From: winfrvk@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (R.v.Kampen)
Subject: Re: FD controller question
Organization: Delft University of Technology
Lines: 22

In article <1993Apr11.045019.22221@nwnexus.WA.COM> paulf@halcyon.com (Marlboro Man) writes:
>I am looking for a way to access the floppy drive at the I/O level, that
>is, lower than the BIOS.  Given the port assignments, what controller
>chip/spec sheet do I need info on?  My floppy is a 1.44M, and I would
>also like to be able to write code that works on 360K disks as well.
>Also, with the method of access, is it possible to actually read the
>individual bytes on the track as they stream into the controller?  I'm
>afraid the sector handling is done purely through hardware.
>
>If on the off chance I can get this basic on the access, anything to
>point me in the right direction would help a lot.
>
there is a file out there (look for it with archie) that is called
'theref22.zip' which has lots of info on various PC things,
amongst which is also a detailed description of all Floppy controller
commands, I think hard drive controller commands are not there.

it is possible to read an entire track including all gaps, sector
headers etc.   by setting sector size to something very large (like
8K).

willem