Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!dali.cs.montana.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!sei.cmu.edu!fs7.ece.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!rh0i+
From: rh0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Richard Warren Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: 1.2 Mb 3.5 Drive???!!
Message-ID: <scFSj9e00WB8ALj0dL@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 31 May 91 06:23:05 GMT
Organization: Class of '91, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 61

I have a 3.5 inch high density drive that thinks it formats out to 1.2
Mb instead of 1.44.  Funny thing is, these disks can be read and
written to by other PCs with HD drives (as a 1.2 Mb disk), but my
drive will not read anything except what it formats itself.
Inconvenient.

I'm running a 286 AT clone which already has a 5.25 inch 1.2 Mb drive,
and DOS 3.3.  The 5.25 is the a: drive, and this confused 3.5 is the
b:.  I ran the setup utility without any problems when I hooked up the
drive, so theoretically at least the machine knows that it's a 1.44 Mb
drive.  Most of the hardware on this thing is from '87 or so.  Most of
the software is recent, however.  

I called the "excellent trained technical staff" of the company I
bought the drive from, and the guy I talked to said that "1.2 is
pretty close to 1.44" and the reason I couldn't read any other disks
in was because they were *all* bad.  When I asked him if that didn't
seem like an unlikely explanation he replied "I've seen it happen."

Right.
 
I'm no PC hardware expert (I got this thing used about 6 weeks ago),
but I have some theories:

1.  The DOS I got with the machine is not *really* 3.3.  It says it's
    3.3, but when I try to format a disk as 720K....

	C>format b: /n:9 /t:80

	Insert new disk in {blah, blah blah...}

	<enter>

	Parameters not supported.
    
    I don't know what this means.  Is this a problem with the drive,
    DOS, or the disk?

2.  The CMOS isn't really configured, it just thinks that it is.  I
    don't know how it works or anything like that, so excuse my ignorance
    if this is totally off-base.  I have a setup utility, but how do I
    know that the data stored is the same that the setup utility thinks?.
    Maybe the utility gives me the option of making a disk 360K, 1.2 Mb,
    720K, or 1.44Mb, but the computer itself is totally clueless about
    what a 1.44 drive is, and so treats it like a 1.2 Mb drive (???????)
    
3.  The controller card for the drives can't handle a 1.44 Mb drive.

Any clue as to what's happening would be greatly appreciated.  If you
could, please cc a copy to my account.

Thanks,
- Rick (rh0i@andrew.cmu.edu <<or>> cuddles@cs.cmu.edu)

	------------------------------------------------------------------
	Rick Harris | Information & Decision Systems with Computer Science 
	------------------------------------------------------------------
	Social & Decision Sciences Department       |      Carnegie Mellon
	------------------------------------------------------------------

	Jello is a dish best served cold.....