Disk problems/questions.

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Wed Feb 11 15:31:34 1998

Allison J Parent wrote:

> <The reason for the quotes around "no problem" is that some people have
> <wrongly assumed you can format 360K disks in a 1.2 MB drive and just use
> <them in a 360K drive. This is only true if the disk being formated has n
>
> That is a big no-no. The 1.2m drives have a write head that is have the
> width and if not properly configured the wrong write current for 360k
> media(1.2m media is different magnetically). Also that narrower head
> produces a much lower read signal on a 360k drive with more errors.

Yes, the head widths are different, but I have always been under the
impression that using the /f or /f:360 switch with format changes the write
current on the drive to adjust for the different coercitivity (sp?) of the
360K and 1.2 M media. Back when the 1.2 MB drives first came out, there was
quite a bit of discussion about how to use 360K diskettes reliably on both
360K and 1.2M drives The short answer is you can't if both reading and
writing is to be done on both drives on the same 360K diskette.
Received on Wed Feb 11 1998 - 15:31:34 GMT