Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!ihwpt!knudsen From: knudsen@ihwpt.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.sys.m6809 Subject: NewDisk -- LOOK OUT!! Message-ID: <1565@ihwpt.ATT.COM> Date: Wed, 1-Apr-87 19:06:21 EST Article-I.D.: ihwpt.1565 Posted: Wed Apr 1 19:06:21 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 4-Apr-87 10:33:24 EST Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois Lines: 27 Keywords: chd, ruined disks The last couple of articles helped me understand why some of my laboriously constructed Boot disks for Version II and Coco3 have gone bad (unbootable) after a few days. You may recall I was using NewDisk with a headbanger disk drive (Head Load on Select, not Motor). On my main system (Coco 1) only one drive, which I usually use read-only, has head bangers. But the single drive on my Coco3 has 'em too. Writes to such drives with unmodified NewDisk are dangerous. Backups are guaranteed to blow 50% of the sectors! But now I learn that Version 2 writes your directories when you do an innocent little CHD. No wonder disks are dying... But ... does CHD really write the directory's date, or just open it in update mode with the *potential* to write? If the latter, I should't have any problems unless I really write something to the disk. Anyway, I've fixed my NewDisk to remove the deselect code. But it sure was neat to watch those select LEDs ... mike k -- Mike J Knudsen ...ihnp4!ihwpt!knudsen Bell Labs(AT&T) >>>DRUGS are for WIMPS who can't handle SCIENCE FICTION<<<