Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!tindle
From: tindle@ms.uky.edu (Ken Tindle)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: ST506 - IBM rumor about formating
Keywords: formating ST506
Message-ID: <15541@s.ms.uky.edu>
Date: 27 Jun 90 23:49:11 GMT
References: <1990Jun27.081105.18539@watcsc.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: tindle@ms.uky.edu (Ken Tindle)
Organization: U of Kentucky, Mathematical Sciences
Lines: 36

In article <1990Jun27.081105.18539@watcsc.waterloo.edu> sean@watcsc.waterloo.edu (Sean Goggin) writes:
>You wish to format an ST506. 

Yep.

>The rumor (what I have been told) is that since IBM sells it's 
>drives low level formated that You can't format the drive

Let me start by saying that I'm not absolutely sure of the following, but
that I'm reasonably sure...

Yes, IBM sells the drives low-level formatted already, but this is to set
interleave at optimum. 

>There is a special controller that uses a increased 
>(17something instead for 10something)
>current in the first few sectors that premit the special controller to
>write the format stuff (drive data?) on a degraded media.

Well, if true, that's very nasty- but I think not, because- 

- The ST-506 is used in lots of different machines, and they are certainly
  not all MS-DOS, and

- IBM *does* include a formatter on its Advanced Diagnostics disk.

>I think the ST506 was sold by ibm, as there first drive for the pc
>with a st4xx as a high end version (10Meg).

Really?  I didn't know they *ever* had anything less than 10 Meg. 

--------------------------\ /-----------------------------------------------
INTERNET:tindle@ms.uky.edu | "Could you please continue the petty bickering?
BITNET: tindle@ukma.bitnet |  I find it most intriguing."   ---    Data, 
Ken Tindle - Lexington, KY |  Star Trek, The Next Generation, "Haven"
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