lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein) (02/01/86)
In article <425@mmm.UUCP> mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (Michael Ross) writes: > >Then how come my Sony disks work? The write-protect mechanism on those >diskettes doesn't include a hole going through the diskette - there is a >small tab that can be moved back and forth, but you can't see through the >diskette in either mode. > In the old disk drives, the red lights do not actiually shine through the diskettes. There is a small arm that is pushed down when the disk is write enabled; this arm blocks an LED. (There are 2 such mechanisms; the one on the left detects the state of the write protect tab, and the one on the right detects whether or not a disk is inserted.) On the new drives (at least the ones I have seen), this mechanism has been replaced by a microswitch, which means there are no LEDs at all. -- Larry Rosenstein Apple Computer UUCP: {voder, nsc, ios, mtxinu, dual}!apple!lsr CSNET: lsr@Apple.CSNET