#KE-09 compatibl w/AB-10?
6 messages in this thread
Thanks, Stacey,
Yup, we finally got ourselves on the right message tracks!
Hmmm. By this, I guess you mean I can't harm anything by trying my present
combination (the DJ-10 drive and AB-10 card) with the KE-09 clamshell.
Hmmm again: what's a "Ralph"?! Didn't see anything like that in my CMS catalog.
And how much is it?
Hope I don't need one – and I sure hope I don't need a firmware upgrade,
either. Got this old drive for nothing and a good price on the board. I guess
it doesn't make sense to put too much money into an older version of the
technology. Although it IS working very well, contrary to some of the sad
reports here in the forum. Guess you could use some good reports, right?!
Thanks again for your help,
.. Paul
Paul,
Of course, we can always use good reports. Thanks!
You can try the older tape drive in the KE-09 but just be aware that you may
have some installation difficulty. The "Ralph" is a special adapter that goes
from a pin edge connector and turns it into a card edge connector. That has to
be ordered directily through Product Information at 1-800-845-7905.
Let me know if you need anything else. Thank you.
Stacey Coseo Customer Support Engineer-Colorado Memory Systems
Stacey,
Well, I did have some trouble – turns out the KE-09 did come with a "Ralph" so
that was not the problem.
But the DJ-10 is a tad long for the KE-09 case – so the drive stuck out some in
front.
Worse, I think there is an incompatility. When I first fired things up, I got
some "shoe-shining", and the drive acted like it usually does when initiating.
But when I tried to get "tape status" in utilities menu of TAPE.EXE, I got an
error 87.
This situation is getting very confusing. In the docs for the AB-10 it says for
an external installation to use a KC-10. But there are, or were, at least two
models of the KC-10 apparently. An earlier one had a tape adapter board – but
I already have the AB-10. And the later one requires firmware 40 or higher,
whereas I have version 36 on the drive. Seems I am in a Catch-22 here.
Hmmm. What I may have to end up doing is stick with an internal installation of
the tape drive but get a dual floppy instead of two single floppies so's to
free up a bay. I could use the floppies elsewhere.
OR, and this would be a really cobbled installation, is to run the ribbon cable
and power cord out through a make-shift slot in the computer case and to the
drive installed in an el-cheapo Radio Shack box. Not real elegant.
Ah well, that's what I get for being a cheapskate!
BUT, I repeat, the DJ-10 drive and the AB-10 board are working just fine – I
just have to figure out how to physically get it all together and my computer
case closed up again.
Fun, fun!
.. Paul
Paul,
If you are going to have a makeshift drive, be sure that everything is grounded
properly, or you will continue to get shoeshining.
You might be happier running the tape drive externally off of a dedicated tape
controller card and leaving your floppy drives alone. Make sure you are
configuring your tape drive correctly and telling the software that you have an
AB-10 board installed. So many things to remember. <g>
Please let me know if you need additional information or assistance. Thank
you.
Stacey Coseo Customer Support Engineer-Colorado Memory Systems
Stacy,
Thanks for your response. Yes, I am well grounded – I have a clip lead running
from the tape drive's ground wire to a ground point on the chassis of the
computer.
One thing in your response puzzles me, however:
-> You might be happier running the tape drive externally off of a dedicated ->
tape controller card and leaving your floppy drives alone.
Isn't that what my AB-10 is, a "dedicated tape controller card"? Or am I
getting confused by the way we're both using the same term? I guess the AB-10
doesn't totally "leave my floppy drives alone" either – the floppy cables loop
through the AB-10, don't they.
Yes, it's a bit of a makeshift arrangement. But since I got the drive for
nothing, and the AB-10 card for $28, used, from a forum member here, I want to
purse the el cheapo route as much as possible. Like I say, it works! And, "if
it works, don't fix it"!
Thanks again,
.. Paul
Paul,
A dedicated tape controller card is the FC-10 or TC-15 board that only runs the
tape drive and doesn't interface with the floppy drives or the floppy
controller card. The AB-10 is a tape adapter board that interfaces with the
floppy controller card as well as the tape drive.
Let me know if you need additional information or assistance. Thank you.
Stacey Coseo Customer Support Engineer-Colorado Memory Systems