Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!sun-barr!ames!pacbell!hoptoad!peora!rtmvax!bilver!bill
From: bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Hub rings on floppies: how important?
Message-ID: <247@bilver.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jul 89 16:39:12 GMT
References: <804@kosman.UUCP>
Reply-To: bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion)
Distribution: na
Organization: W. J. Vermillion, Winter Park, FL
Lines: 42

In article <804@kosman.UUCP> kevin@kosman.UUCP (Kevin O'Gorman) writes:
....
>bulk HighDensity Floppy disks to use with my new 286, and lo and behold
>the disks did not have hub rings.
....
>I'm looking for anyone with actual experience which bears on the the
>usefulness or neccessity of hub rings on floppies.  I can figure out
>for myself that they might make a difference if something tried to
>tear the center of this disk, but I don't know how likely this is to
>ever happen.  The HD drive I'm using is one of those where the disk
>sort of "clicks" into place, so I'm not likely to try to use it with
>the disk only partly inserted, for instance.

Being a long time user of 5" floppies, don't worry about it.  ( I have a 5"
shugart 400 with serial number 1482 - from the first run of 5" drives ever
made - sort of a nostalgice collectors item).

The first drives clamping rings (the device that grabs the disc in the center
to enable it to spin) had shallow ramps.  If the disc weren't correctly
centered in it's jacket (and it got to be habit to manually do that) you could
close the clamp on the disk and ruin it, or get it enough off center not to be
readable, or worse, write to it, and never read it again.      

Later on mfrs went to longer/steeper cones in an effort to help center the
disks more readily.  Also mfrs started putting re-inforcing rings on the
diskettes to help alleviate damage.

When half-height disks came out the motors were direct drive instead of
pulley/belt to the spindle.  All the half-height drives I have seen (there may
be some that violate this rule) spin the drive motor as you insert the disk.
The rotating spindle self-centers the diskette as you close the door and there
is no easy way to damage the disk.  (Putting the disk in with the computer
turned off is one way!).

So in the current state of most half-height drives you will never need to
worry about having hub-rings, particularly if you always insert diskettes with
power on.

bill
-- 
Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!bill
                      : bill@bilver.UUCP