Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!tektronix!reed!percival!jamesd From: jamesd@percival.UUCP (James Deibele) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: 1.2MB drive Summary: TEAC drives work fine Message-ID: <1287@percival.UUCP> Date: 30 Jun 88 05:11:40 GMT References: <8362@bellcore.bellcore.com> Reply-To: jamesd@percival.UUCP (James Deibele) Organization: Percy's UNIX, Portland, OR. Lines: 28 In article <8362@bellcore.bellcore.com> jef@djinn.UUCP (Jonathan E. Flamm) writes: >I know that there are problems with diskettes written on 1.2MB drives >when they are read on 360KB drives ( I believe it has to do with only >1/2 of the track being written due to the narrow track width). Is there >software available that will RELIABLY write 360K diskettes on 1.2MB drives >so they can be reliable read on 360K drives. >I know that there is no problem with the new 3 1/2 1.44MB and 720K formats. > Hmmm. I was just reading Steve Gibson's column in (MIS)InfoWorld (that used to be the popular derogatory name for it, back when it covered systems outside the Macintosh-IBM axis; now that every article is for the Management Information Systems types (you know, the ones with the polyester shirts and rayon ties who don't buy dozens of C and UNIX books) it seems sadly appropriate.) that he has to use a 360K, 1.2MB, 720K, and 1.44MB to get reliable reads and writes. I don't know about the 3 1/2 drives, but I've had very good luck with a TEAC 1.2MB drive writing (and even diskcopying) diskettes that were formatted on a 360K drive. I've read that you should always format on a 360K first if possible, and personal experience has shown this to be a good idea. They're the only brand that I know for sure will work, but there may be others. -- James S. Deibele jamesd@qiclab or jamesd@percival TECHbooks: The Computer Book Specialists (800) TECH-BKS 3646 SE Division Portland, OR 97202 (503) 238-1005 TECHbooks One BBS (#1:105/4.0); 3/12/24 (503) 760-1473