RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

From: Eric Smith Sent: Friday, May 05, 2017 3:27 PM > On Fri, May 5, 2017 at 3:02 PM, allison via cctech > wrote: >> In the PDP-10 realm not less than a handful Tops10. ITC, more. > TOPS-10 doesn't have any filesystems for floppy disks, though the KL10 > front-end

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

> On 7 May 2017, at 06:21, Jerry Weiss via cctalk wrote: > > I stand corrected. It appears that the handwritten label has a ODS1 style > numerical UIC. > > The printed directory may not actually be from the floppy media itself. It is > hierarchical. So perhaps it is

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

I stand corrected. It appears that the handwritten label has a ODS1 style numerical UIC. The printed directory may not actually be from the floppy media itself. It is hierarchical. So perhaps it is from some ODS2 media that is holding the files that are being transferred to/from the Floppy.

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, May 5, 2017 at 5:16 PM, allison via cctalk wrote: > After looking at all that... > > The prompt is VMS the $. The date makes it V3.6 to 4.2. > I'd still bet that its Files-11 not ODS-II. > > I'd have to check of the DCL prompt under RSX-11 is also $. It is, though

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, May 5, 2017 at 3:02 PM, allison via cctech wrote: > In the PDP-10 realm not less than a handful Tops10. ITC, more. > TOPS-10 doesn't have any filesystems for floppy disks, though the KL10 front-end PDP-11/40 running RSX-20F does, and there are utilities to access

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

After looking at all that... The prompt is VMS the $. The date makes it V3.6 to 4.2. I'd still bet that its Files-11 not ODS-II. I'd have to check of the DCL prompt under RSX-11 is also $. Either way the save command under VMS will have defaults for the device target and that a lookup on the

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/05/2017 03:33 PM, Fred Cisin via cctech wrote: > On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: >> But I thought the problem was that most disk controllers can't do RX02. >> Everybody doesn't have a Catweasel or Cryoflux. > > That's right. > Chuck's suggestion would require that

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

As far as RX02 formatted 8-inch floppies go, I have some original DEC RT-11 V05.01 RX02 format distribution floppies which I managed to dump to disk images a few years ago. I forget exactly how I did it now. It was either with a real DEC RX02 drive and an M8029 RXV21 controller in a Q-Bus PDP-11

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Sat, 6 May 2017, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: ?Anadisk tells me the disks are Single Sided, Single Density. It can see ID marks as it tracks a disk but that is all. It can't see any data. Could be an RX02 disk as people say Oh, and sector size is 128 bytes. Well, yes and no.

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

> On May 5, 2017, at 5:13 PM, Jerry Weiss wrote: > > >> On May 5, 2017, at 4:58 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk > > wrote: >> >>> In case not everyone noticed, but Terry's already given up on this >> >> Lol, true. The disks

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

> On May 5, 2017, at 4:58 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk > wrote: > >> In case not everyone noticed, but Terry's already given up on this > > Lol, true. The disks will be given back on Monday. It's no big deal. The > owners can decided what they want to do. Even if I

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… >In case not everyone noticed, but Terry's already given up on this Lol, true. The disks will be given back on Monday. It's no big deal. The owners can decided what they want to

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

?Anadisk tells me the disks are Single Sided, Single Density. > It can see ID marks as it tracks a disk but that is all. It can't see any data. >Could be an RX02 disk as people say Oh, and sector size is 128 bytes. On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 9:58 AM, Terry Stewart

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>In case not everyone noticed, but Terry's already given up on this Lol, true. The disks will be given back on Monday. It's no big deal. The owners can decided what they want to do. Even if I can't read it the disks, however, pondering just what the format might be is fun. I'm certainly

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/05/2017 03:39 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: >> > Terry is doing it for fun; we can't expect the others to. > > On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: >> I would. :-) Or maybe for beer. > > I doubt that Allison will want to underbid THAT! > > Free beer?!? No, no,no...

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/04/2017 07:01 PM, Rich Alderson via cctalk wrote: > From: Terry Stewart > Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2017 2:41 PM > >> Just tying up some unfinished business. Right at the beginning of this >> thread I said... >>> Guys in the building next door to me (a Science lab) have found some 8 inch >>>

Re: Extracting files off unknown 8 inch disks. Any thoughts

On 05/04/2017 09:27 PM, Fred Cisin wrote: > Thank you! > > Now, the question will be whether Allison has some free time to check > them out for Terry. > I could... If I had the time and no other competing projects. I'm far from the only one around with a PDP-11 with RX02 or a microVAX-II with a

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/05/2017 01:14 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > Although, when I have an "unknown" disk, before I launch a sector > editor, I type "DIR", just in case it ISN'T anything challenging. I > didn't try flux-transition until I failed with my sector editor. The hardest that I've run into so

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, 5 May 2017, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: I didn't mean what I think you thought I meant. correct I apologize The immediate problem is getting data--any data at all. If you can retrieve every sector on the disk, then it's just a matter of software to unravel the filesystem. DEC

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… On Fri, 5 May 2017, js--- via cctalk wrote: > In case not everyone noticed, but Terry's already given up on this. > It is not necessary to become challenged by and read every mystery disk in > the entire world. Things that are forgotten,

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… On 5/5/2017 2:33 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon > via cctalk wrote: >> But I thought the problem was that >> most disk controllers can't do RX02. >> Everybody doesn't have a Catweasel or >&

RE: RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: > But I thought the problem was that most disk controllers can't do RX02. > Everybody doesn't have a Catweasel or Cryoflux. That's right. Chuck's suggestion would require that so

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, 5 May 2017, js--- via cctalk wrote: In case not everyone noticed, but Terry's already given up on this. It is not necessary to become challenged by and read every mystery disk in the entire world. Things that are forgotten, probably don't deserve all this attention. We do put far

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 5/5/2017 2:33 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: But I thought the problem was that most disk controllers can't do RX02. Everybody doesn't have a Catweasel or Cryoflux. That's right. Chuck's suggestion would require that somebody who

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/05/2017 12:20 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > This is a rare occasion that I will disagree with Chuck. I'm fine with that. Let a thousand flowers bloom... > Yes, there are situations, where the file system is unknown or not > understood, where the best approach is to copy all of the

Re: RE: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

> Terry is doing it for fun; we can't expect the others to. On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: I would. :-) Or maybe for beer. I doubt that Allison will want to underbid THAT!

Re: RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, 5 May 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: But I thought the problem was that most disk controllers can't do RX02. Everybody doesn't have a Catweasel or Cryoflux. That's right. Chuck's suggestion would require that somebody who has a flux-transition device (Catweasel, Kryoflux,

RE: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… >> Not really, in the event they would like them read and we know they >> are RX02 there are a number of people here who likely could read them >> (myself being one of them!) On Fri, 5 May 2017, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

, 2017 2:47 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… On 05/05/2017 11:19 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote: > > Not really, in the event they would like them read and we know they > are RX02 there are a number of pe

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/05/2017 11:19 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote: > > Not really, in the event they would like them read and we know they > are RX02 there are a number of people here who likely could read them > (myself being one of them!) Just image them sector-by-sector and let folks fool with the images. The

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

@classiccmp.org] Sent: Friday, May 5, 2017 1:49 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… On 05/05/2017 10:24 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > If you can read the first block on track zero, it will probably m

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/05/2017 10:24 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > If you can read the first block on track zero, it will probably make > it clear what the file system is. I apologize for being dense in this discussion, but it's pretty clear that the disks are RX02 "double density" (I hesitate to call them

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/04/2017 06:01 PM, Rich Alderson via cctalk wrote: From: Terry Stewart Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2017 2:41 PM Just tying up some unfinished business. Right at the beginning of this thread I said... Guys in the building next door to me (a Science lab) have found some 8 inch floppy disks.

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

> On 5 May 2017, at 07:41, Terry Stewart via cctalk > wrote: > > 4. How likely is it that disks from a 1985 VAX is in some weird proprietary > format OTHER than VMS? It has been a very long time since I had a VAX-11/780 to play with but as other people have mentioned

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/04/2017 07:39 PM, Terry Stewart via cctech wrote: >> And yet, if there were an RX02 somewhere on this VAX, I don't believe > you'd be able to read them at all... RX02 seeming more likely with a VAX. > > Interestingly PUTR, does seem to accommodate this, and the kind of system I > have set up

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/04/2017 06:35 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > On Fri, 5 May 2017, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: >> Yes, reading them with IMD was one of the first things I tried. >> Couldn't >> do it at all. Tons of errors, no tracks could be read. IMD didn't >> recognise the layout at all. >> All

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/04/2017 09:05 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: >> The 'RX02' format used by PUTR is actually IBM System 34 format, >> since DEC's 8" DD disks use a strange combination of SD headers >> with non-standard ID marks, and DD data fields, that can't be >> accessed with a standard PC FDC

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

From: Terry Stewart Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2017 2:41 PM > Just tying up some unfinished business. Right at the beginning of this > thread I said... >> Guys in the building next door to me (a Science lab) have found some 8 inch >> floppy disks. They want to see what’s on them, or at least to

Re: Re: Extracting files off unknown 8 inch disks. Any thoughts

>First if they are DEC its one of two formats either FM aka RX01 or FM2 >aka RX02. >(..an in-depth explanation) >How do I know. I have PDP-8, PDP11 (with RX02) and VAX (qbus uVAX, >uVAX2000, and 3100 family). >I used to and still do exchange between RT-11 and CP/M using RX01 mode >and a CP/M

Re: Re: Extracting files off unknown 8 inch disks. Any thoughts

Thank you! Now, the question will be whether Allison has some free time to check them out for Terry. Experience always beats speculation: On Thu, 4 May 2017, allison wrote: First if they are DEC its one of two formats either FM aka RX01 or FM2 aka RX02. RX01 base format is 128byte sectors

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>The 'RX02' format used by PUTR is actually IBM System 34 format, >since DEC's 8" DD disks use a strange combination of SD headers >with non-standard ID marks, and DD data fields, that can't be >accessed with a standard PC FDC regardless of the software used." Right. It's definitely a

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 5/4/2017 6:39 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: And yet, if there were an RX02 somewhere on this VAX, I don't believe you'd be able to read them at all... RX02 seeming more likely with a VAX. Interestingly PUTR, does seem to accommodate this, and the kind of system I have set up (i.e.

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>If it's an RX02 operating in double-density mode, you're not going to >read the disks with any commodity floppy controller. You will, however, >get the sector ID headers. >DEC used a rather peculiar scheme where headers were recording in >single-density (FM), but the body of the sector (the

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 05/04/2017 04:30 PM, js--- via cctalk wrote: > On 5/4/2017 6:16 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: >>> If these are from a VAX, could they be microcode disks for a >>> 11/780? >> There was a RX01 attached via a LSI-11 as console. > > And yet, if there were an RX02 somewhere on this VAX, I

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On May 4, 2017 3:30 PM, "Terry Stewart via cctalk" wrote: >Using IMD, or other tools, can you determine the density, bytes per sector, and sectors per track of the disks (try at least 2) >Also, is the data recorded single sided, or both sides? >If you can read it with

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>And yet, if there were an RX02 somewhere on this VAX, I don't believe you'd be able to read them at all... RX02 seeming more likely with a VAX. Interestingly PUTR, does seem to accommodate this, and the kind of system I have set up (i.e. 1.2 MB 5.25 inch in CMOS even though it's an 8 inch

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 5/4/2017 6:16 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: If these are from a VAX, could they be microcode disks for a 11/780? There was a RX01 attached via a LSI-11 as console. And yet, if there were an RX02 somewhere on this VAX, I don't believe you'd be able to read them at all... RX02

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>If these are from a VAX, could they be microcode disks for a 11/780? There was a RX01 attached via a LSI-11 as console. >Or they could just be disks used for data exchange. They would be in another DEC OS file format, rather than ODS2. Thanks Jerry, No one actually knows. Attached to the

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

If these are from a VAX, could they be microcode disks for a 11/780? There was a RX01 attached via a LSI-11 as console. Or they could just be disks used for data exchange. They would be in another DEC OS file format, rather than ODS2. Jerry Weiss j...@ieee.org > On May 4, 2017, at 4:41

Re: Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>Is your 8 inch setup capable of FM/single density? >I think that Dave has a utility to test that. Yes, quite capable. It passes Dave's test and I have read/written in single density when archiving other stuff. Archiving my FM/single density POLY and Panasonic stuff was no problem.

Re: Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, 5 May 2017, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: Yes, reading them with IMD was one of the first things I tried. Couldn't do it at all. Tons of errors, no tracks could be read. IMD didn't recognise the layout at all. All the disks I tried were like this. Then, either it is impossible to

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>Does your system handle single density? (some FDCs do; some don't) Oh, yes it does.

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>Using IMD, or other tools, can you determine the density, bytes per sector, and sectors per track of the disks (try at least 2) >Also, is the data recorded single sided, or both sides? >If you can read it with IMD, then you can start wading through content within sectors to get more clues about

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Fri, 5 May 2017, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: They may be CP/M, or some other format entirely. It turns out these disks are from a VAX machine. Assuming the OS is VMS, I scoured the Internet for something that might read them. I don't know anything.but, I will point out a few things

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

Hi guys, Just tying up some unfinished business. Right at the beginning of this thread I said... >Guys in the building next door to me (a Science lab) have found some 8 inch floppy disks. >They want to see what’s on them, or at least to archive them. >They have no idea what machine these disks

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 10:06 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk > > As I recall, NT/2K/XP will read PC98 floppies if they're in an Imation > LS120 Superdrive or in a conforming USB floppy drive. I don't know > about legacy floppy controllers. It might also work in a Caleb HD144 > drive; I haven't

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 04/17/2017 09:20 PM, Fred Cisin wrote: > Is track 0 sector 1, formatted as 512BPS? If not, how does it even > come up with the idea to try 1024BPS? (in order to read it, to find > out that it should try it for reading it...) > > (at location 0Bh in the BIOS Parameter Block, is the bytes per >

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Mon, 17 Apr 2017, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: WinNT/2K/XP will read Japanese PC98 MS-DOS 1024*8*2*77, but I don't know if it'll format that particular format (never tried). Doubtful on FORMAT, since that is working from a very short list of choices, but reading (and hence writing) can be

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 04/17/2017 07:01 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: > Yes, the point is Fred, it didn't. So, if /N is 15, then it must > ONLY accept T:40 or 80, yea? WinNT/2K/XP will read Japanese PC98 MS-DOS 1024*8*2*77, but I don't know if it'll format that particular format (never tried). --Chuck

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>If you can find an old registered copy of FORMATQM, it allowed very >flexible formatting. So, you could format a DMF floppy by defining a >format in the FORMATS.CFG file thus: Reminds me of NEWDOS/80 V2 on the TRS-80 Mod 1/III. The PDRIVE command let you define your very own disk format! No

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 04/17/2017 05:43 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: >>> It may also be that is just doesn't support 77 and can only do 80 >>> tracks. > >> I don't think it is this. I can format it fine with 77 tracks >> using 22DSK > and IMD. It has no problem reading or >writing to 77 track formatted >

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>>It may also be that is just doesn't support 77 and can only do 80 tracks. >I don't think it is this. I can format it fine with 77 tracks using 22DSK and IMD. It has no problem reading or >writing to 77 track formatted disks. Oh sorry Dwight, I thought you meant the drive here. You mean

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Tue, 18 Apr 2017, dwight via cctalk wrote: Some times it reads part of the disk. I don't know what it is looking at but it won't format over some types of original data. I've often erased with supper magnet to get past such stuff. That really got silly when they added "UNFORMAT"! It may

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>It may also be that is just doesn't support 77 and can only do 80 tracks. I don't think it is this. I can format it fine with 77 tracks using 22DSK and IMD. It has no problem reading or writing to 77 track formatted disks. Terry

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

From: cctalk <cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org> on behalf of Terry Stewart via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 4:36:01 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any though

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>Here's a writeup for those interested: >http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2017-04-15- adventures-with-an-8-inch-disk-drive-part1.htm One thing in this project puzzled me. Initially when I was testing the drive I tried to format it for 77-tracks. I used the command FORMAT B: /u /T:77

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

behalf of Terry Stewart via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 3:19:33 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… Hi, Just an update on this. I still haven't got those 8' floppie

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

Hi, Just an update on this. I still haven't got those 8' floppies of unknown origin to play with but I HAVE made a lot of progress with my own disks. Thanks to everyone who gave me help with this. Here's a writeup for those interested:

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>I'll add one more note that an 8" drive supports 77 tracks/cylinders, >where a 5.25" high-density drive supports 80. So be careful. Noted. Everything is now ready waiting for those bits and pieces to arrive from the U.S. Last night I spent some time going deeper into IMD118, 22DISK and

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/23/2017 10:50 PM, Sam O'nella via cctalk wrote: > For the record, I and I'm sure lots of others look forward to this > blog of experience. Original message From: Terry > Stewart via cctalk One other question > regarding using this MS-DOS 486 to run

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

For the record, I and I'm sure lots of others look forward to this blog of experience. Original message From: Terry Stewart via cctalk One other question regarding using this MS-DOS 486 to run an 8 inch floppu

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/23/2017 04:53 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: > One other question regarding using this MS-DOS 486 to run an 8 inch > floppy drive when attempting to read/imaging etc.of a god-knows-what > format. > > What should I set the BIOS to? Should it be the 1.2MB 5.25 setting? > Do I need to

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

Chuck, Are these dumb adapters that just convert 34 to 50 or do they so more then that? Thanks. -Ali Original message From: Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Date: 3/23/17 1:59 PM (GMT-08:00) To: cctalk@classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Extracting files off “u

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

- Original Message - From: "Chuck Guzis via cctalk" <cctalk@classiccmp.org> To: <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 4:59 PM Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… > On 03/23/2017 01:32 PM, Mike Stein via cctal

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/23/2017 01:32 PM, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote: > I was just going to suggest the same thing, but I see you (Tez) are > going the FDADAP route; more convenient for sure. > > But the majority of the 34- and 50-pin signals actually line up 1 to > 1 when aligned pin 34 to pin 50; as a matter

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

- Original Message - From: "Chuck Guzis via cctalk" <cctalk@classiccmp.org> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 4:12 PM Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. An

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>For what it's worth, unless you're intent on *writing* 8" single-density >floppies on the PC, the interconnect between the 8" drive 50-conductor >cable and the PC 34-conductor one is pretty straightforward. You don't >need a FDADAP board for that, although it's very convenient. Yes, and I'm all

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/23/2017 12:59 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: > There will be a hiatus in the project while I get the connecting > hardware organised. Then we will see what we will see. Hopefully the > drive itself works. I don't know that for sure yet. For what it's worth, unless you're intent on

Re: RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>Let's start with determining the hardware aspects to see whether Terry's machines are capable of reading the disks. Yes, this is the first step for me. Last night I pulled out an MS-DOS 486 that seems capable. It can read/write single density according to TESTFDC. This is the machine I'll use.

RE: RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

From: cctalk [cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] on behalf of Fred Cisin via cctalk [cctalk@classiccmp.org] Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 10:38 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch

Re: RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: Let's not forget UCSD-Pascal or RT-11. :-) Lot's of formats, some easier to recover than others. Let's start with determining the hardware aspects to see whether Terry's machines are capable of reading the disks. Deciphering the file

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

lt;cctalk@classiccmp.org> Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2017 8:39:48 PM To: Fred Cisin; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts… Thanks Guys, Now I'm intimidated (-: Just kiddingthat's useful stuff Fred. Thanks for tak

RE: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

From: cctalk [cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] on behalf of Chuck Guzis via cctalk [cctalk@classiccmp.org] Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 12:08 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

>Tez, >Here's what I would do in your situation. Excellent, thanks. Terry (Tez) On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 8:17 PM, Jay Jaeger via cctech < cct...@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > On Mar 22, 2017, at 23:08, Chuck Guzis via cctech > wrote: > > > >> On 03/22/2017 08:39 PM,

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

> On Mar 22, 2017, at 23:08, Chuck Guzis via cctech > wrote: > >> On 03/22/2017 08:39 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: >> >> Chuck, in the highly likely event of the formats NOT being common >> CP/M or DOS ones (i.e. ones I could probably manage), I'll give these >>

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/22/2017 08:39 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: > Chuck, in the highly likely event of the formats NOT being common > CP/M or DOS ones (i.e. ones I could probably manage), I'll give these > guys your email (-: Tez, Here's what I would do in your situation. If the disks are

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

Thanks Guys, Now I'm intimidated (-: Just kiddingthat's useful stuff Fred. Thanks for taking the time to type all that out. I'll give it a go...and see what I can see. If anything it's a good excuse for me to wire the drive up. I'd like to image those Panasonic disks one day for

Re: Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

Once you've got sectors, speak up, and we'll give you more things to look at. On Wed, 22 Mar 2017, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: Fred, how about the image of a Compugraphic typesetter floppy I have? It uses Hebrew for its code set. Feel up to it? Nope. You're much better at it than I am. I

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/22/2017 04:42 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > Once you've got sectors, speak up, and we'll give you more things to > look at. Fred, how about the image of a Compugraphic typesetter floppy I have? It uses Hebrew for its code set. Feel up to it? --Chuck

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: Guys in the building next door to me (a Science lab) have found some 8 inch floppy disks. They want to see what???s on them, or at least to archive them. They have no idea what machine these disks were used with, or the software was used to

Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

On 03/22/2017 03:49 PM, Terry Stewart via cctalk wrote: > Anyway, has anyone else faced this kind of challenge and what are > your thoughts? I don’t want to start unless I at least have some > chance of success. I’m not hopeful. The more I read the more you > seem to need real forensic skills