Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!polyslo!jdudeck
From: jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Formatting 720k on 1.44M drive
Message-ID: <25e4b3e0.3b40@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Date: 23 Feb 90 03:54:08 GMT
References: <5541@omepd.UUCP>
Reply-To: jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck)
Distribution: na
Organization: Cal Poly State University -- San Luis Obispo
Lines: 18


In article <5541@omepd.UUCP> jhunt@omews3.intel.com (Jim Hunt) writes:
>I am having problems formatting 720k media on my new 1.44M drive.
>I give the command:
>
>format b: /n:9 /t:80
>
>The error message back says something like "Invalid media or Track 0 
>bad - disk unusable".  This looks like the drive thinks it is formatting
>1.44M media instead of 720k media.  I have an AT clone machine, it is

I believe that the 1.44 mb drives have to switch a few things internally
when going between DD and HD media.  The hole in the corner of the
diskette is how it knows what media is inserted.  However, there is a
jumper (at least there is on my Toshiba drive) that determines whether
the media detection is enabled or not.  I would guess that in your case
the drive is permanently set for HD, and is not properly detecting a DD
diskette.

-- 
John Dudeck                           "You want to read the code closely..." 
jdudeck@Polyslo.CalPoly.Edu             -- C. Staley, in OS course, teaching 
ESL: 62013975 Tel: 805-545-9549          Tanenbaum's MINIX operating system.