Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zephyr!tektronix!psueea!parsely!bucket!leonard
From: leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: need help on disk drive problem
Message-ID: <1528@bucket.UUCP>
Date: 4 Jul 89 01:21:21 GMT
References: <2685@cveg.uucp>
Organization: Rick's Home-Grown UNIX; Portland, OR.
Lines: 28

jms@hcx.uucp (Michael Stanley) writes:
>     I have a problem that seems to be shared by a small number of friends
>(each of us has a different kind of computer).  When we originally bought
>our AT clone type computer, it came equipped with a high density (1.44 Meg)
>disk drive in drive b:.  At first, this drive could format 720K diskettes
>as well (yes I know not as reliably).  Yet now, the drive will no longer
>format 720K diskettes.  I *think* that it has something to do with the
>onboard setup memory believing that I cannot format 720K diskettes, but
>I can't seem to make my setup program fix this problem.  If anyone has
>run into this problem and found a solution, I and a couple of friends
>would appreciate hearing about your solution.  Thanx in advance.

If you are running DOS 3.3 or above, you need to use:
	FORMAT B: /N:9 /T:80
instead of
	FORMAT B:

And they'll be just as reliable as the 1.44 disks. 3.5" drives don't
have the problems with formatting low density disks in high density drives
that the 5.25" drives do. (because the problems are do to the fact that
360k disks have 40 "wide" tracks and 1.2M disks have 80 "narrow" tracks.
All 3.5" disks have 80 "narrow" tracks.)

-- 
Leonard Erickson		...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools.
Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Short