Author Topic: Why don't computers have "B" drives? (Read 1673 times)

Swoop · « **Reply #15 on:** August 25, 2003, 02:06:24 AM »

blimey, been a while since I've seen a 720k disk.

I mean like.....crap man, days of my youth. First real computer I ever saw was a dedicated word processor called a Scantext 950, it had no HDD and took 12" disks.

Martlet · « **Reply #16 on:** August 25, 2003, 02:08:02 AM »

My computer has a B: drive.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #17 on:** August 25, 2003, 07:49:31 AM »

Vulcan is correct. Here was the size migrations starting with 5 1/4 (I would start with the 8 inchers, but I doubt anyone here would remember them

)

5 1/4 SS SD - 180K
5 1/4 DS SD - 360K
5 1/4 DS DD - 1.2M
3 1/2 DS SD - 720K
3 1/2 DS DD - 1.4M

fd ski · « **Reply #18 on:** August 25, 2003, 07:55:40 AM »

newbs...

straffo · « **Reply #19 on:** August 25, 2003, 08:13:27 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Vulcan is correct. Here was the size migrations starting with 5 1/4 (I would start with the 8 inchers, but I doubt anyone here would remember them )

na ... used one 3 years ago do configure an IBM hardware abomination for IBM abominable mainframe.
speaking of a 8 inch

Boroda · « **Reply #20 on:** August 25, 2003, 08:15:52 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Vulcan is correct. Here was the size migrations starting with 5 1/4 (I would start with the 8 inchers, but I doubt anyone here would remember them )

5 1/4 SS SD - 180K
5 1/4 DS SD - 360K
5 1/4 DS DD - 1.2M
3 1/2 DS SD - 720K
3 1/2 DS DD - 1.4M

5 1/4 SS SD - 160K
5 1/4 DS SD - 320K
5 1/4 SS DD - 180K
5 1/4 DS DD - 360K
5 1/4 DS HD - 1.2M

AFAIK there were no 5.25" SS HD floppys.

In fact DD 5.25 floppys could be formatted as 80 tracks 9 sectors that gave you 720kb, but you had to use special drivers as 800.com or pu1700.com

IBM delivered OS/2 3.0 "Warp" on 2Mb 3.5" floppys. I spent two nights making all 23 disks from image files, 5 out of 10 floppys right out of a new sealed box couldn't be formatted to 2Mb....

Damn, just looked at my "pet cemetary", found an old XT with an old SS SD IBM floppy, the one that was double-height and had a "jaw"...

I still can assemble an XT in 10 minutes right from the trashcan... I never waste any computer iron. We have some very expencive devices here, bought in the 80s, that are comtrolled by old DOS PCs, and the software doesn't run on modern fast computers (people who programmed in Borland compilers in early 90s know what I mean), so I sometimes have to find spare parts for that rusty boxes.

Swoop · « **Reply #21 on:** August 25, 2003, 09:15:11 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Boroda
We have some very expencive devices here, bought in the 80s, that are comtrolled by old DOS PCs, and the software doesn't run on modern fast computers.

Is this the system that powers the Russian missile defense network?

Eagler · « **Reply #22 on:** August 25, 2003, 09:25:51 AM »

"B" drive is now a CDR -RW

many "A" drives are too

my 1.44 floppy is slower than my cd burner

Boroda · « **Reply #23 on:** August 25, 2003, 09:29:11 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Swoop
Is this the system that powers the Russian missile defense network?

Missile defence uses our own Elbrus series supercomputers.

We (Chemical Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Science) are stuck with dull tasks like complex chemical reactions, biochemical processes and stuff like life prolongation etc. Funny things like nuclear weapons development are in another branch of this institute, and the guys working on it sit in another place behind steel doors and armed guards...

The stuff I was talking about is nuclear magnetic resonance devices and other big complicated machinery. Besides this old monsters we have some other stuff to work with like cluster calculating systems on gigabit backbone network... Unfortunately, we can't get proper service for our three Convex supercomputers, so our scientists have to use IBM-compatibles in clusters.

Wlfgng · « **Reply #24 on:** August 25, 2003, 09:29:19 AM »

B drive..
reminds me of 5.1/2 disks

Swoop · « **Reply #25 on:** August 25, 2003, 09:30:56 AM »

And may I just add: Whoosh.....splat!

DmdMac · « **Reply #26 on:** August 25, 2003, 11:07:24 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Vulcan is correct. Here was the size migrations starting with 5 1/4 (I would start with the 8 inchers, but I doubt anyone here would remember them )

I've seen them, but never used them. I think by the time I had seen them, they were already on the endangered species list.

AKIron · « **Reply #27 on:** August 25, 2003, 11:13:00 AM »

Well, since we got the way back machine runnin'.

How many bytes one those cards hold?

LePaul · « **Reply #28 on:** August 25, 2003, 11:20:34 AM »

5.25" floppies? Aieee... I have 12 5.12" floppy drives...please, take them!

We can't just put computers on the curb anymore...hazmat or something.

pugg666 · « **Reply #29 on:** August 25, 2003, 11:29:27 AM »

Anyone remember the casette drive for the Commodor Vic 20?

It was completely manual.You had to keep a listing of where every program was on the casette and you'd fast forward to where the program was the load it.

I didn't care, I was 8 or 9 at the time, and could play all the games I wanted to.