pjd@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Peter J. Dotzauer) (07/18/89)
Does anyone have a systematic documentation and explanation of problems related to handling low-density diskettes on high-density drives? Detailed questions that relate to this problem complex are below: 1) Why are there problems (sometimes, but obviously not always) in reading low density diskettes on a low density drive that have been formatted on high density drives using the /4 switch? 2) Does this problem also apply to 3 1/2 " drives? 3) Are there ever problems when a diskette is formatted on a low-density drive, but written-to on a high-density drive (if you later want to read it on a low-density drive again).
lance@helios (Lance Bresee) (07/19/89)
I have heard that the write head current is lower on high density drives. The tracs recorded by these high density heads, though spaced as for low density drives, are narrower, so present less current to the low density drive read head, sometimes causing problems. I have never had any difficulty reading from low density drives files that have been written with a high density drive when the disk has been FORMATTED BY the low density drive first.