Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!mephisto!prism!gt3070b From: gt3070b@prism.gatech.EDU (Jeff Watkins) Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d Subject: Re: Formatting 720K disks to 1.44 Megs HELP!! Message-ID: <4180@hydra.gatech.EDU> Date: 7 Dec 89 01:03:48 GMT References: <1989Nov27.212809.7241@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1114@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM> <89Nov28.223437est.19733@me.utoronto.ca> <236@watserv1.waterloo.edu> <5941@wpi.wpi.edu> Reply-To: gt3070b@prism.gatech.EDU (Jeff Watkins) Distribution: na Organization: Access Radio Lines: 39 Well, about this 720k vs 1.44Meg thing... With the following equipment & materials I modified my 1.44Meg 3.5" drive to ignore the presence or absence of a small hole on the left side of a disk: 1 small standard screwdriver. 4" of telephone wire (from an old modular cable) 1 mini toggle switch (available at good old radio shack) less than 1" of solder 1 soldering iron. 1 knife. First, I removed the spring driven physical sensor with the small standard screwdriver. I then soldered two short wires from the terminals of the toggle switch to the two terminals of the sensor. With the knife, I drilled a small hole, large enough for the toggle and thread, in a 3.5" drive cover just below the actual drive. The only draw back in this approach is that you must physically switch between 720k and 1.44Meg sizes. With an extra switch, it is probably possible to set it up so that there is a auto-sense mode and a manual-set mode. Mind you, I don't suggest trying this at home... but well, everything is up to you, your conscience, and your pocketbook. There is a slim chance that you may turn your drive into a permanent 1.44Meg drive, if you can't solder well. As to media performance... I purchase 100 generic 3.5" 720k disks, and have had problems formatting about 4 of them, these I throw out because they more than likely wont format as 720k either. I haven't had a 1.44Meg formatted in my "1.44Meg" drive ever fail. Any way, enough useless talk.... Jeff -- Jeff Watkins Georgia Tech (Internet: gt3070b@prism.gatech.edu) Access Radio (Office: (407)334-5000 Fax: (407)334-3445)