FC5025 USB 5.25" FLOPPY CONTROLLER

[Fletch]

I'm not sure if this has any value to anyone, but this product claims to read Atari 5 1/4" Floppies on Linux, OS X and Windows machines.

 

http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html

[Rybags]

Sounds feasible. No mention of 1050 although it does do MFM.

 

Read-only though, so it's usefullness is kinda limited.

 

I guess it'd be handy for someone who's got lots of old disks for various systems but few of the older drive types.

Edited July 12, 2010 by Rybags

[BillC]

Sounds feasible. No mention of 1050 although it does do MFM.

 

Read-only though, so it's usefullness is kinda limited.

 

I guess it'd be handy for someone who's got lots of old disks for various systems but few of the older drive types.

Since it mentions it is for use only with 1.2MB mechanisms, not 360KB, I think it's a good thing that it is read only due to compatibility issues.

 

1.2MB drives write a narrower data track than a 360KB drive, a 1.2MB drive should always be able to read a floppy from a 360KB drive, and a 360KB drive should be able to read a blank/bulk formatted floppy that is formatted to 360KB on a 1.2MB drive. The issue arises when a 1.2MB drive writes to a floppy formatted on a 360KB drive. The narrower track of the 1.2MB drive does not completely overwrite the original data, and a 360KB drive would then have difficulty with or be unable to read this track.

 

The market for this drive controller appears to be someone who still has disks from an older system, and who would like to be able to read/image them with a PC for use with an emulator. For this use read only is fine and eliminates the possibility of rendering the disks unreadable by the original drive.