🚀 go-pugleaf

jt@fuw.edu.pl (Jerzy Tarasiuk) writes:
>Yes. If you read disk using DOS, it is fast, too (if file is contiguous).
>However, I found UNIX floppy disk driver cannot handle 1:1 at full speed
>- before it is ready to read next sector, more than 4 sectors pass...
>Therefore, UNIX works best if you use interleave 1:6, DOS is better :^).
>(tested for Interactive UNIX System V, on 16/20 MHz 386 based machine).

Note that you can speed up disk access even further (for long contiguous
accesses) by formatting your disks with FDFORMAT.  It's a standard format,
but "sector sliding" is employed.  What this means is that each subsequent
track has its first sector at a different position from the previous track
(the drive doesn't get confused and DOS never knows the difference).

The idea is that the first sector of the next track will come under the
read/write head just as the head moves to the next track.  This makes long
contiguous accesses significantly faster on my 386/25.

-- 
Kevin Martin
sigma@ipl.rpi.edu
"We're gonna need another Timmy!"