got a 486 class setup here. Two floppy controllers: one on my scsi card and one on the motherboard.
I can change the address of the scsi card fdd controller but can't seem to get all to work right under win 95
should I try the xt-fdc bios? or how are you doing it? I don't wanna use a floppy switcher. but that is another option.
LS-120 on IDE.
But I'm also interested how to get a 2nd classic FDC to work under Win9x/2k.
The card is not yet released, but will be soon, I guess.
New 4 Drive Floppy Controller - TexElec Quad-Flop
https://youtu.be/pjNBPHjUSHE
Disruptor wrote on 2023-01-31, 13:22:LS-120 on IDE.
But I'm also interested how to get a 2nd classic FDC to work under Win9x/2k.
That’s a interesting idea. But my drive bays won’t accommodate.
Bondi wrote on 2023-01-31, 13:32:The card is not yet released, but will be soon, I guess.
New 4 Drive Floppy Controller - TexElec Quad-Flop
https://youtu.be/pjNBPHjUSHE
Oh that’s pretty nice!
Wonder if I could use the bios to make my system work? 🤔
I tried to get two FDCs (on regular multi-I/O cards) working together, but without success.
Ended up using a GSI four-floppy card, with its own BIOS.
Grzyb wrote on 2023-01-31, 14:01:I tried to get two FDCs (on regular multi-I/O cards) working together, but without success.
Ended up using a GSI four-floppy card, with its own BIOS.
This is what I feared 🙁
I have an EISA SCSI controller (Ultrastor Ultra24F) that features an option ROM to support 3 floppy drives with a single cable (I believe it requires an additional twist or something like that, it's in the manual).
Unfortunately it is a full-length card and doesn't fit any of my cases as no matter the slot I use it always collides with something else, it's kind of infuriating not being able to use it 😞
Sphere478 wrote on 2023-01-31, 05:56:got a 486 class setup here. Two floppy controllers: one on my scsi card and one on the motherboard.
I can change the address of the scsi card fdd controller but can't seem to get all to work right under win 95
should I try the xt-fdc bios? or how are you doing it? I don't wanna use a floppy switcher. but that is another option.
Hello,
Yes it is possible. I had 2 floppys and a QIC streamer on a second floppy controller running back in the day.
I am 99% sure with a SCSI card floppy controller and a mainboard floppy controller it won't work. Both can only run as first controller. (IO address 3F0)
But there were ISA cards, that allowed to configure the floppy controller as secondary controller (IO 370).
Unfortunately I don't have such a card anymore....
But I found this:
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Floppy_controller
😁
EDIT: I now see, that I did not really answer on-topic. The QIC streamer (connected to a floppy controller) did not need BIOS support.
But for 3 floppies I guess you would need BIOS support, or some modified driver (did not know about that!).
Sphere478 wrote on 2023-01-31, 20:04:Does the 1542cf support that?
With a driver from this thread Floppy 3 & 4 without BIOS support you can use along with the onboard controller for adding 3rd floppy
The scsi controller does allow me to change the floppy address
If you have VLB, there is the promise DC4030VL
douglar wrote on 2023-02-01, 04:36:If you have VLB, there is the promise DC4030VL
Isa expansion ports only unfortunately
It should be noted that there's plenty of multi-I/O cards where the FDC can be set to the secondary address, ie. 370h.
But they don't allow to change the IRQ nor DMA.
In theory, that shouldn't be a problem if one's not using both FDCs simultaneously.
In practice... the cards I tried just wouldn't cooperate...
Hopefully AHA-1542CF properly handles IRQ and DMA sharing.
If not, then there's the last resort: AHA-1542B, where it's possible to set the secondary address AND secondary IRQ AND secondary DMA.
So, hardware-wise it's 100% sure to work, but I don't know about software...
Anyway, to anyone who manages to get two FDCs working together:
Please precisely describe your config...
- what's the primary FDC
- address, IRQ, DMA of the primary
- capacities of the drives connected to the primary
- what's the secondary FDC
- address, IRQ, DMA of the secondary
- capacities of the drives connected to the secondary
- CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT drivers
- are all the drives available in DOS as regular drive letters?
- are all the drives available via BIOS calls, for software like DSKIMAGE ?
- are all the drives available in popular software that accesses the FDC directly, like DISKDUPE ?
wasn't there a way of attaching 4 drives to a single controller with the right cable? as such one could have 2x 3.5in and 2x 5.25 drives on the mobo?
I manage a pot-pourri of video matter...
Grzyb wrote on 2023-02-01, 06:04:It should be noted that there's plenty of multi-I/O cards where the FDC can be set to the secondary address, ie. 370h. But they […]
It should be noted that there's plenty of multi-I/O cards where the FDC can be set to the secondary address, ie. 370h.
But they don't allow to change the IRQ nor DMA.
In theory, that shouldn't be a problem if one's not using both FDCs simultaneously.
In practice... the cards I tried just wouldn't cooperate...Hopefully AHA-1542CF properly handles IRQ and DMA sharing.
If not, then there's the last resort: AHA-1542B, where it's possible to set the secondary address AND secondary IRQ AND secondary DMA.
So, hardware-wise it's 100% sure to work, but I don't know about software...Anyway, to anyone who manages to get two FDCs working together:
Please precisely describe your config...
- what's the primary FDC
- address, IRQ, DMA of the primary
- capacities of the drives connected to the primary
- what's the secondary FDC
- address, IRQ, DMA of the secondary
- capacities of the drives connected to the secondary
- CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT drivers
- are all the drives available in DOS as regular drive letters?
- are all the drives available via BIOS calls, for software like DSKIMAGE ?
- are all the drives available in popular software that accesses the FDC directly, like DISKDUPE ?
AHA-1542CF handles DMA/IRQ sharing fine. I've used it in this setup.
Thinkpad Dock I with a 5.25" floppy drive
The onboard FDD controller of the docking station cannot be bisabled. I have 1.44 drive on one controller (port 3F0h), and the 1.2 on the AHA-1542CF on port 370h. All works with dosfdrv.sys
Vic Zarratt wrote on 2023-02-01, 06:11:wasn't there a way of attaching 4 drives to a single controller with the right cable?
Yes, but it must be a four-floppy controller, with two connectors, and two regular cables.
Controllers that allow four drives on a single cable do exist as well, but... in pre-IBM PC machines, from 1970s.
I'm not aware of such a controller for the PC.
Also, floppy drives with four Drive Select jumpers may be hard to find, especially in the 3.5" variant.
More info - https://www.seasip.info/VintagePC/floppies.html
