Floppy controller requirements for QIC-117 (156362)

SUMMARY

Floppy disk drive controllers used by QIC series tape backup units operate at two different speeds. The speed at which the controller operates determines drive compatibility and what types of tapes can be read from or written to. Older style floppy disk drive controllers operate at a speed of 500 Kbps while newer style floppy disk drive controllers operate at 1 Mbps.

MORE INFORMATION

The floppy disk drive controller type can be determined from Registry Editor by performing the following steps:

Load the QIC117 driver.
From a command prompt, run Ntbackup.exe.
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and select the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Devicemap\Tape\Unit

Compare the FDCType entry with the table below:

Registry Value     Floppy Controller Type         Controller Throughput
--------------     ----------------------         ---------------------
FDC_NORMAL         Any NEC 768 compatible         250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec
FDC_ENHANCED       Supports the version command   250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec
FDC_NATIONAL       National 8477                  250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec
                                                  1 MB/sec
FDC_82077          Intel 82077                    250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec
                                                  1Mb/sec
FDC_82077AA        Intel 82077AA                  250Kb/sec 500 KB/sec
                                                  1 MB/sec
FDC_82078_44       Intel 82078 44 Pin Version     250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec
                                                  1 MB/sec
FDC_82078_64       Intel 82078 64 Pin Version     250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec
                                                  1 MB/sec(2 MB/sec
                                                  capable)
FDC_UNKNOWN        Type unknown                   250 KB/sec 500 KB/sec

The floppy controller requirements for QIC standard drives are as follows:

QIC117 Standard            Floppy Drive Controller Requirements
---------------            ------------------------------------
QIC-40                     500 Kbs or higher
QIC-80                     500 Kbs or higher
QIC-3010                   500 Kbps or 1Mbps Floppy controller
QIC-3020                   1 Mbps Controller