Folks, does the floppy controller in PC-10 support HD floppy drives? I am wondering if it makes any sense to try one of the HD floppy option ROMs, but if the HW shouldn't support it, it would be a waste of time.
Thanks!
No, it can handle DD drives only.
The problem is that old FDCs (floppy disk controllers) have to little bandwith. They run at 256KBit/s only.
HD floppy drives do require 500KBit/s, however, to run in native mode.
Otherweise, they still work, but act like they were DD drives
(though not fully compatible with DD media).
As a workaround, you could try to disable the internal FDC and use a third-party FDC controller card w/ HD support.
It has been discussed at forum.classic-computing.org
Edit: Also note that Commodore used the Shugart wiring; not the IBM-style wiring.
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Thanks, guys, it looks like I have to stay with DD and eventually add 3.5" DD drive, because I am not sure I'll have enough ISA slots for another controller.
