"Classic" hard drives: controllers, cabinets, disks, docs & hints

This Web page last updated Jul 28 2023

This Web page has information and lists of manuals for hard drives of the 1970's and 80's, often used in S-100 systems and other microcomputer systems of that era. Until June 2009 this info was on my floppy drives information Web page: this link goes to that page.
To contact me, or for ordering information follow this link.
To return to my S-100 home page click here.

On This Web page:

My other Web pages on floppy and hard drives:

here is how to order or to contact me


unique hard drives for sale

In October 2004 I picked up a Priam 7050-41 8" hard drive. This eight-inch hard drive was pulled from an old system. Drive is untested, not powered up by me. It looks in good physical shape, here's some details. Let me know what it is worth to you. Consider that it weighs 20 pounds unpacked and will need to be packed carefully for shippment. I'm not giving it away for disassembly.



Hard Drive Documentation

The drive manuals listed below have a variety of information. Typically the older drive manuals (8-inch and 5.25 inch drives) have detail specifications, a list of jumper (option) settings, a description of circuit operation, a list of signals on the drive connector, and often schematics. Later manuals have less information. A clue is the number of pages listed (we charge by the page, and of course any info in the title. You can ask us if you are in doubt, but we generally don't provide an entire index or table of contents upon request.

All documentation photocopied at a per-page fee plus postage and handling. I will quote a price when you order, check my ordering information . Ask for manuals for your specific drive, by manufacturer and model number. If you have a manual I don't, I'd be interested in a trade or purchase of copies. If you need a manual for a drive not listed below, contact me so I can get look for it!

Often I get requests for "just the jumper information". It turns out the jumper info typically is several pages depending on the manual, not just one. And you may or may not need more info from the manual, either to set the jumpers or to maintain or repair the drive, or in some cases the pinouts of the drive connector. But, assuming the jumper info is six pages or less, I'll charge $2 to pull the manual and copy those pages, plus postage and handling to send those pages in a business letter type envelope at several ounces weight by air mail. (Remind me of this policy if you choose it.)

Hard drive and related item manuals

Archive FT20, FT60 "FasTape User Manual Ver 3.XX",
also info on SC499 controller. 110 pgs
Adaptec ACB 4070 controller (20, 34, 50-pin SCSI interface)
5 pages, basic connection and jumper data
Control Data Wren 9415-5
... general descr.,22 pgs
... theory, diagrams, 86 pgs
Control Data Wren 9415, genrl desc, theory, diagrams, 116 pgs
Control Data spec sheets, 9415 2 pgs, 9415-80 2 pgs, 9406-5 4 pgs,
Heath controllers: see
my Heath docs IMSAI HD-10 (CDC 9427H cartridge disk drive) reference manual, 125 pgs
... includes HD-10, DCFIO controller / formatter
...DA-01 S-100 bus adapter,
...Control Data info on CDC 9427H drive, 66 pgs
Cypher F880 Magnetic tape transport, Volume 1 Operation Maintenance
... 799816-003, rev H, Sept 1983. Schematics, testing. 300 pgs.
Fujitsu M2301B, M2302B Microdisk Drive CE Manual (8" hard drive MFM)
.... schematics, parts, maintenance info, 1982. 130 pgs.
IMI 5007 disk drive, Cromemco HD5, manual #023-6028, January 1982, 100pp.
Konan The DJ 210 SASI Controller manual, OCt 1985, 67 pgs

Micropolis Microdisk Maintenance manual for 8-inch hard drives, year 1982, 450 pages.
    Printed by Micropolis, this binder has maintenance, installation,
    theory, flowcharts, and MANY double-width schematics and parts layouts.
    for 1201, 1202, 1203; 1221, 1222, 1223 models .
    see this documentfor more info and manuals

Mitsubishi MR 521, MR522 manuals - see Tandy 3000 tech reference manual (not available)
OMTI 3100: see my Zenith docs

Priam 514, 519 prelim. OEM manual, some updates, 47 pgs
Priam tech sheets, 2 pgs per product: V185/170/150/130; 519/514;
... 623/617; 725; 806/807/808; data drawer; 519/514
Priam OEM manual for 717, 728, 738 drive
Quantum universal configuration guide, 1991. for Prodrive and LPS
series: 52AT, 80AT, 105AT, 120AT, 170AT, 210AT, 240AT, 425AT, 52S,
105S, 120S, 170A, 210A, 240A, 425S. Specs, jumpers. 30 half-pages.
105S, 120S, 170A, 210A, 240A, 425S. Specs, jumpers. 30 half-pages.

Rodime 200 series Winchester Drive (5.25 inch) 84 pgs on 41 sheets

Shugart ST225 5.25 inch hard drive, preliminary OEM manual, 1984, 26 pgs
Shugart ST225 5.25 inch hard drive, 1985, Tandy 3000 tech ref manual (not available)

Seagate ST212 5.25 inch hard drive, April 1984, 34 half sized pages (see Dual)
Shugart SA1000 (8-inch hard drive) documents as follows:
SA1000 HD info sheets, Tandy 8X300 controller, 12 pgs
SA1000 and Radio Shack model II controller, 60 pgs
SA1000 manual: theory, schematics, parts, 46 pgs
Radio Shack Tandy student info guide, magnetic recording, 20 pgs

Toshiba MK-180FB series 8-inch hard drive OEM manual 1986, 24 pgs
Toshiba MK-280FC series 8-inch hard drive OEM manual 1986, 24 pgs

Wangco 200 TPI Series-F Series-T disk drives, operation and maintenance manual, 1974 ...series F (front) and series T (top), cartridge disk drives, IBM 2315 type or IBM 5440 type cartridges ...capacity 50M bits or 100M bits ...about 260 pages. includes schematics, maintenance procedures, theory, interfacing info
Wangtek 5XXXEK Users Manual, 1/4" streaming tape, 60 pgs (see Dual)
... 5099EK, 5125EK, 5150EK, manual 63009-001 rev C 1987
Western Digital WD 1002-05 and WD1002-HDO winchester/floppy controller OEM manual, 60 pgs

Western Digital WD 1002-WX2 User's Manual, 20 pgs
Xebec S1410 5.25 inch Winchester Disk Controller Owner's Manual, rev b 1984. 100 full pages
Xebec S1410 5.25 inch Winchester Disk Controller Owner's Manual, 1983. 80 half-pages
above manual includes appendix: Xebec Hard Disk Kit for Apple II, 7 pages.
Xebec S1410 5.25 inch Winchester Disk Controller User's Manual, 1982. 52 half-pages
Xebec 1410: see see my Zenith docs
Xebec Product Specification, Apple Host Adapter, April 1982, 70 pages
Media Winchester Ltd. Winchester kit Installation Guide (IBM-XT Xebec S1210A), 17 pages

Zenith controllers: see my Zenith docs


SASI or SCSI to MFM or RLL controller cards

Here's a card that is NOT SCSI or SASI, but it's a floppy disk controller. Micropolis, labled "FD CONTROL 100119-01-5". about 6" by 11", two 34-pin edge connectors. One connector is cabled to an adapter card , "futuredata disk i/o interface 10145A M8-52" which was connected to two Shugart 801 floppy drives. Includes 50-pin floppy cable. and cable between cards.

I learned more in Sept 2015 thanks to an inquiry. It's apparently a Z80 based hard sectored floppy controller for 5.25" drives, with an adapter card to wire it to 8-inch floppy drives. See this Web page for more info.

SCSI and SASI hard disk controllers

These cards have some kind of SASI or SCSI interface at one end, and have a ST-506 like hard drive interface at the other end. A few models also have floppy controller chips on them. They were designed and built in the early 80's when hard disk interfaces involved cumbersome designs and large cards. They were designed to connect to a computer's parallel interface, or SASI, or SCSI on a system; so that system could accomodate a MFM or RLL hard drive. Sometimes these were called "bridge controllers" as they "bridged" between a hard drive and a computer system.

These cards are untested, no docs, offered AS-IS but apparently complete with no obvious physical damage. Models with "WD" are Western Digital. "34 pin connectors" and "20 pin connectors" refer to the MFM (or possibly RRL) drive connectors; "40 pin" is a non-SCSI interface, could be SASI; "50 pin" is a SCSI interface. Any info on these cards would be appreciated. If you have any such cards for sale, let us know brand, model, price and terms.

This list may not be current - contact me for availability and current prices. Check my section on ordering for details. Please include your ZIP code on any purchase inquiries so I can quote shipping costs.

      Note: OMTI was purchased by SMS, look at both brands for either brand.
        1  OMTI 20C ASM 25025-R, may be SMS or DTC product. Looks like
           SASI to MFM/RLL controller without floppy interface ICs.
           Uses AMI2910 chip, OMTI 20503B chip.
        3  OMTI 5200 controller, has FDC but floppy side not populated 
        2  OMTI 5400-B Hard Disk Controller, year 1990
              appears to support MFM hard drive or QIC-02 streaming tape + floppy
              SCSI 50-pin interface. docs likely on the Web.
        0  OMTI 2001 ASM 250?5 - R, FAB 25022-J. SASI to hard drive and floppy drive controller
              also some additional I/O. 1984 chip dates.  
        2  OMTI 3127A-3AA, Also SMS brand. SCSI to RLL adapter. Has
           50-pin SCSI header, and 34 pin with two 20-pin hard drive
           RLL header set. Has OMTI 20513 chip. No docs, not tested. 
           Google says up to two ST506/412 RLL 2,7 drives supported,
           some jumper settings on the Web (Apr 2005). 
        1  SMS model OMTI 3103, used in Mac external drives
        1  SMS model OMTI 3127A, used in Mac external drives
               SCSI 50 pin to MFM 2-20pin, 1 - 34 pin
               removed from working equipment
        1  SMS OMTI 5100 rev E rev 2
        2  Western Digital WD1002S-SHD SASI or SCSI to MFM adapter.
           About the size of a 3.5 inch hard drive. 50-pin IDC male header, to 
           34 pin edge plus two 20-pin IDC male headers. From about 1985.
           ASSY 61-000077.
        2  Western Digital WD1002-HDO. THree 20-pin connectors, one 34 pin connector for
           hard drives, one 40-pin connector for interface. Some were
           removed from working systems. I believe this model was
           used in some Kaypro hard drive systems. I have two units
           without the floppy controller. Rev Y-12, paper lable
           says "WD1015CL-00"
           [I'd like more of these if you have some!]
        0  XEBEC SYSTEMS DATA 
           2 20 pin connectors, 1 34 pin edge connector, 1 50-pin connector
           "assy 104526 rev ??" "fab 104527 rev 02"  
        0  no brand but clearly XEBEC. ROM says 104521 G
           2 20 pin connectors, 1 34 pin edge connector, 1 50-pin connector
           "ASSY 104527 rev E04 SN 123-4873" "104527 REV E". Chips date to early 1984. 
        0  XEBEC SYSTEMS DATA (with Eagle Computer interface card attached)
           2 20 pin connectors, 1 34 pin connector, 1 50-pin connector
           "assy 104786 rev C03" "fab 104787 rev C (PC board)"
        1  Xebec S-100 host adapter
        1  Xebec IBM-XT host adapter 104296 104297
        1  Xebec 100046 (50, 34, 40 interfaces) S-1401 Floppy controller?
        0  Xebec 104786 104787 (50, 20, 34) SASI to MFM controller 
        0  Adaptec Inc ACB 5500 (20, 34, 50-pin interface)
            Adaptec (see below) says thi is a SCSI to ESDI 5 1/4" Winchester disk controller
        1  Adaptec Inc ACB 4070 (20, 34, 50-pin SCSI interface)
		Adaptec (see below) says this is a SCSI to Winchester
           Here's a photo of the 4070.
          (MFM, RLL) drive controller. probably the RLL version
        0  Adaptec Inc ACB 4000A (2 X 20, 34, 50-pin SCSI interface)
           Adaptec in 2010 says this is a SCSI to Winchester (MFM) drive controller.
           Here's a photo of the 4000A.
        1  Televideo Systems WDC (20, 34, 40-pin)
           B900010 001 rev F; fab 2013600 rev F
        1  Emulex Corporation (20, 34, 50 pin)
           Assy MT0210403 rev k, 1986
        0  Data Technology Corp 520-B, Assy No 10-00406
           (50 pin, 2-20 pin, 34 pin, has 8085 and floppy chip) SOLD
        1  Emulex Corporation, assy MT0210403 rev K, (c) 1985
           (14 pin, 10 pin, 50 pin, 60 pin)


other Web sites with info

Web search will find a number of manuals for these controllers. search by brand name and model number, maybe add "SASI" or "MFM", etc.

F. J. Krann has some information on the WD1002 board on his site. Another site he found with info is this mirror of "bitsavers.org" with additional files. Krann has a lot of other information about vintage computers as well.

ST-506 and SASI

The following information is quoted from Dick Erlacher, in response to some discussions of the above cards. Neither he nor I are responsible for any error or omissions. Thanks for this info. - Herb

"ST-506" was the designation for the interface for the first MFM-type hard drives.

There were several ways of interfacing these babies to the S-100, probably the simplest of which was by means of the Microcomputer Systems Corp (later called XEBEC) model 9391 S-100-bus controller. Another solution was the XCOMP ST-S controller which was a two-card set. Another popular solution was a SASI interface implemented by means of an 8255 and talking to a XEBEC Model 1410 bridge controller to the ST-506.

Western Digital made a line of SA-1000/ST-506-compatible controllers in their WD 1000 and 1001 series of controllers, which was a precursor of their drive-sized 1000-05 and 1002-05 series.

The WD "HDO" (hard disk only) model 1002 is a version of their 1002-05 controller. These are dirt simple to use and work just like the other 1000-05's with respect to the HD's. The WD 1001-05 uses the old 8X300 (or -305) controller with a WD MSI chipset which was a precursor of the WD1010 chip.

The Televideo Systems WDC (20, 34, 40-pin) was (or is) a version of the WD1000-05 controller. There are several versions of which I have a few. They are, however, just a WD-1000, so what works with the WD1000 works with these. TVI also made a version of the 1000-55.

The ACB4070 boards I have talk RLL not MFM, according to the manual.... You can easily tell because the MFM varieties have a crystal which is a harmonic of 5 MHz while the RLL boards use a harmonic of 7.5 MHz.


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Herb Johnson
New Jersey, USA
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