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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