[dougp]

I have some old 5.25in BBC Micro floppies that, if they're not dead, I'd like to get transfered onto a PC so I can read them in an emulator. I got hold of several PC-based extraction applications and what I believe is an old low-density PC 5.25in drive, but haven't found an old enough PC or controller to get it to read the disks. Nothing made in the last decade or so will stoop that low.

The alternative is a serial hook-up with a real beeb.

Anyone done this? Got the gear and willing to help?

[Asian1]

BTW the only place you are going to find a machine like that is at the Smithsonian in Washington DC or someones garage.

[freeier]

potentially u have a few issues...
1. your magnetic floppies wld have lost alot of the flux over time. so a good chance u can see nothing inside.
2. the floppy drive u managed to get your hand onto is so hung up that even if your floppy has a chance of keeping the data, it gets burnt once it goes into the old drive and get screwed totally..

so if u think your floppy's info is key, keep it till u see a well maintained 5.25 before you risk it on the floppy. if not, just enjoy your hunt at the 2nd hand shops or so... if u are using commodore i might still have a 1541 sitting somewhere in my mum's storeroom!

[KnowItAll]

Dougp : I have a 10+ year old dell which might work .. will dig up the specs ..

[hk.com]

dougp, we sell used network hardware. I am sure that in our warehouse we have some 486 and also some 5.25" drives.

Do you have the DOS utilities to be able to read the the Beeb floppies?

If you want to come over to our office, I will gladly help you FOC to see if the floppies can be read.

[PSMaverick]

Well my school should have a few stuck up somewhere among the rest of the junk unless someone offered to clean it out ; )

[dougp]

Thanks for the responses everyone - this sort of got burried under a load of other stuff again. Will get in touch shortly.

[MrMoo]

serial port and x/zmodem file transfer probably your best bet.

http://www.ncus.org.uk/qanda_transfers.htm

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by MrMoo

serial port and x/zmodem file transfer probably your best bet.

http://www.ncus.org.uk/qanda_transfers.htm

Er, I think the problem is that the OP doesn't have a BBC Microcomputer - he just has floppies created using one. I'd be quite interested to know if this can be done since I have a few BBC Micro disks myself. Not sure if they still have any readable data on them after all these years though.

[dougp]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Er, I think the problem is that the OP doesn't have a BBC Microcomputer - he just has floppies created using one.

Right. Only got rid of it about 4 years ago. Don't know why I didn't transfer stuff beforehand. It is supposed to be possible to read the disks on a PC with old enough disk hardware - there are a few utilities to do it. Will take up some of the above offers as soon as I manage to gnaw through the chain holding me to my desk. Will let you know how it goes.