Ariel Millennium Thornton @arielmt@computerfairi.es

The genius engineering of the 3.5 inch floppy disk 💾:
https://youtu.be/tJCMzdzh4Tw

I don't just have *a* 286, I have *the* 286.

Tech & coding reminder:

Do not move fast and break things.

Too much is broken already.

Move purposefully and fix things.

SpeedStor detected the controller but told me absolutely nothing about it. The other debug commands didn't work. But this one did:

A>debug
-g=c800:6
1701-B

"G=C800:6" printed the POST error code. Matches Scientific Micro Systems, OMTI, & Adaptec?

I still don't have any idea what basic kind of HDD to pair this mystery controller up with. #vintagecomputers & #vintagecomputing folks, any help is appreciated.

I still want someone to make USB floppy drives that can read & write MF2DD floppies reliably AND USB floppy drives that can read & write DSDD & DSHD floppies in all the most common formats.

I still want someone to make new 3-1/2 (90mm) AND 5-1/4 (135mm) floppies, too!

Windows 10 is an incompatible clone of VMS that thinks it's an incompatible clone of CP/M.

Context: Surprise that Windows 10 reads & writes MF2HD floppy disks with a (relatively) cheap USB floppy drive.

What I tried so far:
> debug
-> G=C800:5
-> G=C800:800
-> G=C800:CCC
-> G=C800:5
-> G=C800:6

What I haven't tried yet:
> SpeedStor http://minuszerodegrees.net/software/speedstor.htm
> Other debug commands https://jeffpar.github.io/kbarchive/kb/060/Q60089/

There's no HDD attached. I have to figure out what the controller is & supports before sourcing a disk.

404 Monday not found

I have IBM DOS 2.1 for the PC-XT & IBM DOS 3.3 on disks the XT likes, but they don't have a setup program. The disks were installed before being shrink-wrapped.

The only other utilities I have are DEBUG & FDISK. None of the Debug commands worked, & FDisk simply says no HDD.

The Diagnostics disk from the XT's Guide to Operations recognizes that a controller is present & jumpered for a single HDD, but it doesn't say what the controller is or what kind it is.

But the only Mountain Computer manuals I can find are for their Apple II products. None for their IBM PC controller cards.

And I know it's a hard drive controller of some sort, because Mountain Computer sold it for the PC & XT (5150 & 5160) at the same time they sold hard drive kits for Apple IIs.

Omni Complete Catalog of Computer Hardware and Accessories 1984, pp. 242-243: https://archive.org/details/Omni_Complete_Catalog_of_Computer_Hardware_and_Accessories_1984_Omni_Publications/page/n249/mode/2up

It's similar to to this tape controller sandwich:
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/133011110665
- https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Mountain-tape-drive-interface-8-bit-isa-05-04031-01-rev-C/521212501
but not.