9 hours ago
(Yesterday, 10:10 AM)cfbsoftware Wrote:(08-03-2026, 05:27 PM)shane.crozier Wrote: I'm contemplating getting hold of a Couple of bits of other kit to allow me to explore this a bit further - including a Greaseweezel and a decromancer board for mfm emulation - I'm hoping at some point I will be able to track down an elusive Hard Disk system for sale but dont fancy my chances of a working MFM drive.
I have seen many mentions of the Greaseweezel being used, so I hope to ask questions here when possible - has anyone had experience with the Decromancer ?
I don't have experience with the Decromancer but have used another MFM emulator - the DREM. The list of DREM supported systems is here:
https://www.drem.info/drem/tech-info#h.2t0or3ij29u9
I bought it for use with my Sage IV computer as an insurance if the MFM drive stopped working. It works fine as a substitute for the floppy drive but haven't yet been able to use it as a hard drive. However, I'm not surprised as the Sage has a proprietary MFM controller design. I currently have five MFM drives and the Sage only works with the two IMI ones. The DREM and the other MFM drives all work well with my IBM 5160 PC/XT.
I haven't bothered to acquire a Microbee as I plan to buy one of new models. Their potential CP/M-68K capabilities are particularly appealing - but I won't need an HDD with one of those anyway.
However, I would be happy to test whether the DREM works with an original Microbee if you or somebody else would like to lend me one suitable for use with an MFM drive for a week or two. I'm in Adelaide and would have time to do this sometime after mid-April.
At the same time I could test the spare MFM drives I have and would be willing to let one of those go if they work for no more than what I paid for it (+ shipping).
Thanks for your generous offer Chris - systems with HDD controllers in them are quite rare and I dont have one as yet - I will have access to one through an associate but can almost guarantee he won't want to ship one from Perth to Adelaide unfortunately.
I would be very interested in purchasing a MFM hard disk if you have one for sale - from recollection the 10Mb hard disks that can be supported are;-
- TEAC SD-510
- TEAC SD-520
- Miniscribe 3012
- Miniscribe 3212
- Mitsubishi MR521
- Mitsubishi MR522
A 20Mb with a compatible geometry to the above would also be welcome (Even RLL 15+Mb potentially).
The Decromancer can take a copy of a drive attached to its host interface which I think is something DREM can't do - I beleive it can also emulate 2 HDDs like the DREM.