[REQUEST] Software on 8-inch floppies
Are there any software on 8-inch floppies?
These are very rare and would be a nice thing for our collection.
Are there any software on 8-inch floppies?
These are very rare and would be a nice thing for our collection.
Comments
CP/M was originally released on 8" floppies, and the U.S. nuclear arsenal is controlled by them, but you won't find much in that department because they were obsolete by the time the IBM PC came out.
And the computers with 8" floppy drives were wayyyyy too expensive and impractical for home use.
NEC APC software was on 8" floppy.
Much generic CP/M-80 software was distributed on 8" disk in a "standard"-ish format, Although since almost every single 5.25" CP/M system used its own oddball disk format, most generic CP/M-80 titles are archived as file sets rather than disk images.
Unfortunately, Winworld does not have search categories for the 8080/Z80 CPU (usually listed as Other) or specifically for 8" disks (usually listed as Archive). I should probably bug calvin about that sometime.
The main reason Winworld does not have more 8" software is because when it comes up on eBay it usually sells for big $$$$$$$. Also Winworld mostly focuses on IBM PC software, and IBM never sold PCs with 8" drives.
Only a few MS-DOS/PC clones used 8-inch drives. The NEC APC came standard with 8" drives. The Zenith Z-100 supported optional external drives, and Columbia Data Products offered an optional ISA add-on card for 8" support.
I have an 8" drive I can hook up to my Kryoflux or PC, so if anyone has 8" disks they want archived, send them my way.
The NEC APC was an export version of the PC-9801 and the PC-98 has a wide array of software. How much in Japan was released on 8" floppy disks for the initial models is something I don't know. Most of the English language APC software is already archived.
S-100 systems with 8086 cards like Compupro supported MSDOS on 8" drives. Software using it was rare. It was an expensive way to increase available memory for Wordstar from 56k (with CP/M 2.2) to a full 64k (under DOS) and most of the software that made use of increased memory became increasingly tied to the IBM PC hardware design.
A few companies specialized in disk conversion computers shipping with both 5.25" and 8" drives.
Mini-computers stayed with the 8" drive a lot longer. Early 5.25" drives had too limited a capacity and too low a reliability to be used on more expensive computers. The prices weren't that different in the early 80s. Tandon was selling the double-sided 8" drive (1.2 MB) for $430 while the double sided 5.25" was $275 (the classic 360 kB). By about 1985 though, the 5.25" drives had fallen under $100.
This is good to know. I've considered buying some 8" disks, but I don't have the necessary extra hardware to connect a drive to my Kryoflux (or a drive for that matter).
There is an 8" floppy drive on EBay.
However it costs a beastly 452.45 dollars :OD
8 inch drives can usually be found on eBay fairly easily, but they will usually cost a lot if they are tested and warranted as working. The full heights also weigh a ton.
For archival purposes, ideally one should use one of the later half height models with a direct drive, rather than belt-driven, spindle. Later 8" drives also may not require the TG43 signal that 5.25/3.5" controllers do not provide, meaning that no fancy electronics are needed to interface with them, just an adapter cable.