To answer my own question apparently sun made a triple density drive: SUN 370-1420. Based on online pictures it uses a 34pin connector although I believe it is keyed differently than standard floppy drives. Also, I couldn't find any info on its capacity other than the standard 720/1.44. Any Sun enthusiasts can shed some light?
-Ali > -----Original Message----- > From: Ali via cctalk [mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org] > Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2023 11:11 PM > To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' > Cc: Ali > Subject: [cctalk] LS120, LS240, Floptical Drives and DD, HD, ED, and > ?TD? drives > > In the golden age of the floppy before its downfall caused by CD-R, CD- > RW > and flash USB a number of new technologies were introduced to allow for > cheap removable storage (Yes MO drives existed but they were > expensive). > Many of the tech were a great step forward. For example the LS-240 > drives > from Panasonic/3M (Imation) allowed reading and writing to 120MB, > 240MB, > 1.44MB, and 720KB disks. They were also compatible with weird formats > like > IBM's XDF and even allowed the storage of 32MB on a standard 1.44MB > floppy > disk. To be backwards compatible they used a separate read/write head > for > regular floppies. However, none of the formats with backward > compatibility > read or wrote to 2.88MB ED disks. > > Anybody know why? Was it a licensing issue or the perception that ED > compatibility wasn't really required or desired? Or was it technical? I > am > not sure if ED drives already made use of two read/write heads (one for > 720/1.44 and one for 2.88) or just one? If it is the former one could > see > how it would be hard to have three separate read/write heads in one > unit... > > On a separate note: was a TD (Triple Density) drive ever produced? > Apparently the technology existed all the way back in 1989 and would > have > give 12.5MB on a standard physical sized (3.5") floppy: > https://www-computerwoche-de.translate.goog/a/hitachi-maxell-bietet- > nec-neue > -12-5-mb-floppy- > an,1155888?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wap > p (original in German) > > -Ali > >
