Toshiba laptop aggravation
in [Design]
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From: Mark Zenier on 15 Mar 2010 16:32 In article <hnibiv$2ko$1(a)speranza.aioe.org>, D Yuniskis <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >JosephKK wrote: >> >> I still have a 5-1/4 inch 1.2 MB drive. Might i help you? > >Thanks for the offer. I've got a couple of 5" drives >(but not currently attached to a machine -- as none of my >machines have "unused" bays :-( Do any of them have a PC-AT equivalent floppy controller inside? A floppy will work just sitting on the tabletop. Do any run Linux or could run MS-DOS + rawrite.exe? (Another very useful old MS-DOS program is anadisk, which can read, write, and format anything the hardware can deal with. Found wherever the old Simtel archive went...). >But, I rescued a 3" USB floppy drive that uses a *real* >3" floppy. I'll see what happens when I attach a 5" >drive in place of the 3" and see if the controller is >smart enough to see the difference or if it was >designed expressly for 3" floppies. The 1.2 meg 5.25" (And the 8") drives rotate at 360 RPM, the 3.5" (and 360k 5.25") rotate at 300 RPM. Bad odds, IMHO. Mark Zenier mzenier(a)eskimo.com Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)
From: D Yuniskis on 16 Mar 2010 14:51 Hi Mark, Mark Zenier wrote: > In article <hnibiv$2ko$1(a)speranza.aioe.org>, > D Yuniskis <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >> JosephKK wrote: >>> I still have a 5-1/4 inch 1.2 MB drive. Might i help you? >> Thanks for the offer. I've got a couple of 5" drives >> (but not currently attached to a machine -- as none of my >> machines have "unused" bays :-( > > Do any of them have a PC-AT equivalent floppy controller inside? > A floppy will work just sitting on the tabletop. Yes, when I need to cobble a drive into a machine "temporarily", I usually just place a pad (8x11) of paper on top of the machine and set the drive on that (cheap insulator). But, all of my machines are large servers so dragging them out from under the table (to gain access to their internals) is no small feat :< Most have a dozen or more cables dangling out the back (SCSI, USB, serial, parallel, keyboard, mouse). I recently rescued a small "mini desktop" with just a single 5" bay (for CD/DVD). I think I will pull the DVD and throw a 3+5 combo floppy in its place. > Do any run Linux or could run MS-DOS + rawrite.exe? (Another very > useful old MS-DOS program is anadisk, which can read, write, and > format anything the hardware can deal with. Found wherever the old > Simtel archive went...). The drive is the problem. I have tools that will write the images once there is media attached. >> But, I rescued a 3" USB floppy drive that uses a *real* >> 3" floppy. I'll see what happens when I attach a 5" >> drive in place of the 3" and see if the controller is >> smart enough to see the difference or if it was >> designed expressly for 3" floppies. > > The 1.2 meg 5.25" (And the 8") drives rotate at 360 RPM, the 3.5" > (and 360k 5.25") rotate at 300 RPM. Bad odds, IMHO. Actually, it was *exactly* this that gives me hope that the controller might be smart enough! E.g., it can sense the drives speed (RPM) and, from that, possibly Do The Right Thing (IIRC, speed was controlled *in* the drive; the controller only controlled the stepping rate of the head). <shrug> In any case, I will learn something! ;-)
From: JosephKK on 17 Mar 2010 02:36
On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:38:11 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon(a)My-Web-Site.com> wrote: >On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:57:24 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >wrote: > >>Michael A. Terrell wrote: >>> T wrote: >>>> In article <7vshopFngbU1(a)mid.individual.net>, invalid(a)invalid.invalid >>>> says... >>>>> Richard Henry wrote: >>>>>> I have three Toshiba laptops due to ignorant purchases over time. All >>>>>> three have a mousepad in front of the keyboard which has an auto-click >>>>>> function - if you tap it with a finger, it moves the focus to the >>>>>> current cursor location. The problem with all three is that during >>>>>> normal 10-finger typing, thumb movement near the pad causes an >>>>>> inadvertent auto-click, messing up my typing. >>>>>> >>>>>> I want to turn the auto-click function off. Anybody know how? >>>>> >>>>> Hoping it works like on my laptops: Go into the Control Panel -> Mouse >>>>> -> Hardware -> Tapping -> uncheck the box "Enable Tapping". That's it. >>>>> >>>>> While at it you might as well turn off other over-sophistications such >>>>> as "click lock". That's what I do the instant I get a new laptop, even >>>>> before installing any apps. >>>> I've used trackpads on laptops for years now. I'm always amused by >>>> people who have a visceral reaction to the tap feature. >>> >>> >>> Tell that to someone with severe disabilities. >>> >> >>Not just that. When you work with your hands a lot like I have to during >>EMI improvement sessions you'll inevitably get calloussed hands and >>fingers. Then the tapping stuff becomes really erratic. Heck, I had to >>get finger-printed for a visa recently and had to press real hard onto >>the optical reader glass until they could get a clear scan. And on my >>Samsung netbook the whole touchpad becomes really unreliable after 2-3 >>days of EMI grunt work. To the point where I just had it and bought a >>Bluetooth mouse. >> >>It may be ok for office people but not for use dudes :-) > >I despise touch pads and joy sticks, so a small RF mouse is an >immediate addition to any small laptop, like my Lenovo X61s. > > ...Jim Thompson I will even take a wired mouse. I prefer wireless trackballs though. |