Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!think!ames!pacbell!att-ih!ihnp4!ihlpm!njd
From: njd@ihlpm.ATT.COM (DiMasi)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re: Re: Problem with Atari's new XF551 DS/DD disk drive
Message-ID: <1766@ihlpm.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Mar 88 19:28:57 GMT
References: <491@nunki.usc.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 36

> In article <2361@bsu-cs.UUCP> cfchiesa@bsu-cs.UUCP (Christopher Chiesa) writes:
>>In article <3075@voder.UUCP>, kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) writes:
>>>    I read something recently which points out a possibly serious problem
>>> ....
>>... it seems to me it should be possible to punch a second 
>>set of index holes in the SLEEVE, in the "same place on the other side of the
>>central hole," so that when the disk was flipped over there'd still be an in-
>>dex hole in line with the LED sensor in the drive.  What say, tech hackers?
>>...
> ...
> if they don't have the hole, you can use a notebook "hole-puncher" to do the
> job... I use one for making my printouts fit in my 3-ring binder, and I would
> ...
I remember (distinctly, because I thought about buying one)  a  gadget
that  punches  a  "side  2  index  hole"  (or  whatever  you call it),
supposedly without damaging the disk.  It was advertised in ANALOG  (I
think,  possibly in Compute!  instead/as well) as a way to use the 2nd
side of double-sided disks (I recall that when I first started  buying
floppies,  the  2-sided  ones  were  all  that  I could find in stores
anyway) with single-sided drives.  It was called  "Nibble  Notch  II,"
and  was a variant of the "Nibble Notch" gadget that punches a "side 2
write-permit notch." (Both of these gadgets do _that_ I  believe.)  It
seems  to me that this might be better than a notebook-paper punch for
the disks, even if it is not as wonderful as claimed (at least you get
the  write- permit notch if your floppy doesn't have one - I'm talking
about _blank_ disks here, but the index  hole  is  needed  for  write-
protected disks too of course).

To summarize, check your  favorite  Atari  8-bit  mag's  for  ads  for
"Nibble  Notch  II," it may be just what you (future) XF551 owners are
looking for (if this "problem" is real - sounds like it to me).

Nick DiMasi
Uni'q Digital Technologies (Fox Valley Software subsidiary;
   ^          working as a contractor at AT&T Bell Labs in Naperville, IL)
(  | this is an accent mark, supposed to replace the dot over the 'i')