Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!bronze!copper!rschmidt From: rschmidt@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (roy schmidt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Subject: Re: Formatting cheap 3-1/2" floppy Message-ID: <1991Jan27.203828.24758@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> Date: 27 Jan 91 20:38:28 GMT References: <1991Jan26.015628.15182@usenet@scion.CS.ORST.EDU> <1005@ra.MsState.Edu> <1991Jan27.101629.1@cbrown.claremont.edu> Sender: news@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington Lines: 26 In article <1991Jan27.101629.1@cbrown.claremont.edu> dhosek@cbrown.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) writes: >In article <1005@ra.MsState.Edu>, it1@ra.MsState.Edu (Tim Tsai) writes: >> In article <1991Jan26.015628.15182@usenet@scion.CS.ORST.EDU> daver@ECE.ORST.EDU (Dave Rabinowitz) writes: >>> Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable >>> Format failure >> I usually just toss those disks. I haven't tried this but one of >Silly boy. The problem is with certain versions of DOS and 1.44M >drives. I'm not sure whether DOS or the drive is at fault, but >the error simply means that it's trying to format the disk HD and >can't. Use FORMAT A: /t:80/n:9 and all will be well. > Yep, it is actually "pilot error". Your CMOS setup designates the drive as HD, but you are trying to format DD disks. DOS will try to format with the default form according to setup. So neither the drive nor the DOS version is at fault. IF you have DOS 4.0/4.01, just use the command FORMAT A: /f:720. Don's switches are for DOS 3.3. DOS 3.2 only handles 720K drives, so you wouldn't have this problem ... :-) -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy Schmidt | #include Indiana University | /* They are _my_ thoughts, and you can't Graduate School of Business | have them, so there! */