🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3226@ucrmath.UCR.EDU> lulu@ucrmath.UUCP (david lu) writes:
$I just tried to format some 1.2 Meg, high density disks in my
$360K drive (as 360K), and I got the following error message:
$	Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable
$Now, I know that I can't format 360K disks to 1.2 Meg in a
$1.2 Meg drive, but why can't I format 1.2 Meg disks to 360K
$in a 360K drive?  I thought that "blank" disks are just that
$-- blank.  They can be reformatted as long as the density is
$"thick" enought, right?

   As you found out, trying to use 1.2M diskettes as 360K disks doesn't
work.  I don't know the physical reason for this, but trust me - don't
do it.  Even if you can get them to format, they won't last long before
you start getting a lot - and I mean a _lot_ - of errors on them.

   As for doing it the other way round (buying 360K disks and formatting
them at 1.2M), I don't recommend it either.  I've found that I can typically
get 700-800K on such a disk using PCTools PCFORMAT - the outer tracks can
handle the higher density, but the inner ones can't and have large numbers
of bad sectors.  Fine, so what's the problem, you say?  After a fairly
short while, these disks begin to experience large numbers of errors, too.

   BTW, why would you want to use expensive (HD) disks when cheaper (DD)
ones will suffice?

-- 
Stephen M. Dunn                               cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca
          <std_disclaimer.h> = "\nI'm only an undergraduate!!!\n";
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    If it's true that love is only a game//Well, then I can play pretend