[Hidden-tech] More packrat stuff... files off an ms-dos system?

Jan Werner jwerner at jwdp.com
Tue Jun 10 12:33:37 EDT 2008


The 40 MB (that's Megabytes, not Gigabytes) HD in the Epson Equity II+ 
probably had an ST506 or ST412 interface -- almost certainly not an IDE 
interface -- which means that it will not work in any external drive 
enclosure you can buy today.

Any of the proposals for using a serial or parallel transport protocol 
won't work unless you have some way of getting the software onto the 
system in the first place, which means having either communications 
software already installed on the HD (and knowing how to use it), or 
having a working floppy drive, in which case there isn't much of a 
problem in the first place.

I used to have Laplink-like program, the name of which now escapes me, 
that could install itself from a remote computer over a null-modem or 
reverse parallel cable (it worked with Laplink cables) but that would 
require having a second computer running MS-DOS to start up from.

It might be worth finding out if the Epson can even boot from the HD in 
the first place. If not, the HD may be dead. The only way to find out 
would be to boot from a floppy and see if one could read from the HD. If 
the answer is yes, then the data may be retrievable. If not, the only 
option would be a drive recovery firm with the ability to access older 
disks. Ontrack might be able to do it, but it would cost a fortune.

Jan Werner
________________

Greg Major wrote:
>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
>   ** You too can help the group
>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> Don't make it so complicated. Get an external drive enclosure from 
> Staples (approx. $30.00) and put your old hard disk in it. Then it will 
> plug into any machine through the usb port and you will be able to 
> access all of the files on the hard disk. Just make sure you get the 
> right size enclosure.
> 
> B. Kimo Lee wrote:
>>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
>>   ** You too can help the group
>>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Steven Solomon's "pack-rat" post inspired me to move on this legacy 
>> issue.
>> I have an ancient Espon Equity II+ (MS-DOS) on which are some original 
>> songs my ex wrote years ago. No, she doesn't have hard-copy printouts. 
>> Yes, it has parallel ports!!
>> Thought I'd see if anybody has some thoughts on how to transfer the 
>> files onto an external drive of some sort?
>> Is this even possible? I'm really curious if some of you ultra-geeks 
>> can recommend something. I'd like to recycle that thing and get it out 
>> of my basement once and for all. lol!
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Kimo
>>
>>
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