Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!mcnc!ecsvax!phco
From: phco@ecsvax.UUCP (John Miller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: AT formatting problem
Message-ID: <3587@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-Jul-87 09:36:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.3587
Posted: Thu Jul 23 09:36:47 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Jul-87 06:54:59 EDT
References: <2574@husc6.UUCP> <100299@cpsc53.UUCP>
Reply-To: phco@ecsvax.UUCP (John Miller)
Organization: Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 57

>Hi, I used to work at Mich State University, in the department of Veteranary 
>Med. as one of their micro support. . . .
I'm afraid the following information is all too typical of micro support
centers.  Read on . . . 

>     1) Using non high-density disks. Specialy made for 1.2M drives is
>        Memorex's 1.2M high density disk. This is a special high density brand 
>        made for these types of drives.  They must be high density 1.2! 
>        They must say it on the box!  Verbatums will not work.
A number of manufacturers produce 1.2M (96TPI) diskettes, including Memorex,
3M, and (I think) Verbatim.  The main point here, though, is that a diskette
must be of the 96TPI double side, high density variety in order to be
formatted for 1.2M.  However, 360K diskettes can be formatted in the high
density drives and can be written and read by both high and low density drives.
The difficulties occur when both high and low density drives use the same
diskette.  The high density drives write a narrower track on the diskette, so
if a high density drive writes over a track written by a low density drive, it
does not completely obliterate the original data.  If the drives are well
aligned, this may cause no problems, but the low density drives may not be
able to read the dual-written disk.

>     2) The setup for the system doesn't recognise it as a 1.2M drive.
>        Go into the setup program and redefine your driver specs.
This is a possibility but not very likely.

>     3) Your formatted your disk, but you then used it in a different drive
>        and wrote to it in that drive.  You can only read from 1.2M disks
>        in non 1.2M drives, you cannot write.
Whoa!  A 360K drive cannot read a 1.2M disk, nor can it write in that format.
However, the 96TPI disks can be formatted as 360K disks on a low or high
density drive.  Their greater cost, however, makes that uneconomical.

>     Extra possibility, your version of DOS does not recognise different drive
>     types, you need a command line control to perfrom a high density format!
If you're using an AT-type machine, you must be using DOS 3.x, and no special
options are needed on the command line to format 1.2M disks.  You do need
special options to format 360K disks or the 3 1/2" format.

>     Look it up in the MS-DOS handbook.  
By all means!  A few micro support center employees (and ex-employees)
could benefit from that, too.

>I hope this helps! :-)
Like giving a drowning man a glass of water . . .  

Before my mailbox ignites, let me say that many micro support center
personnel are quite competent and eager to help and that they have a
myriad of problems for which they are expected to provide miraculous
solutions.  The many products and rapid changes in the industry make it
nearly impossible for anyone to keep pace with such things.  However,
it is wiser to say "I don't know, but I'll try to find out" than to
offer eager but erroneous information to puzzled users.  'Nuff said.

-- 
                        John Miller  (ecsvax!phco)
                        Dept. of Pharmacology, Univ. of N.C.-Chapel Hill
                        Chapel Hill, NC 27514       (919) 966-4343