This thing can backup and emulate MFM/ST-506 hard drives for your retro computers

[@parrottm76262]

Just when I think I've seen everything retro related, you show this mfm emulator. This is so fascinating and cool. So many talented people who refuse to let old computers die, and kudos to them. Thanks so much for another useful and awe inspiring video.

[@TheSulross]

Brandon Taylor Well, there is the matter of what to do with those old dial-up modems

[@G3DTrance]

@@TheSulross Yeah, that's true. However I think I saw a device that let you connect old dial up modems to your home WiFi. But, what about the speed? And in which cases it would be useful compared to any of the "local" solutions to transfer data...

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

@@TheSulross Thanks for the chuckle. I confess I am torn between wishing those modems good riddance, and thinking that maybe they should be saved at least for museum usage.

[@daghtus]

@Brandon Taylor That sounds like pro-life computer movement 😎

[@m0rph19]

The sound of that hard drive spinning up and seeking brings back many fond memories.

[@markevans2294]

The BeagleBone Black does have an audio output option. As well as a USB port. Thus it's likely possible to make this sound like an actual ST-506 :)

[@caggius42]

Yes loved the sound of the disk spinning up - you used to be able to tell good from dodgy drives just by listening to them power up and seek.

[@alexandarcade]

I am glad it is not just me. I loved the sounds my drive made spinning up and initializing and still miss it.

[@compu85]

David’s MFM Emulator is like magic to me. That it can figure out the encoding from basically any encoder, dump that to a disk image, or host it back to the system… incredible!

[@Eyetrauma]

3:30 What a nice gift, straight from his big red heart.

[@CanuckGod]

LOL, I was thinking the same thing... wonder if Stewart watched Haachama Cooking as well 🤣

[@senilyDeluxe]

Shoulda rebranded it Harachnibo

[@Ramdileo_sys]

at 3:28.. I got the same "vibe" that when someone sent a real radioactive ☢️ clock to @Fran Blanche 🥵🥵 >> kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnuWlKhsbLh1kLs ... Actually.. a radioactive clock would have been better that this 🕷️"candy"🕷️ .. 🤮 ..

[@bolivianPsyOp]

Came from Security now, this is such a cool channel

[@ForgottenMachines]

I've used these MFM reader/emulators for the last 6 years (Since 2015), and I love them. I have about 8 of them now, all in operation on different machines in my lab... Thanks for making this very comprehensive video about them!!!

[@GrowlyBear917]

I ran a BBS on an Atari 130xe using the Seagate ST-225 with an Adaptec ACB4000 controller, later a Xebec 1420. The equipment was right next to my bed at home. My employer sent me out to a training class and I had to stay in a hotel for two nights. Could not sleep because I was not accustomed to the silence! Then later on I upgraded the drive to a Seagate ST-4096. What a big difference in the noise level. One good thing is the larger drive helped keep my bedroom warm in the winter. I still have the drives, controllers, the ICD Multi-I/O, and the computer. All of that stuff still works, but has not been powered up since 1996.

[@jeremylindemann5117]

I'm not sure how bulky your old equipment is but they sound like something that would be good to feature on Adrian's Digital Basement.

[@guffaw1711]

This video is also a nice introduction to the MFM disk system. I learned a lot about them.

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

Thank you so much for this treat of an episode, it brought back so many forgotten memories of old-school hardware from the late 1980s for me. I remember particularly the years 1989-1992 where I had the most interaction with similar cables, cards and harddrives. I had completely forgotten how good it feels to look back and realize how much the technology has changed since then.

[@nickcliff]

This came up on security now podcast giving a watch and a sub right now

[@MurderMostFowl]

I used to work in the IT department at a large University in the late 90’s. I can’t tell you the number of these drives we sent to the salvage yard or destroyed. This and old SunOS, Sequent, Digital, IBM systems. It was heartbreaking at first all this old solid tech, but truly there was nothing we could do with any of it. Some of my friends would gut out the old Sequent cages and use them as general purpose 19” racks, but the hard drives were hard to justify as anything. The rare earth magnets inside was the only thing anyone kept. These days I have mixed feelings about it all.

[@mapesdhs597]

The one brand that's retained relevance from that era wrt legacy hardware, in both commercial and hobbyist use, is SGIs, but they're a realm of vintage tech of which few are much aware. Still used by textile manufacturers, medical comanies, defense companies, miscellaneous industrial processes and especially PCB manufacturers including TI and Global Foundries, plus a great many hobbyists.

[@Vanders456]

"If the interleave is one step beyond..." *Saxophone kicks in*

[@SGgrc]

Adrian! WHAT a kick! It was so cool to see that ancient copy of SpinRite actually running and cranking away... and, sure enough, confirming your suspicion that the 1:1 interleave was "one too tight" and thus being the WORST possible interleave for that controller. As you may know, I'm currently working on SpinRite v6.1. Remind me once you see that v6.1 is released and I'll be sure to send you a download link! WHAT a hoot! :) /Steve.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Awesome about 6.1! Yeah I have a stack of MFM and RLL drives on which I run Spinrite periodically to keep them all running tip top. I used the old Spinrite II back when I was in high school working at a computer store. I got many customer machines working again after running it overnight. Good memories!

[@TheGlitchyMario]

Sweet! I've been looking for one of these! I need to back up the HDD in my leading edge model D before it dies.

[@applesushi]

This is the first ADB video that needed a content warning 😂

[@VenomStryker]

WARNING: Contains arachnids. :-)

[@matchboxcustomsandrestos]

Adrian...I really hope that was the last of the insects that gets sent to you. I feel the same way you do!

[@YonezH]

As a rough estimate, the 512MB of RAM on that BeagleBone is able to hold the complete contents of 3 of the largest ever MFM hard drives. And the CPU is able to emulate any system that ever had an MFM drive. This just illustrates the absurdity and greatness of emulation and hardware development all at the same time.

[@dansimpson6844]

What a timely video! I just ordered on of these to replace the drive in my HP-9133 HP-IB drive.

[@orinokonx01]

Ooooo!! I'm in the process of building one of these! I have a very special computer with some software on a MFM drive that needs immediate backup. I'll get the popcorn and enjoy this video!

[@evertonshorts9376]

The Commodore 900 was a prototype "unix" workstation running Coherent. The case looks very similar to the Amiga 2000.

[@rtechlab6254]

They were actually sold

[@AxelWerner]

Commodore AND UNIX at the same time ?!?

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

Was that the system that they used the NatSemi 32-bit CPU in that everyone became disappointed with? The Commodore engineers who moved over to Atari Corp originally were hot to use that chip in the RBP/ST until it proved to be inferior and they pivoted to the trusty 68000.

[@Zeem4]

@@TheJeremyHolloway According to Wikipedia, the Commodore 900 was based on the Zilog Z8000. The NS32016 got some use in UK academic settings, thanks to Acorn's coprocessor for the BBC computer, the related Acorn Cambridge Workstation and Master Scientific computers, and the Panos operating system that they wrote for it.

[@danman32]

If I recall correctly, the twist in the large cable simply changes the drive selector so you wouldn't have to mess with the jumper on the drive to specify drive 0 or 1. IOW if both drives are jumpered as drive 0, the twist would change the selection for one of the drives to be drive 1. You could instead have no twist at all and use the jumper on the drive to specify drive 1.

[@jp2en]

I do like how the old MFM drives sounds than they do seeking and parking routine

[@chadhartsees]

Didn't expect crossover to the PDP world!

[@DanBowkley]

That's just beautiful. My second computer had a pair of ST225s in it, the racket they made on takeoff I mean power up was glorious. Definitely a change from the TRS-80 that preceded it!

[@steve6375]

Seagate ST225 was famous for off track writes under changing temperature conditions. Alan Sugar of Amstrad took Seagate to court over it because he used it in his PCs (read his autobiography) and it pretty much killed all consumer confidence in Amstrad PCs.

[@RetroJack]

I had one that died and I used the cover as a catfood dish!

[@grossteilfahrer]

Yeah they are in atari ST megafile 20:s and sh 205. Its a choice - format cold, use cold and let cool when it starts acting up, or format it warm, and let it warm up 20 minutes before booting every time you want to use the machine.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

@@grossteilfahrer so, moral of the story, Seagate has always been terrible...

[@theradioweyr]

@@TheJeremyHolloway Yes, give me a Micropolis any day. We cried when they closed their doors.

[@budmartin8297]

Man, this brought back so many memories of working on these "old" systems. I had nearly forgotten all the eccentricities of those controller cards, drives, cables and software. I used spinrite daily along with some others that elude me now. What fun. I had a failing st 225 on my shop PC that ran for months and months with the cover off, since once in a blue moon, the read/write head would stick. LOL. Talk about HDD noise, try it with the cover off. I'm enjoying these videos. Ever use a book titled "the hard drive bible" to get drive specs on almost every drive made up to printing?

[@Vermilicious]

Well, now we need a fixing video on the faulty controller card. Since he has another working one, it should be possible!

[@joshuarichards2421]

Holy crap! I have an ST225 SCSI version... Was in my Apple 20SC External enclosure. It still works, so I took it out to keep it working for a few more years, (Popped a relay driven auto head parking 320mb server HDD into the encosure... My Mac Plus SCREAMS with that drive hooked up!) but it is amazing to see another one of these drives, even if it's MFM rather than SCSI!

[@miss_gray]

What a cool little device! But, I personally /love/ the sound of old hard drives!

[@KayRamme]

may be add a speaker :-D

[@miss_gray]

@@blitzwing1 I can definitely understand why people would not like the sound, but for some reason I just really love it!

[@XLessThanZ]

Amazing you still have an MFM drive. Looking at it brings back memories. Even that mention of the floppy/hd cable difference with the flip. That's how I used to recognize one from the other, since we had tons of them lying around. Nice work. 👍👍

[@brufnus]

I have all kinds of MFM drives, some 11-12 still working drives. Everything from ST125/ST-225/ST-251 over IBM full size 20 MB, Toshiba, Miniscribe, Epson, Rodime, even a Tandon 262. Amazing they're still alive! 😀

[@radio-ged4626]

Back in the late '80s early '90s I used to rebuild hard disks in a clean room. I remember the ST225 and ST251 drives and I think there was a ST270? which used RLL as its data writing method. I might have the model numbers wrong there as it was a long time ago. We used to replace the platters, heads, motors and re-write the servo. Low level and then high level format them in DOS for a boot and test. We had a dedicated machine to thrash the refurbished hard disks on (after a lengthy spin up soak test) before we stuck them on a PC for the final formats and testing. To lower the heads back onto the media we made head spacers out of clear plastic which we gently rotated with tweezers to lower the heads down. All this in a face mask and paper suit with cold filtered air being blown onto you at a rate of knots. The 3.5" HDDs with multiple heads and platters were the trickiest to do.

[@UpLateGeek]

This works surprisingly well and looks pretty full featured for an open source project. Definitely have to file this away in case I ever get my 5170 motherboard working. I actually kind of like the sound of old MFM drives, although I can imagine it might get annoying if you're working on machines for hours at a time. As for the tarantula, definitely not a fan! No way I'd consider eating it, so you're a braver man than me for saying on record that you'd eat it!

[@brufnus]

Indeed, especially the ST-251 is annoyingly noisy c".) However, when using drives like ST-125, ST-1100 or Rodime 3055, it's not that bad. The sound they make, is so exotic though... every single type having it's own distinct sound; I bet a real hardcore enthusiast is able to tell exactly which model it is by the mere sound of it. 😀

[@Codeaholic1]

A good sync; sync; sync. Is usually good enough to flush the disk cache before pulling power.

[@francoisrevol7926]

Unlike DOS prompts, shells on GNU/Linux usually keep the history around, so you can search it for previous commands to avoid retyping it :-) (up arrow, or ctrl-r …)

[@ankomcoper1183]

Me pressing up a hundred times looking for an "ls".

[@JVHShack]

@Adrian Perhaps to solve the conundrum of deciding which computer to install the MFM emulator into, you could buy the bare board and components and make another video on that then install it into the 5170. I would honestly use the one you have and get the AT&T PC running since you made videos about the 5170 recently so you can keep the variety going. I just might have to get one of these cards for myself so I can use the only MFM controller that I own.

[@JohnDavidDunlap]

What I'd love to see added is the ability to drive the motors on the MFM drive while pulling the data off an SSD. That way, you get the best of both worlds. Solid state data storage and mechanical seek noises.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Heh so a little speaker and some sound playback hardware. It's all open source, so totally doable.

[@JohnDavidDunlap]

@@adriansdigitalbasement Speakers do not sound the same and even if you could make one sound the same as a specific MFM drive, different MFM drives sound different. I'm talking about physically spinning and seeking the old MFM drive but not relying on its platters for data. It would be pretty strait forward to keep them spinning if we could take them apart without fear of damaging the platters.

[@MrDarchangelomni]

Nothing in the world of electronics sounds better than the ibm 5170 starting up dos 6.2 with disk compression enabled... It is hypnotic, and if you are doing your high school homework, can result in instant sleepiness.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Some really clever people coming up with solutions like this and others. It is great to see.

[@TooLazyToFail]

Stewart continues to be the hero we need.

[@crazyedo9979]

Thank you for the fantastic and informative video. This item is the most ingenious gadget for retro computer I ever heard of. Absolutely amazing!!! I try to get one immediately also tell my colleagues in the museum about it. Greetings from Germany

[@AxelWerner]

Even i never ever handled a MFM HDD, this episode made me happy, seeing that old tech parts now can be replaced with new/working thus reviving very old computers. no gear should ever be trashed, just because one part fails at one point and 90% is still fine. I LOVE REPAIRS!!!

[@theposguy1435]

When I was first building computers I had 2 st225 drives with windows 95 .. I had to reinstall all the time then I got a 115 mb ide drive and that was heaven ..thanks for the video!

[@irdmoose]

Since you're struggling with Candy Reviews, if you have a video that isn't long enough... perhaps you could tack a "Adrian's Candy Corner" to the end of a video. You could also potentially do them as KZbin Shorts. I'm not a KZbinr myself, but I've seen lots of KZbinrs talk about appeasing the Algorithm Gods with shorts.

[@_Funtime60]

Can you tell it to "fix" the bad sectors on the emulated disk? That'd be neat.

[@nathanwoodruff9422]

I have that exact same drive in your hand and it is a working drive. It was a drive that came with the very first 80286 computer that I purchased in 1990.

[@DavidWonn]

3:28 I think we’re going to need a bigger debugger.

[@AlphasysNl]

45:20 Seriously? You were unsure because the website wasn't super slick? To me, that just shows that the maker doesn't do "fluff". It still had all the info, in all the necessary detail. It's not about the package, it's about the content.

[@pauldunecat]

When I saw the title my first thought was for my PC7300/3b1 as I know the ST4096 died a heat death. I would love to see the 3b1 vid!!!

[@LarsTheLorbas]

Had one of these in the early 90s and I loved it!

[@cbrennan1983]

I wonder if the candy video problem is a KZbin algorithms and not your awesome content keep it up love watching anything you produce

[@AceStrife]

Channels that do regular videos and livestreams have to put their livestreams on a second channel because the algorithm tanks their channel if they don't. Wouldn't be surprised if it's done the same there, since it's not related to tech (the entire focus of the channel) in the slightest. Though, I'm sure a lot of people watching Adrian just don't care about candy reviews. They'll probably watch it if it's stuck in a normal video, but wouldn't watch a full on video about it.

[@HammysHangout]

I have used David's EMU to recover many MFM Drives, its a great device, he is very supportive of it, note, MFM drives have a "DRIVE READY" output the controller waits for before it tries to boot the drive, Sadly i don't have any of the videos up on my channel.

[@RetroTechChris]

Very cool! I think I saw one of these in person recently in a Tandy 2000 if I am not mistaken. What a very cool and well thought out design.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Gosh, I am really looking forward to seeing that AT&T workstation revived :) I know you’ve got other projects currently and I’m not in a rush, but I loooove old UNIX, and that hardware is so unique! It’d be especially interesting if you could even remote-into it on your modern network.

[@stevesether]

If I were you, I'd put the over-engineered MFM emulator into the over-engineered AT&T Unix workstation. Let AT&T Unix be reliant on modern Linux for its storage solution. It seems fair. Linux basically made all those old Unix servers obsolete. The least it can do is help an aging Unix machine live again. IMO the "purity" of the 5170 is just a bit silly. The idea that these machines never had some other component in them, and you had to maintain some semblance of using all IBM parts is just... wrong. People have been upgrading, expanding, and putting new components in them since they were created. That's why IBM put slots in the computer.

[@spykillergames8402]

it would be appropriate too as linux is essentially modern unix

[@TheSulross]

yeah, as far as I'm concerned, getting the motherboard, the bios, and some original OS to boot is job accomplished; going original for storage is more like a fussy museum curator's hang-up

[@stevesether]

@@TheSulross I think that's a good way to frame this. If you think of the computer as something that just sits on a shelf to look pretty, having everything "original" is maybe a good thing to be concerned about. If you want the computer to live (This was Paul Allen's idea with the living computer museum), then you need to provide modern components so it can actually function. I mean, does replacing the capacitors ruin the purity? The real question here is, what are "we" trying to preserve?

[@Megatog615]

I would really enjoy a video of you building one of these in kit form.

[@absalomdraconis]

Definitely sounds like something to get several of.

[@matthewellisor5835]

I'd bet that it would taste better than an eraser!

[@ionstorm66]

It would be really cool to get a small LCD or OLED and put it on the front panel of the drive to show the status of the BeagleBone

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

The DEC PDP-11 was a right hoot to operate as was the DEC VAX750S.

[@ruthlessadmin]

As a kid, the games distracted me from the whine of the HDD, but as an adult, I am definitely glad that my modern PCs are reduced to relatively quiet fans. Soon enough, though, I will be hearing those old sounds again, as I revive my own collection.

[@karlschuneman7960]

Both BOM's do work, look at the cart, 25 items. Digi-Key was showing 3 items with sourcing problems, 2 items suggested replacements and the DC to DC convertor is not available from either source as the manufacture is discontinuing March of 2022.

[@HanJammer]

Very cool device. Just ordered one myself. And oh, I totally disagree about the hard drive noises :D I simply love them - it's just part of the experience of using vintage computers!

[@another3997]

Not only is it fantastic that some seriously talented people design and build products like this, but they even give you a BOM and tell you how to build your own. 🙂 Perhaps the best part of all these videos though, is that, considering how expensive or rare some things are, there are people out there who will happily just donate such items to a channel like Adrian's. Ok, I admit that whilst I'm very glad they do, I'm still just a little envious! 😉

[@brufnus]

Indeed... especially the ST-251 is a PITA to listen to. I use mine for backups only and rely on my 3.5 inch drives for actual use (that is, until I receive that MFM emulator, too... that's definitely a card worth purchasing!) 😀

[@CanuckGod]

3:27 Haachama cooking flashbacks... But will Adrian actually partake? Probably better if he doesn't.

[@Cemputer486]

I just like when whole universes actually join together.

[@jimbailey3141]

Just ordered two bare boards, thank you for letting us know about this cool device!

[@MrBrianms]

Zinc is the active ingredient in rust-resistant coatings. The rusted area may be treated to a coating of zinc-based undercoat that is used for metal. Rust is an electrical circuit that is stopped by zinc. That is why cars get galvanized. Thanks.

[@bengmo64]

That disk emulator needs a speaker so it can make beautiful soothing hard drive music

[@TranscendentalAirwaves]

Man it's about time, sadly about 5 years too late for me. Sold my whole collection. lol

[@stonent]

I saw one of these being used on a Tandy 2000 at the DFW Retro Computing meetup last month.

[@DatBlueHusky]

i wonder if theres a smaller board that uses a raspberry pi zero instead so makes it cheaper and easier to use also control it over wifi

[@absalomdraconis]

Sounds specialty enough that it probably doesn't exist yet. Also, when last I heard the Pi Zeros were always rare enough that you'd probably be better off running a full-custom board with a processor/microcontroller that linux or bsd support out of the box instead.

[@DatBlueHusky]

@@absalomdraconis what you mean rare pi zeros? they still sell them everywhere and you can get them for almost low as $5 for one.

[@janklas7079]

The ST225 is a tank. We once opened one up and played footbal with it and even after that it still worked. And I can remember waiting for hours to determine the correct interleave. Low level format in debug g=c850:c or something close to that.

[@janklas7079]

And ofcourse, If you changed out your MFM controller for an RLL controller, you got free extra capacity. From 20 to 30 Megabytes.

[@IgnacioCarreraAR]

I think I need a compilation video with Adrian saying "wow it works!" excitedly for like 1 hour

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

"Clyde, Scrap the taranchula!" Love the emulator. The things they can do no days is Awesome! Yep love that MFM drive noise for about 45 seconds and then I'm done with it too... Lol There is a reason for the saying ya got to love that jet engine... The 5 1/4 Scsi drives are the same way, sounds like a jet.. :-P Thanks for the video! LLAP

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

Put a modern enterprise Dell or HP desktop PC into diagnostics mode and if they have physical hard drives, they'll sound like jet engines in no time...

[@TheThomasites]

Noisey is an understatement. I had one that sounded like a jet engine. It would also randomly stop, so you had to hit it on the top and it would start back up. An interesting few years of using that thing.

[@DaveGagliardi]

what an amazing find... so glad to see that emulation for trs-80 model 4p's works! This is a decent alternative to a FreHD which is produced by Ian Mavric.

[@sinisterpisces]

Sadly, I couldn't make it to the gym today, but as an arachanophobe, the surprise edible spider got me all the cardio I could want. That. Was an experience. Mad respect to Adrian for handling that with verve. I'm not sure I'd be at all coherent if someone sent me a gigantic spider in the mail. I'd probably have to move. :) I feel like Stewart is sending us a message: "You could have had nice, relaxing candy reviews, but you have chosen ... poorly." :P

[@RVail623]

There was a "free ware" software program (don't recall the name) that had as it's only function to first determine the speediest hard drive interleave, then could proceed to re-format the drive to that "ideal" interleave, with all data intact. Required booting from a floppy drive to a DOS prompt, then launching the program from a command prompt.

[@lerkzor]

Can you adjust the interleave and bad sectors on the HDD emulator? Preferably without losing data? Thanks for this review, very cool technology.

[@markwanklyn4195]

the WD1006 and WD1003 were very similar, however the WD1006 was the 'performance' version as it could support drives formatted with 1:1 interleave whereas the WD1003 could only do 3:1 - so the WD1006 could read all the sectors on a track in a single rotation while the WD1003 required three rotations. I had a 5170 with the WD1006 along with a pair of Seagate ST251-1 40MB drives (performance version of the ST251 with 28ms rather than the standard drives' 40ms)

[@maxtornogood]

Contrary to your opinion I actually like the old hard drive whine but this emulation looks pretty neat too!

[@munocat]

I am excited for the at&t blogs

[@bobdobalina3971]

Now if only the card emulated the sound of the hard drive!

[@crazyedo9979]

You can leave the old drive in the bay. Only connect power to the molex socket. This is what I' m doing on the 5150/5160' ies

[@Vintechfinder]

@@crazyedo9979 sure you get the spin up and idle drive sounds, but you can't park the heads or hear the chunky seeking noises

[@petereggimann]

Hello Adrian Thank you for presenting this Reader/Emulator. I'm refurbishing a old XT clone and have problems with the HDD/controller card. I remember my first HDD, which I bought for the Atari ST. The case looked like a shoo box and it was 10 or 20 MB. In my youthfull foolishness I decided to buy a 40MB HDD without being shure, it'll work… Lucky me, it could be low level formated and worked just fine. I remember doing several different low level format with different interleav factors. But coming back to this board, it's a priceless value!!! You where not shure, what connector J7 is good for. On the linked german site is sais: extension, not used in this application. So don't worry about it. …and yes, keep up your great work - much obliged.

[@brufnus]

So... now I've used that emulator for my Myarc Geneve 9640 with a Myarc HFDC controller for some time, the latter is supposed to support up to 134 MB per drive according to Myarc (up to 8 heads and 2048 cylinders), but a minor modification makes it work with up to 16 heads. There's a file system limit though, so the limit is at 250 MB per drive, i.e. half a gig with this emulator. I was kind of excited since it was pretty much experimental; I'm not sure anyone have ever gone that high with the HFDC before, but it works absolutely perfect! Until then my largest drive was a 44 meg Rodime, which isn't too stable anymore by the way. I'm equally impressed with this emulator and I don't regret for a second that I purchased that one from David... it's absolutely awesome how it works! 😀

[@johnnygames857]

awesome video :) this is a gamechanger for sure

[@Colin_Ames]

What a cool piece of kit!

[@GadgetUK164]

Very cool!!! Shame they only sell in the US =/ Price is a little expensive @ $175 but very cool product for sure! Cool you can build it though - might do that at some point!

[@TrashfordKent]

Agreed, really cool. Ps would watch a build on your channel although like you say bit on the pricey side.

[@stepleton]

I don't think this is so. I had two SMD-components-only boards shipped to me in London in 2019 and am using one of them as we speak (the Whitechapel MG-1 scrolling by on the compatibility at 14:00 --- that's me :-) The emulator website says "If outside USA either send me information on shipping method you wish or your address so I can verify shipping cost." ETA: here's a video of the MG-1 booting off the emulator: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gH60anisj7GGpdU It's such a capable device, though, that you can't tell the difference.

[@GadgetUK164]

@@stepleton Ah, ok - I perhaps misread the webpage!

[@martinenglish6641]

Hardware Emulators and firmware Emulators to get mainframes to talk to servers. Fun. Brings back memories. :)

[@TotoGuy-Original]

I liked the website because it was completely old school with very basic HTML its fitting for what the products are for.

[@dannyarnold9823]

Hi you mentioned you had a problem with vintage MFM drive compatibility between controllers, this is down to the sector interleave of the low level format, controllers of the time were so slow that they could not write to the drive contagiously as the platter would have moved on before it could write or read another sector. To alleviate this you would format the sectors with an interleave that the controller had time to write to, thus making the format controller specific and very difficult to interchange, even if you were just replacing it in the same computer. We would constantly have to tell the customer that their data was lost even if the drive did not need replacing because we had to low-level format the drive because of this problem.

[@nickfifteen]

>TRS-80 Model 4P You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention...!

[@Spelter]

Wow, I even cant remember this, I was so young I just followed the instructions of my 286. But what baffles me, I never had to park my headers, so did i have an IDE drive already? Damn, its 30 years ago

[@grossteilfahrer]

I am running FOUR MFM hdds on my atari ST midi sequencinng machine. I need this.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

what packaged hard drives are you using with your ST? Supra? Atari? Or some other company wares?

[@grossteilfahrer]

@@TheJeremyHolloway It is one MF20 two MF30's and a MF60. Not actually used for serious production work, but its a retro studio hobby project. Am wishing for a multichannel tape machine with sync abilities

[@Xoferif]

Phew! I thought the spider was going to be alive...

[@Loony69]

eeew, I couldn't even touch that bag ...

[@tech34756]

I wonder if we’ll see a physical ODD emulator for IDE PC at some point? I know software options exist but a hardware one would be handy for boot and CDDA. I would get one for my recent ‘retro rig’ and Amiga 1200 which only have IDE.

[@tpelton]

thank goodness that tarantula was packaged in 100x it's own weight in single use plastic.

[@1000davetron]

Take a drink every time Adrian says Beagle Bone.

[@HiFiasco]

This tool seems great for backup and emulation, but what do you think about low level formatting, testing, and certifying mfm drives? Stick to the old controller and diagnostic software?

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah not too sure about how good it is at certification. Also, the fact you have to setup parameters is a little bit of extra work over a BIOS, IMHO.

[@goeland4585]

This project is so cool! A board that also replace the controller card would be even more interesting though! :)

[@MarbledPaladin]

Wasn't the twist thing in the cable because all drives jumpers were set to be the second drives and the twist was there to make it the first?