hard-sector 5 1/4 disk

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Tue Oct 30 19:59:53 2001

It's conceivable that the software that the Apple][ used didn't look for an
index pulse until, nominally, the "right" time, at whic point it waited for it,
then proceeded, in which case the extra holes in the index track (not a magnetic
track) would have no impact.

The format was, nevertheless, soft-sectored, thereby allowing a smooth
transition from 13 sectors to 16 sectors, without a major redesign.

Dick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Geoff Reed" <geoffr_at_zipcon.net>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 5:59 PM
Subject: Re: hard-sector 5 1/4 disk


> At 10:23 AM 10/30/01 -0800, you wrote:
> >1) NO, APPLE ][ IS NOT HARD SECTORED!
> >Apple is COMPLETELY soft-sectored. While MOST machines that were
> >soft-sectored started the track with the index pulse, Apple and Commodore
> >ignored even the index pulse. Therefore, they would work with
> >soft-sectored diskettes, hard-sectored diskettes, upside down diskettes
> >with a write enable notch punched, etc.
> >2) NO, it has nothing to do with using a 6502.
>
> It's been a LONG time since i've used an apple II, I was just going by a
> friend that always used hard-sector disks on his II.
>
>
Received on Tue Oct 30 2001 - 19:59:53 GMT