Does the PcChips M825G really have dual floppy drive support \ VOGONS

Does the PcChips M825G really have dual floppy drive support

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First post, by zack4mac

zack4mac Offline

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Hell I was wondering if anyone could help me?

I was on the lookout for a reasonably priced motherboard that allows 2 floppy disk drives possibly 3 with the use of a pre boot power switch to move between standard 3.5" and a Gotek anyway I'm digressing... I have the opportunity of a free PcChips M835G (v.9.2c soldered Athlon) and within the user manual it mentions configuring the BIOS for 2 drives but having watched Scott Schiller video on YouTube titled "Two PC floppy drives connected, only one working?" he shows the Abit IL90MV that promises dual floppy support but doesn't deliver! Hence does the PcChips M825G really have dual floppy drive support?

Best regards

Reply 1 of 3, by EduBat

Posted on Yesterday, 11:24

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The Retroweb shows that this board uses the IT8705F SuperIo chip. The datasheet for that (also on the retroweb), on Table 5-10. Pin Description of Floppy Disk Controller Signals shows this for pin 59:
"
FDD Motor B Enable #. / Smart Card Reset.
• The first function of this pin is FDD Motor B Enable #.
• The second function of this pin is Smart Card Reset.
• The function configuration of this pin is decided by the
software configuration registers
"
As the board does not have any smart card header/connector it is extremely likely that the pin is used only for floppy drive B.
The motherboard manual also states that the board supports 2 drives so it is safe to assume 2 drives are possible.

Reply 2 of 3, by The Solutor

Posted on Yesterday, 12:13

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Th Abit board very likely uses a mobile chipset/design (and likely a bios intended for the mobile market) so could be understandable that the support for a second floppy was either absent/not tested/buggy

Reply 3 of 3, by nd22

Posted on Today, 10:17

nd22 Offline

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All Abit boards for LGA 775 that i tested, starting with GD8 PRO can use only one floppy drive, regardless of the chipset used. One possible exception - not tested - is the AS8 that uses the older Intel 865 PE chipset.

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