Re: grumblesmurf

In message <angb44l40tnfk99hka0ii1fh4fak8fss8l@xxxxxxx>, Jasper Janssen
<jasper.janssen@xxxxxxxxx> writes
On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 21:09:04 +0100, Robert Sneddon
<fred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Acorn designed the Intel 8271 floppy disk controller chip into the BBC
computer just before the only manufacturer who made it err stopped
making it. Acorn sold a lot of Beebs with the FDC missing, just an empty
socket on the mobo.

AFAIK that was deliberate, it wasn't a floppy enabled machine by design,
just as an easily installed optional extra.

Except actually buying the chip to perform the upgrade wasn't really an
option since Intel stopped making them before the BBC was rolled out.

Most BBCs will have been fitted with 1770 controllers on a little PCB that
fitted the 8271 socket.

Sadly the WD1770/1771 wasn't register-compatible with the 8271 and it
required firmware patches and other tap-dancing juju[0] to make it work
in the Beeb.

[0] Like my PeeCee here which has had so much bagbiting crufty hacking
performed on it I have to placate the Ghods every time I fire it up with
a little ritualistic dance and sacrifice of Virgin broadband CDs
otherwise it forgets how to wake up properly.

And no, a small Perl script won't fix it.
--
To reply, my gmail address is nojay1 Robert Sneddon
.

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