Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!mirror!rayssd!raybed2!linus!mbunix!jcmorris From: jcmorris@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Joseph C. Morris) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: 3.5" disk drives and diskettes Summary: 1.44 mb on a DD disk works (so far) Message-ID: <42531@linus.UUCP> Date: 7 Dec 88 22:19:07 GMT References: <10208@watdragon.waterloo.edu> Sender: news@linus.UUCP Reply-To: jcmorris@mbunix (Morris) Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA. Lines: 29 In a recent article jjboritz@violet.waterloo.edu (Jim Boritz) writes: > >In the new world of 3.5" floppies the high density diskettes have an >additional hole on the side opposite the protect hole. My 3.5" drive will >not even think about formatting at 1.44Meg unless this hole is present. My >question is, "Can I punch holes in my 720K diskettes and use them at >1.44Meg?" > Punching a hole through the plastic is dangerous: you might crack the plastic shell in the process, but more seriously you will be generating plastic debris where it could contaminate the disk surface and/or the heads on the drive you insert it into. Agreed that the prices for HD diskettes are a ripoff, but there is a simpler way: cripple the circuit in your drive which tests for the extra hole. I've routinely (usually by accident) formatted DD disks to 1.44 mb and have never had any problems with bad sectors. (I make it a point, however, to use HD disks if they will be stored for some time, so I can't speak to the long-term storage characteristics.) I use Verbatim and Sony disks. Neither the PS/2-50's or PS/2-70's I've used made any complaint about formatting the disks to 1.44 mb. The only problem I've had is in getting the disks re-formatted back down to 720K. Hint: some formatters won't change the density once the disk has been formatted at 720K or 1.44 mb. If this happens, it can be fixed by beginning a format run, then suddenly removing the disk from the drive. Brute-force, but it avoids having to get a copy of Norton if one isn't handy.