Working on Multitech MIC-504 (had to alter header data)

HxC Floppy emulator support for all others computers...
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IRJustman
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Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 1:09 pm

Working on Multitech MIC-504 (had to alter header data)

Post by IRJustman »

Hi, all.

You can add another machine as a success story, though it didn't come completely easy. The solution itself, however, was very easy.

I'm running a Multitech MIC-504 which used to be prolific here in the Sacramento, CA area for Citadel BBSes. These machines contain two 5 1/4" drives, DSDD 96tpi drives with a raw formatted capacity of 720KB per diskette. The emulator in question is a re-flashed Gotek emulator I picked up from NewEgg.

However, I had to manually edit the header of the resulting HFE file I created from the actual boot diskette I have for the machine so that it would make the interface talk at 250kbps, which is what the machine actually talks at, as opposed to the 300kbps that the machine I used, used, to create the file with used by way of a HD 5 1/4" floppy drive. Before I edited the header, I kept getting "address mark not found" errors from the FDC on the MIC-504, a uPD765.

Is there a way to edit that header info without affecting the rest of the contents of the image from within the floppy emulator? Better still, since most of my images are in IMD format, is there a way to do this as a batch operation? This would save me a lot of time when I go to batch up all the files and convert them en masse when I get my setup finalized. Though I could also try altering the rate at the IMD stage before converting them to HFE.

At some point, I'm looking at getting a genuine HxC2001 now that I know this actually works.

Thanks for having this product available! I wanna keep my vintage gear working without having to worry about data storage issues.

--Ian.

Jeff
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Re: Working on Multitech MIC-504 (had to alter header data)

Post by Jeff »

You can force the bitrate directly on the emulator !

IRJustman
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 1:09 pm

Re: Working on Multitech MIC-504 (had to alter header data)

Post by IRJustman »

I guess I'll have to implement a connection to the device's serial interface so I can get to the device. Easily-enough done; I just need the parts (will get them once I get money).

In the meantime, it's no big deal to me to hex-edit the files. But I'm still considering the serial interface additions on GPs "just because". :)

--IJ.

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