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From: schuster@panix.uucp (Michael Schuster)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: resurrection of MFM drive formatted with RLL cont.
Message-ID: <1991Jun20.212235.3028@panix.uucp>
Date: 20 Jun 91 21:22:35 GMT
References: <22251@brahms.udel.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: PANIX - Public Access Unix Systems of NY
Lines: 22

In article <22251@brahms.udel.edu> walt@brahms.udel.edu (Walter M Dabell) writes:
>
>I picked up a known working MFM drive at a flea market. The paperwork 
>that came with the drive said the drive was compatible with MFM or RLL. 
>I was suspicious, but tried formating it with an RLL controller anyway.
>I now suspect that the drive has two versions, one of each format. The 
>drive doesn't work with the RLL controller. I tried to re-format the 
>drive with an MFM controller and now the drive doesn't work on MFM 
>either. The formatter I am using is the debug callable one on the WD 
>controller. Anybody know of a way to get the thing working with the 
>MFM controller again?

Re-format it with a different MFM controller. The WD controller is
brain-damaged; this is precisely why Seagate had the policy of
invalidating the warranty on non-certified MFM drives that people
tried to format using an RLL controller. They didn't want to have to
deal with other people's finicky format routines.

-- 
                Mike Schuster                      |   -CIS: 70346,1745
-NY Public Access UNIX:  schuster@panix.com        |   -MCI Mail, GENIE:
-The Portal (R) System:  schuster@cup.portal.com   |           MSCHUSTER