[chbot] Old computer stuff

[Andrew Starr]

If the system is 25 years old the hard drive is likely to be either
MFM or RLL, not IDE, so I think you might be out of luck there. If the
system has a working COM port, there's always COPY /b *.* COM1 :)

On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 10:01 AM, Volker Kuhlmann
<list0570 at paradise.net.nz> wrote:
> On Sun 25 Sep 2016 23:31:28 NZDT +1300, Helmut Walle wrote:
>
>> There's one potential issue to be aware of when using old floppy
>> drives that have been sitting around unused for a longer time pretty
>> much anywhere in NZ
>
> Yes, anywhere where there are people in the room. Dust collects in the
> drive. You push in a flexy disk full of expectations. All you hear is
> head movements. You take it out again, observe the big scratches on the
> floppy that weren't there before, and reach for the next floppy. That
> one doesn't work any better, without the scratches, because the previous
> exercise scratched the head clean. I wrote off two drives with that
> towards the tail end of their aera when they got very little use, before
> realising what was happening and carefully using the drive clean kit
> first.
>
> I agree with other suggestions of trying for other methods of data
> transfer first, but I would concentrate on those first that do not
> require booting up or messing around with the old box too much.
> Connecting just the disk would be my choice.
>
> Be aware that big 5.25 drives need a loto f power, and you need to
> supply that somehow but not from a USB adapter. The boot sequence of
> disk, adapter connection and host PC is important, it doesn't always
> work so change order of things and the delays. 3.5 disks basically
> always work, but if they're powered up with the USB adapter there are no
> timing issues.
>
> Volker
>
> --
> Volker Kuhlmann
> http://volker.top.geek.nz/      Please do not CC list postings to me.
>
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