This Web page last updated Jun 7 2024
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:
here is how to order or to contact me
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
1 Micropolis "FD controller" 100119-01-5.
Not hard drive but floppy drive controller! Z80 based
Note: OMTI was purchased by SMS, look at both brands for either brand. Also called "OMT Inc."
1 OMTI 20C or 206ASM 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, Assy 00060-08 rev V
50-pin connector not populated. has floppy chip
1 OMTI 5400-1B Hard Disk Controller, year 1990
appears to support MFM hard drive + floppy
SCSI 50-pin interface. docs likely on the Web.
1 OMTI S400 or 5400 assy 00060-13 rev L. Has SASI/SCSI 50 pin,
MFM type interface, floppy controller on board
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.
1 shugart 1610-3 ICU 270779-2-5992-27-4 Z8 based microcontroller, with docs
50 pin to MFM, mounted on microscience hard drive
1 SMS model FDO 302-M. 8X300 microcontroller. Floppy only, 34 pin interface
1 SMS model OMTI 3103, used in Mac external drives, SCSI to MFM
2 SMS model OMTI 3127A, used in Mac external drives
SCSI 50 pin to RLL 2-20pin, 1 - 34 pin
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,
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.
0 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. These are WD units
without the floppy controller. Rev Y-12, paper lable
says "WD1015CL-00"
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 100046 rev D(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) has 8X300 microcontroller
B900010 001 rev F; fab 2013600 rev F
1 Emulex Corporation (20, 34, 50 pin)
Assy MU2110402 rev S, MD2110206-02, 1985
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, A08K, assy MT0210403 rev K, (c) 1985
(14 pin, 10 pin, 50 pin, 60 pin)
These are cards with some kind of SCSI or SASI interface which run on some kind of bus-based computer, as an I/O interface or host adapter, to some of the hard-drive controller boards such as the ones listed above.
3 Zebec "Sa100 host adapter" S-100bus card. Vary by chips installed, ask. 1 Xebec Systms "IBM host adapter". ISA to 50-pin 104296 104297 1 DTC Data Technologies IO-1 S-100 to 50 pin no ROM 1 DTC Dtaa Technologies Multibus host adapter. Assy 003-00002 1 PC2B50F ISA (IBM PC 8 bit) card to 50 pin connector
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.
Copyright © 2024 Herb Johnson