Dobbertin Harddisc

Dobbertin Logo

A harddisc manufactured by the German company called Dobbertin.

One of the first ways to connect a Harddisc to the CPC. The Dobbertin harddisc has a capacity of 20MB. The disc was partitioned in four partitions of 5152Kb each. It was delivered with drivers for CP/M(2.2 and CP/M+) and allows up to 512 directory entries for each drive.

Reviewed in Amstrad Computer User.

Pictures

• Dobbertin 20 Mb Harddisc
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  Dobbertin 20 Mb Harddisc

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  Dobbertin 20 Mb Harddisc interface

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  Inside 1

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  Inside 2

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  Inside 3

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  Inside 4

Disc

• Dobbertin 20 Mb Harddisc (the driver disc, not the harddisc)
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  HD20 Dobbertin CPC Harddisk side B

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  HD20 Dobbertin CPC Harddisk side A

Software using the Dobbertin Harddrive

• Cosmos
• FutureOS
• X-DDOS (v2.10)

Technical

Uses X-DDOS v2.10 (which supports the harddisc, and additionally supports external double sided 80track disc drives). The 20MB harddisc is split into 4 partitions, with drive names D, E, F, and G (drive name C isn't used here, but may be used as RAM disc, in combination with Dobbertin RAM expansion). I/O Ports:

 #FBE0  Dobbertin Harddisc Data Port
 #FBE1  Dobbertin Harddisc Status, Reset
 #FBE2  Dobbertin Harddisc Select, Configuration
 #FBE3  Dobbertin Harddisc DMA, Interrupt
 #FBE4  Dobbertin Harddisc Reset

Other harddisc solutions for the CPC

• Vortex Winchester Drive (MFM)

Modern:

• SYMBiFACE II (IDE)
• CPC-IDE (IDE)
• HDCPC (IDE)
• IDE8255 (IDE)

Promo (summary) (english)

• Controller: Seagate ST11M XT-controler.
• Harddisc: 20 MByte (3.5" Seagate, NEC, Kyocera, or Miniscribe)
• X-DDOS 2.10 (selectable in ROM bank 1-7)
• 4 Partitions of "5152 KByte" (should mean 512 Kbyte) (accessible as Drive D: to G:)
• 512 Directory entries per partition
• support for CP/M 2.2 with 63K TPA (requires 128K), and for CP/M Plus
• support for Softwareclock and TIMEROM+ (Real Time Clock under CP/M Plus)
• Price: DM 1100.-

Promo (german)

• Dobbertin Festplatte
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