On Mon, 17 Aug 1998 03:44:15 +0200 (CEST), enigma@intop.net/CC said:
 en>> >A 720k 3.5i drive is a 300 rpm 80 tracks double sided drive. The
 en>> >PC version reacts to drive select 1.
 en>> >Connect one to a PC and tell PUTR it is a RX50. Copy the RX50
 en>> >install binaries to 720K floppies and connect the drive to the
 en>> >microvax using an untwisted cable. Try to boot from DUA2, the
 en>> >second floppy drive. This might work. I think it will, but
 en>> >unfortunately I still haven't had the time to test this.
 en>> Sounds like a good plan...
 en>Hmm... Would a normal 1.44MB drive be able to be used?  I have no
 en>720Ks.  I know 1.44s can read and write 720k disks.  I've done it
 en>before in an old 8088 where the FDC couldn't do 1.44MB floppies,
 en>but the 1.44MB drive worked.

I think it would work if you set it as a 720K in the PC BIOS setup screen.
I've also used 1.44s in XTs as 720Ks and that worked. You could also
experiment with setting it to 1.2MB, so PUTR thinks it is a 5.25 HD drive
and it might switch the data rate correctly to DD. I have had 1.44s set as
1.2 in the BIOS by accident and that worked without a problem, until I 
started wondering why there seemed to fit less files on the floppies...

 en>And if somebody would be willing to install on the RD54, well,
 en>probably an RD53 for the base and etc dists, I can ship it UPS in a
 en>good packaging that would protect it from damage.  I have a few
 en>RD53s to spare.  That way I could FTP the rest of the dists and NFS
 en>mount whatever.  

If nobody else can do this you could send the drive to me, I have installed
NetBSD so many times now that it won't take too long, but mailing a heavy
drive from the US to The Netherlands and back is gonna cost you, and it'll
take ages, so I suggest you first start tinkering with PUTR. The tools are
there, we just have to modify them a little, sending drives across the
globe should not be nessecary.

Kees

-- 

Kees Stravers - Geldrop, The Netherlands - pb0aia at amsat dot org
Sysadmin and DEC PDP/VAX preservationist - http://vaxarchive.ml.org

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