Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!ll1a!nesac2!jec
From: jec@nesac2.att.com (John Carter ATLN SADM)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: can I put four floppies in an AT clone
Summary: works for me
Message-ID: <172@nesac2.att.com>
Date: 4 Jan 90 03:39:42 GMT
References: <GOLDSTN.89362204630@MAINE.BITNET> <10152@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Organization: A.T.&T. Lisle, Ill.
Lines: 51

In article <10152@saturn.ucsc.edu>, ted@helios.ucsc.edu (Ted Cantrall) writes:
] In article <GOLDSTN.89362204630@MAINE.BITNET> GOLDSTN@MAINE.BITNET (Michael E. Goldstein) writes:
] ]Would 360K floppies written from the 1.2 meg drive be
] ]read and writable on a standard 360K drive in another
] ]PC?
] ]Mike Goldstein
] The 1.2 meg drive writes a narrower, lower density track than a 360k.
] The 360k drive has a *real* hard time trying to read disks written
] on a 1.2 meg drive. (Read: don't do it!)
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sorry, but I can't agree with this ^^^^^^.

I've been developing in-house software on an AT class machine for over a year.
I distribute that software on 360K floppies which are INITAILLY FORMATTED and
written in the 1.2 meg drive.                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My users have an assortment of machines (several flavors of AT&T, plus Compaq
and AST, some with 360k and some with 1.2meg floppies) and I have had no
problems with the distribution disks.

Please note that the most frequent source of problems is swapping 360K floppies
BETWEEN 1.2meg and 360k drives.  The problems occur when:

   Floppy is written to in a 360k drive, then written to in a 1.2meg drive.
   The narrower 1.2meg head writes "down the middle" of the track on the
   360k drive, leaving a magnetic spaghetti which may (or may not) be readable
   on the 1.2meg drive but probably won't be readable on the 360k drive.

360k floppy rules to live by:

1) format in 360K, write in 360k, read in either

2) format in 1.2meg, write in 1.2meg, read in either

3) format in either, write in 360k, read in either

4) format in 360k, write in 1.2meg, toss a coin

5) format in either, write in 360k then write in 1.2meg, bulkerase & reformat

This has worked reliably for me.

Flames to /dev/null or NUL or NUL or the bit bucket or the chad cup.
                                                           ^^^^^^^^
What?  You don't know what chad is?  You never wrote endless loop tapes for
repetitive operations on a TeleType Model 35?  Poor child!  How meager your
education has been :-(
-- 
USnail: John Carter, AT&T, 401 W. Peachtree, FLOC 2932-6, Atlanta GA 30308
Video:	...att!nesac2!jec   ...attmail!jecarter    Voice: 404+581-6239
The machine belongs to the company.  The opinions are mine.