> It doesn't matter whether the diskette is a 1.2 MB one or a 360K type, but
Give us a break! YOU know better!
YES, IT WILL MATTER!
And it is NOT necessary for any idiot to say, "But I use the wrong type of
diskettes all the time."
360K is 300 Oerstedt. 1.2M is 600 Oerstedt.
My personal experience is that using a 600 Eorstedt diskette in a 300
Oerstedt application results in a significantly reduced lifetime for the
data. Sometimes minutes!
> the drive which wrote it make a great deal of difference. 1.2 MB drives can
> read 360k diskettes just fine, but you can't expect a drive designed to
> operate on half the track width (twice the density) and even more bit
> density, to erase the writing of a 48 TPI 360K drive properly. It works OK
> the first time, and less well the second ... and so on until it fails
> because the residue left behind by the 48tpi drive generates too much noise
> for the 96 tpi drive to discriminate between noise and signal.
If you HAVE to use a 1.2M drive to write 360K diskettes, it is best to
start with a virgin disk. And ALWAYS bulk erase it (preferably with a
better bulk eraser than the one on your refrigerator door). THEN format
it as 360K ("/4" in DOS). If the diskette is EVER written to by a 360K
drive (even "ERASE"ing a file), then bulk erase and FORMAT in the 1.2M
drive again.
You have to take these steps if you want reliable writes to 360K in a 1.2M
drive, even if you might sometimes get away with not doing it right.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin_at_xenosoft.com
Received on Sun Mar 26 2000 - 14:16:35 BST