Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!ucbvax!husc6!cfa!ward From: ward@cfa.harvard.EDU (Steve Ward) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Adding 3.5" Floppy, (Need Help) Summary: 3.5 inch floppies Message-ID: <1064@cfa.cfa.harvard.EDU> Date: 14 Jul 88 22:48:14 GMT References: <15000054@silver> <47200008@hcx1> <879@netxcom.UUCP> Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. for Astrophysics Lines: 32 3.5 inch floppies have the following general features: 720K formatted version: ---------------------- 80 tracks/side 2 heads 160 tracks, both sides @512bytes/sector, 8 or 9 sectors/track (9 for MSDOS) 250KBPS transfer rate -- same as 5" 360K floppy head step rates and settling times are generally faster than 5" floppies 1.44MB formatted version: ------------------------ 80 tracks/side 2 heads 160 tracks, both sides @512 bytes/sector, 16-18 sectors/track (18 for MSDOS) 500KBPS transfer ratte -- same as 5" 1.2MB floppy head step rates and settling times are generally faster than most 5" floppies 3.5" floppies shouldn't run slower than their 5" counterpart if the same device driver is used for both. With a different driver there may be built-in step/settle delays or other code differences that inflict a noticeable speed difference, at least when doing simple single file or directory listings or even formatting. SMW