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From: actor@percival.pdx.com (Clif Swinford)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Could an odd format cause problems?
Message-ID: <782@percival.pdx.com>
Date: Sun, 12-Jul-87 16:37:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: percival.782
Posted: Sun Jul 12 16:37:22 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 13-Jul-87 05:35:43 EDT
Reply-To: actor@percival.UUCP (Clif Swinford)
Organization: Percy's UNIX, Portland, OR.
Lines: 19


   Does anyone know if using odd formats could lead to hardware problems?
Here's why I ask: last week I tried using a disk I'd formatted to 83 tracks,
10 sectors per track, using maximum step rate. I put Neochrome on it, then
tried to run it. It crashed in a matter of seconds. Ever since then, low
resolution programs crash in seconds and medium-res ones in from minutes to
hours (Uniterm has crashed three times while I was entering this). Using the
Atari diagnostic cartridge at the local service center, everything in the
machine now tests out as intermittently defective. Intermittently, but not
consistently. Swapping out every socketed chip in the machine has done no
good. Any suggestions?
   BTW - my configuration is: older 520ST (made July '85) with standard RAM,
and a homebrew double-drive setup using the same Chinon drives used in the
1040ST. The drive isn't contributing to the problem; I've tried using other
drives with the same results.

-- 
     Clif Swinford
                   ..!tektronix!reed!percival!actor                        fnord