(c)1990 Golden Triangle, Inc. (c)1990 Wilson Van Alst All rights reserved. Fm: Dean Metzgar To: Steve Ringley I am running a Tandy 1000EX w/640K and a 3 1/2 " drive in addition to the 5 1/4 built-in. Any thoughts on getting the 1000 EX to read 600 disks and Vice versa? The EX comes with DOS 2.11 but I also run V3.3. On a quick look the other day, the EX will] read the 600 files directories when using DOS 3.3 but won't read the files properly. I know that the 600 Drive is working with 360K on one side, I believeit is 80 traks, but don't know much more about it. Any thoughts ??? - 0 - Fm: Steve Ringley To: Dean Metzgar I just went through that at my local RS, and we ended up using a serial cable... Bernie seems to have the solution in that DRIVPARM that he uses to make the PC think it is dealing with a SS drive. The in-store 1000 I used thought the 600 disk was single density, and we never got anything usable. I also never tried 3, it was all done with 2.11. I think the best shot would be to use DRIVPARM, which I gues is in the IBM forum, to make your PC think the 3.5 is singlesided, and then see what happens. - 0 - Fm: Jim Scheef To: Steve Ringley DRIVPARM is an option that can be included in your config.sys file - but only in DOS 3.2 or higher. It is not a file or device driver but rather is a way of configuring the device drivers that are built into DOS. It is not documented by IBM, so look in an MS-DOS manual. I tried using DRIVPARM to create a 600 format diskette using IBM DOS 3.2 and generic MS-DOS 3.3 on an IBM XT and was not successful with either. I was surprised when someone reported success but with other ROM BIOS, who knows! The chances of success would be better on a AT clone due to the AT's more flexible BIOS. Give the following line a try in your config.sys: drivparm=/d:1/h:1 The /d option selects the drive, 0 for your a: drive, 1 for your b: drive. The /h option is the number of heads (sides). Good luck! - 0 - Fm: Dean Metzgar To: Jim Scheef I tried the drivparm line you mentioned without success. I do believe that the 3.5" drive Tandy sells for the 1000EX has some sort of Tandy "oddity" which I have as yeto sort out. Using your suggested config.sys, I get a 3.5" disk with 40 tracks on one side and a total count of 180K available. Hmmmmm??? Thanks for your info anyway. - 0 - Fm: Steve Ringley To: Dean Metzgar Yes, that 180K format is what bedeviled me when I tried. Hmm... - 0 - Fm: Jim Scheef To: Dean Metzgar The drive (other than it's size) has nothing to do with how it formats a diskette or what formats it can read/write. All that functionality is contained in each machine's BIOS. The BIOS in ROM together with the device drivers contained in the DOS (which is also in ROM in the EX, I believe) that determines what formats a machine will recognize. That's why driver.sys is needed for many machines to use 3.5" 720K diskettes. Unfortunately Tandy, in another attempt to shoot themselves in the foot, used a non-standard disk format in the M600 (and then realizing the mistake failed to support the format anywhere else!). MS-DOS (or PC-DOS) does not support single-side 3.5" diskettes. (Your experiment gave you the 3.5" equivalent of a single-side 5 1/4" diskette.) The MS-DOS user manual makes this clear by stating that certain combinations of parameters are not allowed for the format command, driver.sys, and drivparm (all of which use the same switches to determine disk format). I suggested that you try those drivparm setting on the outside chance that Tandy had added them as a valid set to allow for interchange of M600 diskettes. The 1400LT *can* read and write M600 format and is the only machine I know of that has the ability. If you need this interchange, contact Manzana Microsystems, in Goleta, CA. (805) 968-1387. They sell a device driver that supports the M600 format. - 0 - Fm: Tim Barber To: Jim Scheef I just put a 1.44 3.5" floppy in my Tri-Star 386. After downloading the file that give the parameters for using drivparm, I downloading the drivprm.arc from the IBM Utils lib. On my first try I entered the parameter and formatted a 3.5 disk in the PC. I now can read and write text between my Model 600 and my 386! What a deal! Tim Barber! - 0 - Fm: Steve Ringley To: Jim Scheef I have often heard that the 1400 supports the format, but the RS people here have no idea about it at all. Could you perhaps explain how the 1400 reads 600 disks? Thanks a bunch! - 0 - Fm: Jim Scheef To: Steve Ringley If I were a wise guy I'd jst say that the 1400 reads 600 diskettes after you insert them in a disk drive. The reason the 1400 can read the 600 format lies in the software built into the 1400 - it's BIOS and the version of DOS supplied for the 1400. In other words, the capability was designed in by Tandy persumably so 600 owners could upgrade to the 1400LT. I tried this in the store and it does work. - 0 - Fm: Steve Ringley To: Jim Scheef Thanks...most RS employees think I am nuts when I say it can be done! - 0 - Fm: Dean Metzgar To: Jim Scheef Thanks for your detailed and informative reply. The EX does not have DOS in ROM as does some of its cousins. It comes supplied with 2.11 on disk. I have been using 3.3 also with it. But, 3.3 does not have the drivparm available as was in 3.2. I DL'd an updated drivparm from IBMSYS SIG which provides the same capability to 3.3 users. I'll let you know what I find - - - still no success, but haven't had much time to play with it. - 0 - Fm: Dean Metzgar To: Steve Ringley I dl'd the DRIVPARM file from IBMSYS. It's a good piece of work - very nicely done. However, ... even using DOS 3.3, I do not get the results I need/desire for the 600. I'll try working with it some more when I get a chance. I believe that possibly the Tandy 3.5" drive for the EX has some special characteristics that are inhibiting proper implementation of DRIVPARM. I'll let you know if I succeed. Thanks for your help. - 0 - Starting message #: 189877 Starting date: 11-Nov-89 16:42:04 Participants: Dean Metzgar 76537,2657 Steve Ringley 73727,1202 Jim Scheef 76137,757 Tim Barber 72517,712