Qume 842 8" floppy drive with a RC2014 Z80 retrocomputer
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- In this video, I try out some Qume 8 inch floppy drives that I bought on eBay. I interface them to a WD37C65 controller on my Z80 CP/M computer and I format the disks and read/write some files to them. For more retrocomputing projects, see www.smbaker.com/
Wow, Haven't even seen an 8" floppy for about 25 years. Well done. Thanks for the videos.
Last time I saw one was about three years ago. A family friend ran an electronics shop which had a bunch of surplus computer hardware. He had a chassis with a pair of 8-inch Shugart drives in it. I probably would had bought it then if I had a suitable computer.
That drive is a literal _beast_ of a device!
Some 8" floppy drives used a long spiral cam shaft on the stepper motor. I had some like that years ago.
IIRC the WD floppy controller chips DID have a reduced write signal output, basically it was triggered once the drive had stepped out beyond a certain track. 5" and 3.5" drives didn't make use of that signal, but it should be available on the controller, so you'd just have to run an extra wire or 'rename' one of the signals on the 34 pin cable.
Same sort of discs that where used on the OLIVETTI M3030 and it turns out that a high power mains three phase motor driving both drives via a three pulley drive shaft that of which one pulley connects to the motor spindle which drives both floppy drives. if you are wondering what computer I am talking about well it was in the shape of a desk with the electronics inside a cage inside back of the desk and it also had the floppy drive on the left side of the desk and printer on the right it also had a B&W monitor.
I love that LED display. Do they make larger ones? Would be sweet to have an 80 column 25 line display I that style. Super retro but also smaller than a CRT. I have a real Digital Equipment Corp VT420 with amber display that would also work nicely with this computer. I gotta get my own CP/M machine!!!
3 minutes for 40 tracks? I'm curious - did you try a different sector interleave to reduce track to track time ? these parameters are readily available in the CBIOS of CP/M (or perhaps you did not use an OS just direct programming). In any event, I envy you - I cut my teeth on CP/M 1.4 and an IMSAI S-100 that had a Xitan SMB Z80 and a dual 8" (Shugart 800's) floppy drives interfaced to Intel's DIO S-100 floppy board and now wish I'd not been so quick to "upgrade"....what memories....nice video...
Well done... I spent a few months trying to get an 8" floppy hooked up to a PC/XT (it was that long ago) and didn't really get there.
Oooh! Those old-school jumpers with just a "staple" across an IC socket!!!
I have a few 8" disks that were for the IBM System 36 computer.
have you made the adapter avalible? I just got one of these drives and would be cool if i can read the bunch of disks i have for it, i have cp/m and dos ones
Can you tell me where to get that 50 pin to 34 pin adapter? Thank You :-)
Qume eh. I found a qvt 101 plus terminal. What fun project can I do with it?
terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/Qume_QVT-101
Zork :D you absolutely have to READ the book "ready player one" - or even better hear the audio book! Don't watch the movie it is really shit, but you will LOVE the book!
what do you prefer, the z80 or the 6502 and why did you use the z80?
That's a complicated debate... I've spent from 1981 trying to answer that question. ;)
Occasional diversions into the 6800/6809 didn't help with the confusion.
"Do you prefer the 8080 or the Z80?" would be much easier... "Z80!!! Duh!" ;)
Sweeeet!
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Why 8"? I bet you just wanted to go play Wargames! Admit it! :P