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From: THROOP@GRIN1.BITNET ("Throop,Henry B")
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: PCT 3.5" drives
Message-ID: <9101290630.AA10515@apple.com>
Date: 29 Jan 91 00:55:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 20

[People discussing why Apple 3.5" doesn't format MS-DOS readable floppies]

I think I remember hearing that this stems from how the start of the track is
found.  IBM drives have some physical way to detect the angular location of
the disk itself, and maybe start the track at 0 degrees from this angle.
Apple drives don't have this capability built in, but the PCT can read the
disks anyways, as if they were softsector.  However, when you format a disk
on the PCT, it just puts the start of track wherever is most convenient,
which may not be the right place for a real IBM drive.

When I originally heard this explanation, I thought I remembered it being a
problem because the Apple drives didn't have the ability to read the index
holes on the disk wheras IBM drives did, but it just occured to me that 3.5"
drives don't have index holes in the first place.

Henry
--
Henry Throop
THROOP@GRIN1.BITNET
throoph@jacobs.cs.orst.edu