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From: phco@ecsvax.UUCP (John Miller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Help with floppy disk problems
Message-ID: <3212@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 27-May-87 08:57:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.3212
Posted: Wed May 27 08:57:54 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 29-May-87 06:19:39 EDT
References: <399@tifsie.UUCP> <62NETOPRDC@NCSUVM> <1752@ihlpe.ATT.COM> <4008@amd.UUCP> <93@bernina.UUCP> <4029@amd.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 26

In article <4029@amd.UUCP> markg@amd.UUCP (Mark Gorlinsky) writes:
>In article <93@bernina.UUCP> zu@bernina.UUCP (Urs Zurbuchen) writes:
>Formatting a disk other than a high density in a 1.2Mb drive cannot be
>accomplished. 

I have on numerous occasions formatted 360KB diskettes in 1.2MB drives (using
"format /4"), written on them with both 1.2MB and 360KB drives, and then
successfully read them in both 1.2MB and 360KB drives.  

It is true, however, that 1.2MB drives write narrower tracks than 360KB drives,
so disks written on 360KB drives and then written over by 1.2MB drives may then
be unreadable on 360KB drives, since the wider track of the 360KB drive is not
completely obliterated by the 1.2MB drive.  It is also true that some drives,
of both types, can't deal with this sort of activity.  I suppose this is
because of faulty alignment in the drives.  The old full height floppy drives
in the original IBM PC seem to have the worst problems with alignment.  We've
had many problems in our department transferring floppies from one IBM PC to
another (the older models with full height drives).  The half height drives
see much more reliable.



-- 
                        John Miller  (ecsvax!phco)
                        Dept. of Pharmacology, Univ. of N.C.-Chapel Hill
                        Chapel Hill, NC 27514       (919) 966-4343