Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!ranger From: ranger@ecsvax.UUCP (Rick N. Fincher) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Writing 360K diskettes on 1.2 Mb dri Message-ID: <2477@ecsvax.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Dec-86 10:49:11 EST Article-I.D.: ecsvax.2477 Posted: Mon Dec 15 10:49:11 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Dec-86 04:39:25 EST References: <184138@<1986Oct26^> <2690002@hplsla.HP.COM> <2441@ecsvax.UUCP> <313@bms-at.UUCP> Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service Lines: 27 Summary: Our experience doesn't match the poster's... > > > I would disagree with the above entirely. The above rules are either > > accidentally reversed or a recipe for disaster. Disks made on 360k > > drives should NEVER be written to with a 1.2 Meg drive if you want > > to subsequently be able to read them on a 360K drive again (unless you > > [theoretical explanation deleted] > > This is all very fine in theory. In *practice*, however, our experience > matches that of the original poster! > > Could there be something wrong with the theory? We have an IBM PC/AT, a Zenith and NCR AT compatible. None of these machines reliably writes to 360K disks. Sometimes it will work, but sooner or later the people that do it come to me to get their blown disks fixed. Usually after the disk starts exhibiting problems it can't be recovered so all of the data is destroyed. The last thing we need are drives that destroy data. As far as the 1.2 meg drives go, I have difficulty getting them to read 1.2 meg disks created by another machine, both of the same brand and especially from machines of different brands. I have put warning labels on our machines to the effect that data will be destroyed if 360K disks are used on 1.2 meg drives (reading is OK, of course, but if you write to them, sooner or later you will have trouble). Rick Fincher ranger@ecsvax