LIN@mit-mc.ARPA (Herb Lin) (12/20/85)
I run with two 8 inch floppies (QUME 842s) and a Compupro DISK-1 controller. I have been having trouble booting my MP/M 8-16 system. What happens is that the MPM loader needs to read a file from the data area on the floppy, and when it does so I get a BDOS Bad Sector error. The possible reasons are 1. bad drive 2. bad disk 3. bad controller It isn't the drive: I get the error when I interchange the drives so that the old A is the new B and vice versa -- the new A gives the same error. It isn't the disk: I tried it with several disks, and it happened with each. That leaves the controller. Anyone care to comment on whether or not a controller would do flaky things to reads and writes from just one or two tracks on a floppy? thanks. Herb
Burton.osbunorth@XEROX.ARPA (12/21/85)
Herb, A friend having the same configuration (Compupro, Controller 1, etc.) had the same problem. We finally solved it using a head cleaner. Moral: Try the simple things first. Check the power supply, the cabling, and the heads. And the baud rate. Phil Burton