jallen@uxrd1.UUCP (Jon Allen) (05/16/86)
Can someone tell me if I buy a 520ST with the DS disk drives, will I
be able to read/write SS disks too? Or must I get both drives in order
to read/write both types? And what format is most prevalent? Thanx.
Jon Allen
{...}!ihnp4!acpy01!jallenwardlaw@hope.UUCP (05/20/86)
> Can someone tell me if I buy a 520ST with the DS disk drives, will I > be able to read/write SS disks too? Or must I get both drives in order > to read/write both types? And what format is most prevalent? Thanx. I have a 1040 ST and it has an internal DS drive. I can format, read, and write either SS or DS diskettes in it. All software that I have seen for the ST has been distributed on SS diskettes, including the packaged software that came from Atari with the machine (First Word, ST BASIC, LOGO, and NEOchrome). The DS drive can determine whether or not the diskette is SS or DS. You cannot read DS formatted diskettes on SD drives, however. I would recommend the DS drive (possibly two of them if you can afford it, since copying files in GEM can be a real pain in the *** if you only have 1 drive. I would also recommend that you grab the sources for the RAMDISK that was posted recently. It makes a big difference!) If you have any further questions, please let me know. I think that this is a great way to learn about the machine before actually using it! /*********************************************************\ ** Johnie Wardlaw, Undergraduate: Computer Science ** ** University of California, Riverside ** ** {ucbvax!ucdavis, ihnp4!ucla-cs} hope!ucrmath!wardlaw ** ** ** ** "The lights are on, but nobody's home!" ** ** -- Universal Studios, Black Box ** \*********************************************************/
manis@ubc-cs.UUCP (05/22/86)
Double-sided drives (SF314's) will read single-sided disks with no problem. I do it all the time. Do *not* buy a single-sided drive--the cost is almost the same (in Canada, at least), and you will rapidly run out of disk space.