Principle
The floppy controller chip used in IBM PCs and compatibles was the NEC 765A. As technology progressed, descendents of these machines used what were essentially extensions to this chip. Many other computers, particularly ones from Commodore and early ones from Apple write disks in formats which cannot be encoded or decoded by the 765A, even though the drive mechanisms are more or less identical to ones used on PCs. The Catweasel was therefore created to emulate the hardware necessary to produce these other low-level formats.
The Catweasel normally sits between the computer's floppy interface and the floppy drives, modifying the signals as they pass. This allows one to mount PC floppies and then read or write, say, Amiga floppies without needing separate drives. The card may also be operated alone. Foreign formats may be read and written in a setup like this, but regular PC floppies cannot be mounted. In any case, a Catweasel cannot be used to boot a computer unless it is assisted by a regular PC floppy interface.
Supported formats:
| System | Floppy | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Amiga | 3.5" | 880, 1760 KB |
| Apple Macintosh | 3.5" | 400, 800, 720, 1440 KB |
| MS DOS | 3.5" | 720, 1440 KB |
| MS DOS | 5.25" | 360, 720, 800, 1200 KB |
| Atari ST | 3.5" | 360, 720, 800, 1440 KB |
| Atari 800 XL | 5.25" | 130, 180 KB |
| Apple II | 5.25" | 140 KB |
| Commodore 1541 | 5.25" | 170 KB |
| Commodore 1571 | 5.25" | 170, 341 KB |
| Commodore 1581 | 3.5" | 800 KB |
| Catweasel Extra | 3.5" | 1160, 2380 kB |
| Nintendo backup station | 3.5" | 1600 KB |
Read more about this topic: Individual Computers Catweasel
Famous quotes containing the word principle:
“On principle I dislike an oath which requires a man to swear he has not done wrong. It rejects the Christian principle of forgiveness on terms of repentance. I think it is enough if the man does no wrong hereafter.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“The principle of the brotherhood of man is ... narcissistic ... for the grounds for that love have always been the assumption that we ought to realize that we are the same the whole world over.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“The principle of majority rule is the mildest form in which the force of numbers can be exercised. It is a pacific substitute for civil war in which the opposing armies are counted and the victory is awarded to the larger before any blood is shed. Except in the sacred tests of democracy and in the incantations of the orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)