Major contributors to this section: Glenn M. Saunders, Tomasz M. Tatar, James Bradford, Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz, Don Schoengarth, Andreas Koch, TXG/MNX
This section attempts to comprehensively list released 3rd-party floppy disk drives designed for use with the Atari. These attach to the computer via SIO and generally include two Atari SIO ports, unless stated otherwise. Top transfer rate is 19.2 kbit/s unless stated otherwise. Media requirements, unless stated otherwise, are the same as for the Atari 810.
LEGEND ====== SD = Single Density, 5.25" floppy disks, 90KiB/side, 810 compatible ED = Enhanced Density, 5.25" floppy disks, 130KiB/side, 1050 compatible DD = Double Density, 5.25" floppy disks, 180KiB/side, Percom compatible SS = Single-Sided Drive has only one drive head, so it can only read/write to one side of the disk. The reverse side of a disk may or may not be used by inserting the disk upside-down, depending on whether the drive uses or ignores the index hole/timing hole, and whether the disk is a (rare) "flippy" disk with two index holes/timing holes. DS = Double-Sided The following information is mostly taken from the documentation for HiassofT's WriteAtr program, http://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/ Double-Sided drives for the Atari may use one of three different drive-mapping possibilities. * Most double-sided Atari disk drives: First fill tracks 0-39 (or 0-79) on the first side, then switch over to side 2 and again fill tracks 0-39 (0-79 for 3.5" disks). * The XF551 first fills track 0 on the first side. Then it fills track 1, then track 2, ... up to track 39 (on a 5.25" disk) or 79 (on a 3.5" disk). Then it switches to side 2 and fills the disk in reverse order (starting at track 39/79, then 38/78, ... til it has reached the end of the disk at track 0). * The third possibility is the standard in the PC world, but on the Atari it's possibly unique to drives connected via the Karin Maxi interface. If your Atari disk drive uses this mapping, it first fills track 0 on side 1, then track 0 on side 2, then seeks to track 1, again first fills track 1 / side 1, then track 1 / side 2, and so on, until it finishes with track 39 (79) / side 2. The drive switches the heads (sides) first before switching the track. * The TRAK AT-D4 (uniquely?) functions as two logical drives, where the second "drive" (side) is read/written in reverse order.
Amdek AMDC-II SS SD/ED/DD dual drives. Media is 3-inch (3.0") Compact Floppy (CF) standard, 180KiB/side, shipped with DOS XL SN-360 DS SD/ED/DD. 8051 processor, WD2797 controller by Atari Studio AS (later, Mirage) Astra 1620 SS SD/DD dual drives. Shipped with OS/A+ Version 2 (earlier units) or SmartDOS (later units). Astra 2001 SS SD/DD dual drives. Shipped with SmartDOS. Astra "Big D" DS SD/DD dual drives. Shipped with MYDOS 3.016 (earlier units) or Top-DOS 1.5 (later units). Astra The "One" DS SD/DD. Shipped with Top-DOS 1.5. Astra 1001 SS SD/DD. Shipped with SmartDOS. B&C 810 SS SD (B&C ComputerVisions house version of Atari 810) California Access CA-2001 (or "CA2001") SS SD/ED/DD. 1988 replacement for LDW Super 2000, Indus GT compatible/Synchromesh capable Sold with DOS XL 2.35I1 (manual: "DOS XL 2.35L") Upgrades: - TOMS Turbo Drive LDW (1989) - SS SS/ED/DD/IBM formats - IBM format: 40 tracks * 9 sectors * 512bytes=180KiB - 1050 Turbo compatible/Turbodrive capable, - Indus GT Synchromesh support removed - Software: Turbo Kopier, Track Copier, Chaos Initializer, IBM DOS, IBM 360 - TOMS Multi Drive LDW (1990) - Same as TOMS Turbo Drive LDW but also Happy Enhancement compatible/Warp Speed capable, and 1050 Duplicator compatible, and with more software: Track Master, Tracer, Index Formatter, Get Track, Index Get Track, Bad Formatter, Weak Writer, Put Track, Hex Editor - Atares Flash system (1991) - SS SS/ED/DD, plus two additional formats: - 40tracks * 9sectors * 512bytes = 180KiB (IBM S-9) - 40tracks * 6sectors * 1024bytes = 240KiB - "Flash Turbo" high speed 127 kbit/s - Supplied with FlashDOS - SRAMCharger by trub, http://trub.atari8.info/ SBG D.8002 HS DS SD/ED/DD ICD US Doubler compatible/UltraSpeed capable see: http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/D.8002_HS Flop VD 40 F same as Viatronic VD 40 described below but with standard Atari SIO ports. http://preview.tinyurl.com/m3mhqp3 Floppy 2000, by Klaus Peters Elektronik & Software DS SD/ED/DD Speedy 1050 clone with a DSDD 360KiB mode, Copy 2000 program in ROM Indus GT SS SD/ED/DD, Z-80A MPU, features "Synchromesh" standard high speed, 38400 bit/s or 68200 bit/s sold with one of: OSS DOS XL 2.20, 2.30, 2.35I1, 2.35I2 sold with "GT DrivingSystem" software titles: - GT Estate Wordprocessor, (c) 1983 Elcomp Publishing author: H. C. Wagner for IJG, Inc. - GT Albert E. Spreadsheet by SIM Computer Products Inc. (c) 1982-1983 by David H. Hewit - GT Data Manager, (c) 1984 Vervan Software authors: Carl M. Evans and Richard M. Leonard replaced by LDW Super 2000 (1987) upgrades: - CSS Protector: Bad sector generator - Indus RAM-Charger: 64KiB RAM + CP/M 2.2 + software - SRAMCharger by trub, http://trub.atari8.info/ LDW Super 2000 SS SD/ED/DD, replaced Indus GT; replaced by CA-2001, Indus GT compatible/Synchromesh capable, shipped 12/1987. Sold with DOS XL 3.25I1 (manual: "DOS XL 2.35L") Upgrades: - TOMS Turbo Drive LDW (or just "TOMS Turbo Drive"), described at CA-2001 above - TOMS Multi Drive LDW, described at CA-2001 above - Atares Flash system (1991) described at CA-2001 above - SRAMCharger by trub, http://trub.atari8.info/ Micro MainFrame MF-1682 SS SD/DD dual drives, SS/DD operation software or hardware selectable (no DD DOS needed), Z-80 MPU. (Planned MMF Expansion Box never shipped) Percom RFD40-S1 SS SD/DD, introduced March 1982; 1st 810 alternative. Early units shipped with "BLD" utility to build Percom DOS 2.0P (double density support) from a copy of Atari DOS 2.0S; later/most units shipped with OS/A+ Version 2. Percom RFD44-S1 DS SD/DD, shipped with OS/A+ Version 4. Percom RFD40-S2 SS SD/DD dual drives, shipped with OS/A+ Version 2. Percom RFD44-S2 DS SD/DD dual drives, shipped with OS/A+ Version 4. Percom AT88-S1 SS SD, shipped with OS/A+ Version 2. Introduced Nov 1982 marketed as: "AT-88" Upgrade: AT88-DDA Doubler ("Double Density Adapter") Percom AT88-S2 SS SD dual drives, shipped with OS/A+ Version 2. Percom AT88-S1PD SS SD/DD, shipped with DOS XL. Announced summer 1983. Sales flyer: "AT-88S1PD" Percom AT88-SPD SS SD/DD, shipped with DOS XL. Manual cover page: "AT88SPD". Announced summer 1984. (IW 9/3/84) Rana 1000 SS SD/DD, stand alone disk formatting, shipped with SmartDOS RCP 810 SS SD (Computer Palace house version of Atari 810) Special Edition SS SD (San Jose Computer house version of Atari 810) Spider SS SS/ED/DD. XF551 clone, 70 units made. See: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=99716 TOMS 720 DS SD/ED/DD/ID/QD/ST. 1991. DS-DD 360KiB format is XF551 compatible. Other formats: SS-iD IBM - 40 tracks of 9 sectors of 512 bytes = 180KiB DS-QD 80 tracks of 18 sectors of 256 bytes = 720KiB DS-ID IBM - 40 tracks of 9 sectors of 512 bytes = 360KiB DS-CD IBM/ST - 80 tracks, 9 sectors of 512 bytes = 720KiB Intel 8085 microprocessor, US Doubler compatible/ UltraSpeed capable, 1050 Turbo compatible/Turbodrive capable; MYDOS 4.50, IBMST, and other utilities on ROM - 720KiB "IBM" format requires rare 96 TPI 80-track double density/"quad density" 720KiB 5.25" diskettes TOMS 720C Same as TOMS 720 but with printer port TOMS 720CR Same as TOMS 720 but with printer port and RS-232 port TOMS 710 DS SD/ED/DD/QD. 1994. DS-DD 360KiB format is XF551 compatible. Other format: DS-QD 80 tracks of 18 sectors of 256 bytes = 720KiB 8080 microprocessor, US Doubler compatible/UltraSpeed capable, 1050 Turbo compatible/Turbodrive capable; TOMS Navigator and other utilities on ROM TOMS 360 DS SD/ED/DD. 1996. DS-DD 360KiB format is XF551 compatible. US Doubler compatible/UltraSpeed capable, 1050 Turbo compatible/Turbodrive capable; TOMS Navigator and other utilities on ROM Trak AT-1 SS SD/DD, shipped with "DDINIT" utility to modify Atari DOS 2.0S for double density. Trak AT-D1 SS SD. Upgrade: Double density. Trak AT-D2 SS SD/DD, shipped with "DDINIT" utility to modify Atari DOS 2.0S for double density. Trak AT-D4 DS SD/DD, shipped with "DDINIT" utility to modify Atari DOS 2.0S for double density. Double-sided operation: side 1 is accessed as D1: and side 2 is accessed as D2:. Viatronic VD 40 DS SS/ED/DD XF551 compatible including high speed, 8085 MPU, 8KiB RAM, 8KiB ROM, 300 RPM, WD2797A-PL controller, two ports with SIO signals require adapters to SIO http://preview.tinyurl.com/m7sfjwr XFD601 (Jacek Zuk) DS SD/ED/DD, US Doubler compatible/UltraSpeed capable, Indus GT compatible/Synchromesh capable, 1050 Turbo compatible/Turbodrive capable, disk rotation = 360 RPM http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/XFD601 XFD602 (Jacek Zuk) DS SD/ED/DD dual drives, each same as XFD601 http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/XFD602 |