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This text will detail my experience with the installation of a 30 meg
hard drive in the Tandy 1000A. This setup is unique, as the way it was
accomplished, I was also able to retain use of the B: floppy drive.
First, some information about the hard drive and controller, and
their source. The drive itself is a FUJI FK 305-39R - this drive is a
very compact 3 1/2" unit which has been mounted in a carrier which
slips right into the stock B: drive location. It may be used as a 20
meg unit, or as a 30 meg when coupled to the correct type controller.
If you have ever seen the Tandy 20 meg hard-card, this drive is
physically the same as the FUJI drives used in that setup.
The controller is by Western Digital... it will work in many
different configurations - 20 meg, 30 meg, etc. It physically looks
the same as the controller portion of the Tandy hard-card, but has a
different number... this one is WD1002-27X. For my installation, it is
in the bus slot nearest the power supply, although it could be put in
any other slot, I presume.
I purchased the drive and controller from Discount Computer
Supplies, 132 W. Washington St., Athens Ohio 45701, phones 1-614-594-
4180 & 1-800-537-3539. The reason I tried this source is that they are
the place where I purchased my Zucker MFB, and they had provided very
quick service... the person I talked to on the phone was Lyle Lawrence
(the owner, I think), and he was very willing to answer all my
questions as best he could. The price for the drive/controller was
very attractive - $395 plus shipping. In my case, the total came to
$401.90, as I had it shipped UPS COD. It arrived three days after I
placed the phone order!
When I purchased the Zucker MFB, it came in the Zucker package,
and with very complete Zucker documentation... I'm sorry that the same
was not true for the drive/controller... it arrived (packed very well)
with no documentation at all... nothing, just the packing slip/invoice!
I had no knowledge of hard drives, etc., so I phoned DCS and asked how
to install and set up the drive... they told me it could be done using
the Tandy hard drive software (they thought), and that I should have no
trouble using this software and associated documentation. Oh, by
the way, I had told DCS that it was for Tandy 1000A when the order was
placed.
One point I should make here, is about the BIOS... your T100A
needs the version 01.01.00, and be sure the WD controller has the new
'Super BIOS' chip. You may need to confirm this from whoever you
purchase the unit from.
Before I bought the drive, I had read several files in the CIS
data libraries concerning hard drive installation, and went to this
bunch of 'print-outs' for help... as it turned out, there was a phone
number for Western Digital (1-714-863-0102) so my next move was to
contact them. I guess I should back-track a bit here... the Tandy
installation software had given me a hard drive, but it would only
format as 20 megs... MORE INFO NEEDED!!
The Tech Support people at WD (Ext. 2458) had all the answers.
They must have people who work with ONLY certain boards, as I had to
give them the WD1002-27X number before I was connected to the tech rep.
After telling him which computer I have, the model number for the FUJI
drive, and the model number of the WD controller, he promptly gave me
the information for setting the board jumpers, and starting the hard
drive format procedure. Within 30 minutes after the phone
conversation, the drive was up and running as a 30 meg unit.
So, here are the particulars... these only apply if you have the
exact drive and controller board that I have... The drive itself needs
no changes, except that I would suggest a power cord extension if you
can find one. The one I had was about 6 inches long, and made the power
connection very easy, although the drive had been previously hooked up
without it. The power cord is the one that would normally be hooked to
the B: floppy drive.
The controller board has several places where jumpers may be
installed, in fact, all the jumpers you'll need are on the board, but
some may be in the wrong positions - this information is also being
supplied to DCS, so if you get your drive/controller from then, the
jumpers may be already set in the proper places. Don't assume this
though! The jumper locations we are concerned with are: S1, W4, W6,
W7, W8, and W9. S1 should have jumpers ONLY at locations 5, 6,and 7.
Be sure to check the S1 location numbers on the board, as they are NOT
in sequence... from the bottom, mine were numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 7, 6,
5. W4 and W8 are right next to each other, and both should be jumped
at 2 & 3. W6 should also be jumpered at 2 & 3. W7 is an important one
(all are actually), and it may not have jumper 'pins' as the others do.
It (W7) should be jumpered at 2 & 3, and if it does not have pins,
look at the other side of the board... mine had the two connected with
a very small soldered jumper. The last one we a need to check is W9,
and it should have the jumper in place - there are only two pins here,
so just connect them with the push on jumper. That is all there is to
the board setup. When you hook the ribbon cables to the drive, be sure
they aren't connected backwards - should be '1' to '1', etc.
After the drive and board are in place, put the plastic cover back
on the T1000A, and do the initialize/format. The procedure that worked
for me is as follows: Boot the machine with MSDOS 3.2 (2.11 may also
work, but the procedure may have to be altered - I had 3.2, so that's
what was used). The Tandy version of 3.2 has a supplement disk, and you
should next install it in A:, and go to DEBUG. At DEBUG, enter the
following line: G=C800:5 <ENTER> - the WD Super-Bios info should
come up on the screen. Next, when it asks about Dynamic Format, just
enter a 'N' and the formatting process should start. You may be
prompted to insert the DOS disk in drive A: at some time... just follow
the prompts.
After initial formatting is done (took about 5 minutes for mine),
put the DOS disk with the file FDISK in A:, and type (you guessed it)
FDISK <ENTER> - this will let you set the hard drive to one or more
'partitions'. I would suggest using only '1' - you can always change it
later - the system files will transfer to the hard drive in a very
short time... seemed like just a few seconds on mine.
Now the drive is ready for the 'real' format process... you know,
like you do with your floppys. This time, (with the DOS disk in A:,
just type FORMAT C:/S <ENTER> - and the drive starts formatting, with a
display on your screen telling how the process is proceeding. When it
is done this time, it will put a message on the screen just as the
floppy format does, but you'll a much larger number for the 'free
space' on the 'disk'...
Well, that's it... now you have a T1000A with one floppy, and a 30
meg hard drive. But wait a minute - how about the drive B: that you
removed (if you had one)? Would you like to still be able to have two
floppies, for whatever reason?? - well, so did I, and it turned out to
be quite easy in my case, cause I had a bunch of Tandy CoCo drive stuff
laying around that wasn't being used. I simply installed the B: drive
in an external case with power supply (ala CoCo), made up a ribbon
cable that plugs into the T1000A main board, then to the A: drive, then
out the back of the T1KA case, and over to the external B: drive...
simple, and it works like a charm!
You may already know that the T1000A (and all 1000's I guess) have
a very light duty power supply... something like 67 watts. Now that's
not very much when you start adding boards to the machine. I don't know
what the power consumption of the floppy drives are, but the FUJI hard
drive only uses 16.5 watts!! And of course the B: drive now has it's
own power supply, so I guess it will be quite safe to plug something
into the remaining slot - if I can figure out what would go there that
could be put to good use... any suggestions??
Hope this all helps in some way. I know that it would have been a
big help to me (and a time saver). And a special thanks goes out to
all of the CIS forum members who had uploaded hard drive HELP files
which got me off to a good start with my project...
Any changes, additions, questions, etc., are welcome, and should
be directed through E-Mail, forum message, or whatever...
Good luck - - - Clay Howe