>Message: 6 >Date: Sat, 20 May 2023 07:25:39 -0700 >From: Chuck Guzis <ccl...@sydex.com> >Subject: [cctalk] Re: Getting floppy images to/from real floppy disks. > >On 5/20/23 04:21, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: > >> I was startled to discover my (long gone) Athlon XP box could only >> handle a single floppy drive. The BIOS has no option for a 2nd. >> >> I can't imagine that was a significant cost saving. > >It's a matter of pins. I believe that it started when the "SuperIO" >chip started packing in more support for various peripheral functions >and the 2 pins for drive select and motor control of an extra drive were >viewed as least important. Earlier versions of the chip often allowed >re-purposing the pins used for the parallel port as an interface for an >extra floppy--you saw this on laptop systems, which often had only one >floppy drive in any case. cf. Intel's PCISet chip sets. > >--Chuck
My main computer is a 15-year old Dell Precision T3400 (Core 2 Duo). It can handle multiple floppy drives, but the BIOS does not allow 360KB 5.25" disks, only 1.2MB in that size. Bob
