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HP-87 and HP-9122D - stephenpeterson - 07-20-2019 08:42 AM

I can INITIALIZE and use DSDD floppy disks with my HP-87, an HP-9121D disk drive and the PRM-85 ROM Emulator board.
However I cannot Initialize a DSHD floppy on an HP-9122 disk drive. If I type INITIALIZE 15,2 (which I think should be supported by the Extended Mass Storage emulation on the PRM-85 board) I get an ERROR 84 EXCESS CHARS.
This seems like the EMS ROM is not supported although the jumper is in the correct position (16 to 24) on the board.
Now, I don't have 100% confidence in the 9122 yet, but given that, I wouldn't have expected an error 84 immediately without any drive access if that command is supported by the EMS. But I am still re-learning. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Steve


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - AndiGer - 07-20-2019 09:32 AM

I don't know the hardware and how to work with it.
But if you have a look here you can see that the 9122C accepted HD disks but not the 9122D


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - Roland57 - 07-20-2019 10:58 AM

Hi,

It is correct, the drive does not accept HD-disks !

hp9121 accepts SS/DD disks,
hp9122 accepts DS/DD disks

Roland


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - Dave Frederickson - 07-20-2019 03:05 PM

(07-20-2019 08:42 AM)stephenpeterson Wrote:  I can INITIALIZE and use DSDD floppy disks with my HP-87, an HP-9121D disk drive and the PRM-85 ROM Emulator board.

You can initialize one side of a DSDD disc in a dual single-sided 9121D disc drive. DSDD discs are more readily available and there's no point in trying to find single-sided media.

Trivia Note: DSDD and SSDD media were manufactured the same, it's just that the second side of single-sided media wasn't tested.

Don't try to format HD media as DSDD as the magnetic properties are not the same.

Of note, for the 3.5" HP discs pictured on HPMuseum.net, SSDD discs are blue, DSDD discs are gray, and DSQD (HD) discs are black.

Dave


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - stephenpeterson - 07-21-2019 07:57 PM

My apologies! The drive that I grabbed without a cover wasn't a 9122D but a 9122C.
As I am learning, it should take all the common size floppy disks. The fact that it won't initialize any of them is a problem I have to work on when parts arrive.

The other issue that is bugging me, is the fact that I get an immediate Syntax error when entering "INITIALIZE 15,2".

On what looks like page 8 of the Extended Mass Storage manual is an example-

"INITIALIZE "BETSY1",".JUNK5",15,2"

As soon as I hit END LINE, the error immediately pops up without any access to the drive. Since it's a syntax error, I am thinking that either the EMS ROM emulation isn't quite right or the EMS doesn't work with the model 9122C drive. Comments?

Thanks again for your guys patience and help. It is appreciated.
Steve


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - Dave Frederickson - 07-21-2019 08:36 PM

(07-21-2019 07:57 PM)stephenpeterson Wrote:  The other issue that is bugging me, is the fact that I get an immediate Syntax error when entering "INITIALIZE 15,2".

According to the manual, you must specify a drive using the Mass Storage Unit Specifier or msus. This is :D701 in the example.

If the disc has been formatted previously you may substitute the old volume label in place of the msus.

Dave


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - stephenpeterson - 07-21-2019 08:53 PM

Thanks Dave.
My understanding is that if the drive is powered on before the computer, the first drive will be the default MSI. I have been using MSI ":D700" for drive 0 and ":D701" for drive 1.

Steve


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - Dave Frederickson - 07-21-2019 09:05 PM

(07-21-2019 08:53 PM)stephenpeterson Wrote:  Thanks Dave.
My understanding is that if the drive is powered on before the computer, the first drive will be the default MSI. I have been using MSI ":D700" for drive 0 and ":D701" for drive 1.

Steve

Okay, but the way I interpret the command syntax is that you can only specify the directory size and interleave if the msus is specified. You might try INITIALIZE with no parameters or INITIALIZE ":D700" and see what happens. In any case an immediate error would indicate a syntax error.

Dave


RE: HP-87 and HP-9122D - rprosperi - 07-21-2019 09:10 PM

If you don't specify the MSUS directly, and rely on the current 'MSI' device, then use this format:

INITIALIZE ,15,2

The leading comma provides the needed clue that the default device should be assumed.

For me, I always use the device MSUS to be really, really sure which device I'm formatting.

Is there a specific reason you are using a non-standard interleave setting?