Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!ames!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!umriscc!mcs213e.cs.umr.edu!mcastle From: mcastle@mcs213e.cs.umr.edu (Mike Castle {Nexus}) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Subject: Re: DS/DD --> DS/HD 3.5" Disk Notchers Message-ID: <2417@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> Date: 16 Mar 91 21:31:17 GMT References: <19536@brahms.udel.edu> <1991Mar16.170405.245@csc.canterbury.ac.nz> Sender: news@umriscc.isc.umr.edu Distribution: comp Organization: University of Missouri - Rolla Lines: 27 A friend of mine uses a drill press to notch his disks. He's only had one disk go bad on him, but more disks that cracked along the seam when he drilled it. He didn't mention any problems with getting filings on the disk and messing it up. He's also considered putting a switch in to replace the sensor. He'll be glad to here others have already done that. I would suggest trying to use FDFORMAT to squeeze more space out of disks. I'm not sure if it actually tries to push more data into an area (like HD formatting does) or if it just rearranges the information on the disk so that it's placed on there more effeciently. I use it to format 360K 5.25s at 591K, and it works fairly well. I've got flaky disk drives though, and no one can read these disks on their machine (with RDREAD or w/o), similarly, I can't read non-standard disks in mine, though others can read them on other machines. It also refuses to do ANYTHING with my 3.5" drive (including a standard format). I haven't tried version 1.60 yet. It's available on simtel-20 et al as FDFRM16A.ZIP in pd1:. As far as whether the media on HD and DD disks are different or not, I say they are very much different. If you want, get a standard HD and standard DD disk, open the window on it, and hold it up to a light. You'll noticed a BIG difference in the way they appear. Definitely looks like different media to me. -- Mike Castle (Nexus) S087891@UMRVMA.UMR.EDU (preferred) | XEDIT: Emacs mcastle@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (unix mail-YEACH!)| on a REAL Life is like a clock: You can work constantly, and be right | operating all the time, or not work at all, and be right twice a day. | system. :->