| Re: Monster FDC - Dual-FDC floppy disk controller card supporting 8 floppy drives [message #9456 is a reply to message #9452] |
Mon, 06 December 2021 14:19   |
Sergey
Messages: 236
Registered: October 2015
Location: Portland, OR
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Senior Member |
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Hi Andrew,
Yes, I hear you. Boot from serial port assumes that there is another server system. In case of the IBM PC or other personal computers, especially early on, the personal computer might have been the only system available, so serial boot feature wasn't that important. Other than that IBM PC included BASIC interpreter which could be used if everything else fails 
Currently many systems support network boot, for example using PXE/DHCP/TFTP. I actually need to research this topic for my Ethernet card
The XT-FDC was a bit too complicated to my taste. Of course the output buffers made it more rugged, and 50-pin floppy connector made it easier to connect 8" floppy drives, I don't think many users cared much for these features.
I also don't expect too many users for this project. Not many people need more than 2 floppy drives...
Thanks,
Sergey
P.S. I still have to answer to your V9938/V9958 email. For now please check the voltage levels on V9938 CSYNC output. It does not use TTL voltage levels. Instead, it uses 3 levels, with ~5V being '1' and ~2.5V being '0', so it requires a level shifter. You can check the VDP part of my Omega Home Computer. Alternatively, you can skip V9938 support altogether. It appears to be more rare and expensive than V9958 anyway.
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