Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc:55397 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:9916 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!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,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: DS HD floppies Message-ID: <1991Jun18.050747.26870@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> Date: 18 Jun 91 05:07:47 GMT References: Sender: news@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington Lines: 41 Chris Genly writes: > 1) Why can't I format a DS HD diskette as a DS DD disk? > The DS HD diskette uses a different type of medium for recording. It is designed to hold a weaker magnetic "charge" for each bit written so that the data can be written more densely within the same area. This makes it impossible to use a DS DD disk for HD because the magnetic field generated by the head on an HD drive is too weak for the medium. However, there is no good reason why you can't format the HD as DD. I have done this many times, sometimes on 360K drives. > 2) Is there a slot or hole somewhere in the floppy jacket that tells > the drive what capacity disk is inserted? Not on the 5-1/4" disks. The difference in medium is only important for the HD drives, and they can quickly detect a DD disk because they can't read back to verify the first write. Your DD drive should be indifferent to the medium. > > 2) What are the various diskette formats available now, and what > are thier capacities? The popular ones are: 5-1/4" 3-1/2" DS DD 360K 720K DS HD 1.2M 1.44M The old ones are: (all 5-1/4") DS DD 320K SS DD 180K SS DD 160K > >Thanks in advance. > You're welcome, even if you did ask three questions for the price of 2! :-) -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy Schmidt | #include Indiana University | /* They are _my_ thoughts, and you can't Graduate School of Business | have them, so there! */