Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!bellcore!att!westmark!dave From: dave@westmark.UUCP (Dave Levenson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: 1.2meg/360k compatibility question Message-ID: <1567@westmark.UUCP> Date: 10 Jul 89 23:54:55 GMT References: Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA Lines: 38 In article , as2d+@andrew.cmu.edu (Alan Henry Stein) writes: > > I am currently putting together a new computer and have a question. I have > read all the warning (in the DOS manual etc.) about writing to a 360k disk > in a 1.2 meg drive (disk formatted at 360k) and then not being able to read > it in true 360k drives. I have also read about similar compatibility problems > between 1.44meg and 720k drives. Anyone have a problem with this type of > compatibility or come up with a solution to it (other than putting in both > HD and DD drives)?? Alan: We sell software and support customer sites who use a mix of XT- and AT-class machines. Originally, we used only a 1.2 Mbyte diskette drive, and formatted HD and DD diskettes diskettes in it for distribution. What we found was that if we bulk-erased the media before formatting it, we could reliably read the DD diskettes that we formatted on the HD drive. If we attempted to format the DD diskettes which had previously been formatted on a true DD drive, without bulk-erasing them first, we had occasional GENERAL FAILURE READING DRIVE A: troubles in the field. The real problem, however, was when we took one of these "cross-formatted" diskettes into the field and tried to add one file to it by writing on it using a true DD drive. That would almost always foul it up and make it unreadable on both DD and HD drives. We have now installed both DD and HD diskette drives in our development machines, so that we can reliably send diskettes to the field and collect information and bring them back! -- Dave Levenson Voice: (201) 647 0900 Westmark, Inc. Internet: dave@westmark.uu.net Warren, NJ, USA UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave [The Man in the Mooney] AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave