Tandy 1000 help...

[Tupin]

I recently got a Tandy 1000 with a 3.5 and 5.25 inch drives. The 5.25 drive loads fine, however when I try to use the 3.5 inch drive, the directory listings are just garbage. What could this be?

I also want to install MS-DOS 5 as I have 640K of RAM, but there's a problem. MS DOS 5 requires a previous version of DOS to be installed. I have no HDD in the Tandy, just a few that I could install. My version of DOS 3.1 is on a 5.25 disk, and my question is that could I install a 5.25 drive and a HDD at the same time or will there be no room? I only plan on keeping the 5.25 drive/HDD setup for as long as it takes to format the drive and install DOS 3.1 on it, after which I will change it to 3.5 drive/HDD setup.

 

[Lord Moz]

Which Tandy 1000 is it? Some have space, some don't...

If you skip the setup program on the dos install disk, you can still run sys.com from the disk to create DOS 5 boot disk, or sys the HD and then continue a normal install.
I've done that a number of times with some of my dos 6.22 disks that claim they are unable to install without an existing OS installed. 2x F3's to exit, a sys c:, reboot and viola, it installs perfectly

Depending on your plans though, Tandy dos has it's advantages at times... boots like lightning from the eeprom equiped models, and the mode command has some special tandy features. There might be other things I'm forgetting.

Any other versions of dos will not have the eeprom D drive.

 

[Tupin]

It's an original Tandy 1000.

 

[Tupin]

Just checked, the drive is small enough to fit if I get rid of the 5.25 drive, but I have some questions about installation.

1. Do I just look for the proper connector and plug it in, or does it need to be mounted?

2. How do you format the drive in DOS and install DOS on it?

3. About a bezel to put on it, can I just take one off of the 5.25 drive to fit on it just for aesthetics?

 

[Unknown_K]

Do you have an 8-bit HD card for the Tandy? The original 1000 just came with 2x 360K 5.25" DD drives, is the HD drive a 720K DD drive?

 

[Tupin]

It's a Seagate Technology Model ST-4051, and there is a connector in the Tandy that matches the one that I connect the drives with.

 

[Unknown_K]

It's a Seagate Technology Model ST-4051, and there is a connector in the Tandy that matches the one that I connect the drives with.

That is a MFM drive and it has 2 connectors on it, one of which LOOKS like a floppy drive connector but IS NOT.

 

[Tupin]

Okay then. Any way I can get this into my Tandy? Or even better, is there a way I can adapt an Apple SCSI QuantumPro drive?

 

[Unknown_K]

You need an 8 bit hardcard (controller and drive on one card), or an 8 bit SCSI card with external port to connect a drive externally. Not sure where you would mount an internal drive in a 1000 without removing something.

 

[Tupin]

The 5.25 drive, obviously.

What standard are the expansion connectors inside the Tandy? I guess I need to get a SCSI card.

 

[Lord Moz]

You could get one of the XT-IDE cards being worked on in the Hardware Support forum.
I got a kit from Hargle and assembled it, and am testing it as I have time. I have it in a 1000 TL/2 at the moment, working fine with a 2GB compact flash card.

If you went that route, you would have space to leave the 5.25 drive in the machine, as the compact flash card is tiny and you could put it almost anywhere inside the machine. That would solve the bezel issue as well.

But, if I am understanding the original issue, your immediate problem is your 3.5 drive is not working? How many disks are giving garbled directory listings? It had the 3.5 drive in it when you aquired it? If it's a standard drive (has a seperate power connector) you could try another drive to see if that might be the problem.

I probably wouldn't remove the 5.25 drive, just because a great deal of the software from that vintage will be on that size media.

As far as formating and installing the drive... if you are installing to an HD, you need to partition it with fdisk, which will need to reboot after creating a partition.
Then use format to format the drive, you can put the system files on it in the same step, or afterwards. (format c: /s -- the /s tells format to transfer the system files)
If you want to transfer the system files afterwards, you use the sys command (sys c: ).
Early versions of dos really don't need any installing past that. Just create a directory (typically c:\dos) and copy all the files from the floppies into that directory.

I hope that helps.

 

[Tupin]

So, partition the C: drive with fdisk, then format it with format?

I'm interested in that CF Card thing, do I just format it and copy DOS files to it as if it were an actual harddrive? Where does it go in the machine, one of the ISA slots? I would like more info, if possible.

Another question. Since I want to install MS-DOS 5 on this system, is the "Light Pen" port a suitable place to plug in a serial mouse?

Oh, and that Seagate Drive is 40 MB. It would be useful to put in the Tandy, but I guess 2 GB is even better. Why do people always use CF cards for these types of projects anyway? Do SD cards just not work? I ask because it's getting increasingly harder to find a CF card around here.

I realized why it's not giving me a correct reading, it's not a 1.44 MB drive. I'll have to get one out of an old PC and try to put it in.

 

[aitotat]

I'm interested in that CF Card thing, do I just format it and copy DOS files to it as if it were an actual harddrive? Where does it go in the machine, one of the ISA slots?

The XTIDE card goes to any ISA slot. Then you connect CF-to-IDE adapter to IDE-connector on the XTIDE. Finally, the CF card (or microdrive) goes to the CF-to-IDE adapter. CF cards and microdrives will work just like any IDE hard disk.

is the "Light Pen" port a suitable place to plug in a serial mouse?

No. You will need a serial controller if you want serial ports. Any multi I/O card should work, even 16-bit cards (just remember to disable IDE interface since it will not work on 8-bit bus).

Why do people always use CF cards for these types of projects anyway?

Because CF cards are real IDE devices. CF-to-IDE adapter simply converts one type of connector to another. I think there are SD-to-IDE adapters as well but they require some logic and are more expensive.

I realized why it's not giving me a correct reading, it's not a 1.44 MB drive. I'll have to get one out of an old PC and try to put it in.

Did you try to read 1.44MB formatted disk with Tandy? You can install HD drive but it won't read HD disks since Tandy doesn't have HD controller.

You'll need a HD controller with it's own BIOS to be able to read HD diskettes. Just cover the HD hole and reformat the disk as 720k. This way you can use it in any PC.