>> Then maybe it's the heads, or maybe it's dirt, or maybe it's just bad-
>> quality media. In my experience, one
>> or two bad blocks on a 8" floppy is acceptable. 6 or 12 is way too many,
>> and indicates a more serious problem.
>I would start investigating if there are _any_ bad blocks...
One or two are OK, if they get mapped out. The I/O Exerciser (IOX) under
RSX is very good at finding flaky blocks, as is FORMAT/VERIFY:ONLY/PATTERN:
under RT-11.
>> Maybe I'm just paranoid, but
>> I don't like taking chances with data, and testing with new media and
>Agreed. My data is a lot more valuable than the price of a floppy
>Problem is that getting known-good 8" disks is non-trivial now. Computer
>shops just don't stock them...
8" Floppies are available from many mail-
order sources in the US, most notably direct from Imation (used to
be 3M), and I've lived in neighborhoods that had retailers still
stocking them.
>> trashing questionable media is cheap and easy compared to replacing
>> lost data. This is much more true with removable platter drives than
>> with floppies!
>Eh? Floppies are a lot cheaper than hard disk packs in my experience...
But a dirty platter can wreck a lot more than your data (such as your
heads) when they *do* crash.
--
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 Sun May 02 1999 - 13:57:15 BST