Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!elroy!orion.cf.uci.edu!uci-ics!ucla-cs!dkim From: dkim@maui.cs.ucla.edu (Dong Hun Kim) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: 3.5" 1.44/720K drive question Summary: Compatibility 3.5" 1.44/720k Keywords: 3.5" drive, 1.44M, 720K Message-ID: <22204@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Date: 24 Mar 89 18:48:25 GMT References: <8168@xanth.cs.odu.edu> <22063@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> <10121@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU Reply-To: dkim@cs.ucla.edu (Dong Hun Kim) Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 21 In article <10121@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> tim@cit-vax.UUCP (Timothy L. Kay) writes: >In article <22063@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> dkim@cs.ucla.edu (Dong Hun Kim) writes: >>How to install the switch : > [...] > >If I trick my drive into writing 1.44M on a 720K disk, and then I give >it to somebody who has not defeated the sensor in his drive, can he >read the disk? (In other words, does DOS set the density for reading >by looking at the hole, or just the density when formatting?) > >Tim This is a good point, which I forgot to mention in my previous posting. The answer is : NO, he will not be able to read it. Because his drive will still look for the hole, and if there is no hole, it assumes as 720K. EXCEPTION : IBM-PS/2 drive does not use probe, so it can format and read both densities. Dong Kim