Noob Question about Disk Drives

[matthew180]

The answer remains quite simply 'yes and very easily'. It really doesn't matter what drive he uses, although

I'll give you that a 1.2m drive probably won't work.

 

It is not quite "simple", actually. It is a pain in the ass. Unless you have piles of old mid-80's systems, just trying to find a 5.25" non-1.2MB drive is hard, not to mention expensive (seems people discovered they are rare and in demand). Also, stand-alone drives in nice enclosures with their own power supplies are not exactly common anymore either.

 

40/80 track drive doesn't matter if you're only using one drive and it's SSSD, now does it?

 

40/80 track matters because the OP does not currently have any drive, so they need to know what will or won't work. If you get an 80-track drive that works, then great, you can read the disk and load the game. But what happens when they try to save a game in progress? It would really suck to ruin your original ToD disk because you didn't realize you were using a drive that was not compatible with the original format.

 

It also sucks to have to start keeping track of which disks you formatted in which drive. If you only have one drive then it is not so bad, but you have to remember to never try to write to any original 99/4A drive formatted SSSD disks.

 

The only way it will "simply work" for the OP is if they get an original full-height 5.25" 90K disk drive in an external enclosure with its own power supply. Anything else is going to take some "fussing", and we are simply trying to let the OP know what to expect.

[Gazoo]

It is not quite "simple", actually. It is a pain in the ass. Unless you have piles of old mid-80's systems, just trying to find a 5.25" non-1.2MB drive is hard, not to mention expensive (seems people discovered they are rare and in demand). Also, stand-alone drives in nice enclosures with their own power supplies are not exactly common anymore either.

 

I disagree, it is quite simple, go to a thrift shop or yard sale if you don't have one. Who said it had to be 5.25" and needed an enclosure? I can drive over to Microcenter right now, buy a brand new 3.5" drive, a 5v power brick, and a floppy drive cable. I could plug those things in and have them working in a few minutes. Although it may take a few minutes to undo the twist in the cable and make the twist instead on lines 10, 11, & 12 so that drives 1 & 2 are reversed. "pain in the ass" simply doesn't apply. "lazy" or "no motivation" might be more applicable.

 

40/80 track matters because the OP does not currently have any drive, so they need to know what will or won't work. If you get an 80-track drive that works, then great, you can read the disk and load the game. But what happens when they try to save a game in progress? It would really suck to ruin your original ToD disk because you didn't realize you were using a drive that was not compatible with the original format.

 

40/ 80 track doesn't matter if you're only using one drive, as the original poster states. And who said he had an original TOD disk? It's much more likely that one would use a utility like TI99-PC to create a disk for use on the TI, and the user would create the disk in the format needed for the drive connected to the TI.

 

It also sucks to have to start keeping track of which disks you formatted in which drive. If you only have one drive then it is not so bad, but you have to remember to never try to write to any original 99/4A drive formatted SSSD disks.

 

He's only going to be using 1 drive, look at the post.

 

The only way it will "simply work" for the OP is if they get an original full-height 5.25" 90K disk drive in an external enclosure with its own power supply. Anything else is going to take some "fussing", and we are simply trying to let the OP know what to expect.

 

Disagree, as explained earlier. First of all, IF he had an original TOD disk, then anything from a 90k to 360k drive will indeed work without any of what you call 'fussing'. I don't consider what I described to use a 3.5" drive 'fussing', but instead doing a few quite simple things that any user of legacy computer equipment should be quite comfortable doing.

Unless of course, one is completely helpless.

 

Gazoo

Edited June 8, 2013 by Gazoo

[Stuart]

Unless you have piles of old mid-80's systems, just trying to find a 5.25" non-1.2MB drive is hard, not to mention expensive (seems people discovered they are rare and in demand). Also, stand-alone drives in nice enclosures with their own power supplies are not exactly common anymore either.

 

Note for those in the UK, the floppy drives for the BBC Micro work well with the TI and are quite common on ebay. Typically double sided, double density, 40/80 track. Single or double drives in a nice enclosure with built-in mains power supply. Costly to post though 'cause they weigh a ton ...

 

Stuart.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Stuart

[Gazoo]

Note for those in the UK, the floppy drives for the BBC Micro work well with the TI and are quite common on ebay. Typically double sided, double density, 40/80 track. Single or double drives in a nice enclosure with built-in mains power supply. Costly to post though 'cause they weigh a ton ...

 

Stuart.

 

Pretty easy to find in the US, too. Took me about 10 seconds to find this:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 321071805617

 

Looks like plug and play to me...

 

Gazoo

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Pretty easy to find in the US, too. Took me about 10 seconds to find this:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 321071805617

 

Looks like plug and play to me...

 

Gazoo

Those cases work quite well. Only caveat -may- be the cable connector. The case I had similar to this required me to use my own dual-connector cable, "threaded" between the case and cover, bypassing the integrated component.

 

My current test system uses a 3.5" drive, a single device cable, and a power adapter. 3.5" media was easier to obtain the last time I looked in earnest but like the rest of the options, the thread author needs to decide. Your initial reply/advice still holds true.

[boxpressed]

Thanks for all of the responses so far, everyone. I'm learning a whole lot. By the way, would this be an example of a SSSD external drive that might work with the sidecar:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 151056663262

 

What kind of cable would connect the sidecar to whatever drive I find?

[Gazoo]

Thanks for all of the responses so far, everyone. I'm learning a whole lot. By the way, would this be an example of a SSSD external drive that might work with the sidecar:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 151056663262

 

What kind of cable would connect the sidecar to whatever drive I find?

 

It's a little tough to see what connector is on the back of that particular item, but it looks like a card edge connector.

This cable looks as if it would work:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 270837819768

 

The pic doesn't show the entire cable, so it may have a 'twist' in the middle somewhere that you have to undo by taking the appropriate connector apart and recrimping the cable without the twist. You can also make your own cable with two 34 pin card edge connectors and a length of ribbon cable, it's up to you to decide which is easier. I've done it both ways and both are relatively simple procedures.

 

Gazoo

[boxpressed]

It's a little tough to see what connector is on the back of that particular item, but it looks like a card edge connector.

This cable looks as if it would work:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 270837819768

 

The pic doesn't show the entire cable, so it may have a 'twist' in the middle somewhere that you have to undo by taking the appropriate connector apart and recrimping the cable without the twist. You can also make your own cable with two 34 pin card edge connectors and a length of ribbon cable, it's up to you to decide which is easier. I've done it both ways and both are relatively simple procedures.

 

Gazoo

 

Thanks again. Were connectors somewhat standardized in the late 70s/early 80s, or were connectors proprietary? It sounds like the "card edge" connector might be common across multiple platforms?

[marc.hull]

Thanks again. Were connectors somewhat standardized in the late 70s/early 80s, or were connectors proprietary? It sounds like the "card edge" connector might be common across multiple platforms?

 

All 5.25" except propriety drives like C64's have a 34pin card edge connector and a four pin molex power connector.

 

I would strongly consider Tony's advise and go the 3.5" route. Much easier to get and somewhat cheaper. Unless of course you are heavily invested in 5.25" floppies at the moment.

[boxpressed]

All 5.25" except propriety drives like C64's have a 34pin card edge connector and a four pin molex power connector.

 

I would strongly consider Tony's advise and go the 3.5" route. Much easier to get and somewhat cheaper. Unless of course you are heavily invested in 5.25" floppies at the moment.

 

Thanks. I just have ToD on disk, but if there are no other 5.25" disk games worth playing, I may go with cassette after all.