[net.micro.amiga] 880K 5.25" drive???

mende@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Bob Mende) (10/27/86)

  Under 1.2Gamma1 is it possible to configure a transformer 5.25"
drive to be an 880K disk?  I have no trouble with 440K (as df2:) but I
realy want 880K... Is there anyway to get this to work or is the
transformer drive incapable of handling 880K?   


				Bob Mende

ARPA: MENDE@TOPAZ.RUTGERS.EDU
UUCP: {anywhere}!caip!topaz!mende

daveh@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (10/28/86)

> Keywords: Possible?
> 
> 
>   Under 1.2Gamma1 is it possible to configure a transformer 5.25"
> drive to be an 880K disk?  I have no trouble with 440K (as df2:) but I
> realy want 880K... Is there anyway to get this to work or is the
> transformer drive incapable of handling 880K?   
> 
> 
> 				Bob Mende
> 
> ARPA: MENDE@TOPAZ.RUTGERS.EDU
> UUCP: {anywhere}!caip!topaz!mende

No, you can't get 880K on a 5 1/4" drive, for the same reason that PC
user's can only get 360K instead of 720K on their 5 1/4" drives.  The
reason is that the 5 1/4" drives are physically capable of formatting
only 40 tracks, while the 3 1/2" drives are capable of formatting 80
tracks.  Thus, twice the capacity.  A very good reason to switch to 3 1/2"
disks (among others).  A few new drive mechanisms, like the 5 1/4"
drives in the PC-AT, allow higher densities on 5 1/4" floppies, though
of course you'll have to go to the higher density (and more expensive)
floppies along with the higher densty (and more expensive) drive hardware.
And you're still going to be stuck with the inferior mechanical design
of the 5 1/4" floppy.


-- 
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Dave Haynie	{caip,ihnp4,allegra,seismo}!cbmvax!daveh

	"Laws to supress tend to strengthen what they would prohibit.
	 This is the fine point on which all the legal professions of
	 history have based their job security."
						-Bene Gesserit Coda

These opinions are my own, though for a small fee they may be yours too.

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