Panasonic JB-3000 want to use XT-IDE

[Siggypony]

I've just managed to finally get my JB-3000 shipped down to Christchurch and it survived the trip intact and still working, green screen and all
It's an early 1983, XT clone that came out just before the IBM XT did (from what I've read). Does anyone here have any experience with this particular model of computer or maybe even tried to use a XT-IDE card with one? I want to use a XT-IDE card so I can avoid using the 8 inch floppy's.

I only have two 8" floppy discs for it one of which has occasional read issues so I am afraid to use it because once those discs go I can't boot the computer anymore because I don't have any extra 8" discs let alone spare boot/software disks, and I know most of these are likely on their way out anyway.

I read somewhere (I can't remember where) that while the JB-3000 is a XT clone it was a very early one and might not be entirely compatible and that some 8bit ISA cards that people tried wouldn't work in it.

I can't find any manuals or anything anywhere on the internet either , I don't want to accidentally damage it if for some reason the 8bit ISA slots are non standard in a way that would damage the computer.

Here is a 1983 dated review I found on the internet, http://messui.polygonal-moogle.com/comp/national.pdf

[Siggypony]

Here is it running without the disk drives attached, their the largest part of the system and are still not unpacked

[LS120]

i would look at putting a gotek on it to boot from images off usb. they support 8" drives

[Siggypony]

That's definitely an idea I should consider, I hadn't though of trying a gotek in it. I'd have to build a 50pin to 34pin adapter though as it doesn't have a controller for a 5" floppy using 34pin cables and apparently with the JB-3000 they are different controllers for some reason. I'll try find documentation for its floppy drives first so maybe I can know the pinouts for conversion.
That said either option of an XT-IDE or gotek isn't the cheapest so I'll have to wait before trying one, I calculated I ended up spending more the $500 in the process of saving my current batch of computers from being recycled/disposed of. So I'm holding off an any further heavy spending for now I'll make a decision next month, at least the JB-3000 runs. Currently I'm also repairing a Amstrad 1512 with a weirdarse non standard motherboard that looks like it can have up to 1mb of ram installed, from the same batch of computers I saved. I think it has faulty ram chips, that's cheaper to fix, so I've got replacement chips and brought sockets, logic probe etc, and are working on that .