 inch formats, and also was able to use a
proprietary 800k 3.5inch format.  Unfortuantly the drive interface was a
rather slow serial bus, so the machine was mostly useless.  If you have
access to one it shouldn't be too hard I don't think to teach it to read
the Microbee format (if you have a description of it) but you might find
it a little hard to find a 128, and the necessary 1581 drive.
       Good luck!  (Me, I stick with my Kaypro and my OSMs, no 3.5, but
then again not as much waiting :-)
--
Russell Rezaian                        |  rrezaian@austral.chi.il.us
"What is the strongest cure?      |  rrezaian@amiganet.chi.il.us
  -- Victory."  Nietzsche.        |  Russell Rezaian via Fido 1:115/918