In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
, Dent Jonathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>Putting a disk in flp2_ and none in flp1_ then trying to read
>flp1_ may give an indication as to whether the "addressing" is
>working.
>There is a command in the Goldcard to set the step rate which
>has to be set for some drives and causes them to rattle when
>not right. I don't have a manual to hand and can't remember the
>command syntax but maybe you can look it up or somebody
>'listening' in knows it off by heart?
Yes, there are the 2 commands in TK2 that are of interest :-
FLP_TRACK n
The tracks are set when disk is formatted, if there are at least 55
tracks it is assumed to be 80 track; otherwise assumed to be 40 tracks.
40 tracks drives are now relatively rare, although they were popular at
one time, and cheaper than 80 track. With QL dedicated drives you can
assume that they will be 80 track anyway. If not sure then put the
command FLP_TRACK 80 somewhere early on in a boot file.
The other one is FLP_STEP n
Which controls the steps. I've used FLP_STEP 96 for a Cumana set of
twin drives. If you don't set the steps then there is a usually a whir
from the drives whilst it is automatically identified by the TK2 disk
driver and settles down. TK2 is included on the Gold Card, of course.
So a line in a boot file like - FLP_TRACK 80 : FLP_STEP 96 - is useful
to set the type of drive, as is saves wear and tear on the drives.
Also the following information is on page 16 of the Miracle Systems User
manual. ( Which is not always a model of clarity ! ).
Disk Drive Specification
It is a requirement that disk drives used with this version of the disk
driver should be set to have the motor on when provided with a "motor
on" signal and there is a disk in the drive. Drives which turn the
motor off when the drive is not selected will not give reliable service.
The disk driver will automatically adjust itself to use any mixture of
disk drives, 40 or 80 track, single or double sided. In addition it
will adjust itself to use slow step rates drives.
( There then follows a compatibility table )
Disk Format -> 40T SS 40T DS 80T SS 80T DS
40T SS OK ? X X
40T DS OK OK X X
80T SS RO ? OK ?
80T DS RO RO OK OK
Key - OK = compatible, RO = read only, ? = incompatible but may be
detected on some drives.
There is also a FLP_START command in TK2 which sets the start up time of
a disk in 1/50ths of a second.
--
Malcolm Cadman
