Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!trd10523
From: trd10523@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 3.5" High-Density Woes
Message-ID: <111700137@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 24 Aug 89 14:41:00 GMT
References: <1001@apctrc.UUCP>
Lines: 18
Nf-ID: #R:apctrc.UUCP:1001:uxa.cso.uiuc.edu:111700137:000:905
Nf-From: uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!trd10523    Aug 24 09:41:00 1989


I have a 1.44M 3.5" drive that never checks for the HD hole, so I've been
using DD disks formatted at 1.44M for about 4 months now. Here's what I've
found:

1. The better quality the disk, the better luck you'll have doing this.
I tried using bulk 3.5" disks (about 70 cents a piece) and only 6 of 10
would format 1.44M without bad sectors. I'm now using 3M or Sony disks
which yield 90% or better success (Sony being the best). The Sony disks
cost me 1.30 a piece, but that's still a far cry from 2.80 for a HD.

2. Compatibility with other drives is limited. A friend of mine has a 
PS/2 which also does not check for the HD hole. He's using Sony disks too,
but when I tried to diskcopy some of his disks, about 10% got read errors
from tracks 76 to 79. I have had no problems yet reading my own disks made
on my own drive.

I still use DD disks at 720K for hard disk backups, though, just to be safe.