::Basically, yes. The track and sector are stored in the sector header of
::each sector, among other data.
>In fact, most floppy disk systems work that way. Commodore GCR does that.
>So does MFM, doesn't it?
I suspect when you say "MFM" you mean "all the soft-sectored data storage
schemes descended from the original IBM 3740 (FM) standard", in which case
you're right.
There are a few oddball hard-sectored drives that don't have any header
at all on the data in each sector - hardware counters in the drive
controller keep track of this stuff. Of course, once your head
stepper starts stalling or your index sensor gets dusty, all sorts
of nasty things happen with this scheme.
And, even more rare, are some embedded-servo floppy disk systems where
the location on disk is encoded in special formatting that cannot, in
any reasonable way, be called a "sector header".
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa_at_trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Received on Thu Apr 08 1999 - 19:31:58 BST