cole@noao.edu (Lonnie Cole) (02/24/89)
This is my first posting to the net so please excuse if I mess up. I am looking for sources, binaries, info, etc for any device drivers/programs which will allow MS-DOS to format/read/write standard double sided/double density floppies on a High density drive but to a higher capacity than the normal 360k format. Let me explain: I have a backup program which uses a high density 96 track AT drive to do backups onto ds/dd diskettes (not HD diskettes) but instead of writing in the quad density mode it uses double density mode. This allows a disk to be written as double density but use 80 tracks instead of the normal 40 allowing for 720k as opposed to 360k. I would like to find something which would allow me to do essentially the same thing under DOS. (ds/dd disks are much cheaper than HD disks and at 720k more than 1/2 the capacity). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please E-mail responses to cole@noao.edu Thanks again. Lonnie
rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey) (02/25/89)
In article <1043@noao.UUCP> cole@noao.edu (Lonnie Cole) writes: >This is my first posting to the net so please excuse if I mess up. > >I am looking for sources, binaries, info, etc for any device drivers/programs >which will allow MS-DOS to format/read/write standard double sided/double >density floppies on a High density drive but to a higher capacity than the >normal 360k format. Let me explain: >I have a backup program which uses a high density 96 track AT drive to do >backups onto ds/dd diskettes (not HD diskettes) but instead of writing in the >quad density mode it uses double density mode. This allows a disk to be written >as double density but use 80 tracks instead of the normal 40 allowing for 720k >as opposed to 360k. > >I would like to find something which would allow me to do essentially the same >thing under DOS. (ds/dd disks are much cheaper than HD disks and at 720k more >than 1/2 the capacity). > >Any help would be greatly appreciated. What you need is a shareware program called COMFMT. It is a truly marvelous program. It is a TSR formatting program that can be called up with a couple of keystrokes. It then proceeds to format floppies in the BACKGROUND! So I can use any program and format disks at the same time. (I hate sitting around waiting for disks to format.) CONFMT supports all standard DOS formats (5.25" & 3.5") plus a couple of non-standard such as 720K on 5.25 HD drives. I have formatted DOZENS of CHEAP 5.25" disks at 720K and it works great - no errors. One caveat though, you probably will need DOS 3.2 or 3.3 (or a driver for a 720K 3.5"). I use DOS 3.3, and after formatting, I can treat the 720K diskettes just like a 360K or 1.2M - DOS automatically recognizes which format is installed in the drive. You should be able to find CONFMT.ARC on any decent PC BBS. If you can't, I might be able to post it here or in comp.binaries.
ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) (02/27/89)
In article <7923@xanth.cs.odu.edu> rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey) writes: >In article <1043@noao.UUCP> cole@noao.edu (Lonnie Cole) writes: >> >>I am looking for sources, binaries, info, etc for any device drivers/programs >>which will allow MS-DOS to format/read/write standard double sided/double >>density floppies on a High density drive but to a higher capacity than the >>normal 360k format. > >What you need is a shareware program called COMFMT. Also available is a non-tsr program called 800KFMAT written by Allan Jones. It works quite well and seems to be reliable. If it is not already posted on simtel, I will post it in pd1:<msdos.dskutil>. Daniel Durbin___________________________________________________ SysOp: Cygnus X-1 BBS | CIS: 73447,1744 (805) 541-8505 (data) | GEnie: D.DURBIN EL major at PolySlo | ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU
ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) (02/27/89)
In article <8606@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) writes: > > Also available is a non-tsr program called 800KFMAT written by > Allan Jones. It works quite well and seems to be reliable. > > If it is not already posted on simtel, I will post it in > pd1:<msdos.dskutil>. > 800ks.arc is posted on simtel in pd1:<msdos.at>
rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey) (03/05/89)
In article <8606@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) writes: >In article <7923@xanth.cs.odu.edu> rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey) writes: >>In article <1043@noao.UUCP> cole@noao.edu (Lonnie Cole) writes: >>> >>>I am looking for sources, binaries, info, etc for any device drivers/programs >>>which will allow MS-DOS to format/read/write standard double sided/double >>>density floppies on a High density drive but to a higher capacity than the >>>normal 360k format. >> >>What you need is a shareware program called COMFMT. > > Also available is a non-tsr program called 800KFMAT written by > Allan Jones. It works quite well and seems to be reliable. > I would be curious to know what machines/dos version that 800KFMAT will work on. I tried it on three different PCs (UNISYS 386, Honeywell AP, and Zenith) without success. The format program seems to work fine, but none of the machines will recognize the 800K format either with or without the 800K driver program. On the other hand, CONFMT will format diskettes that I can read on ALL of the PCs (as long as they are using DOS 3.3). And no driver is needed!
ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) (03/05/89)
>I would be curious to know what machines/dos version that 800KFMAT will >work on. I tried it on three different PCs (UNISYS 386, Honeywell AP, >and Zenith) without success. The format program seems to work fine, but >none of the machines will recognize the 800K format either with or >without the 800K driver program. > 800kfmat works ok on my ATIGA1000 286 At Clone using MS DOS 3.2 I haven't tried the program on other machines and don't know what it was originally written on/for, but the author mentions something about some BIOS having trouble with single/double stepping.
Star-Raider@cup.portal.com (Jack Wahoo Pettrey) (03/06/89)
I use the 800k format routine all the time with no problems on my Northgate AT-Clone. I'm sure compatability depends on the machine's BIOS routines... in my case, it's Award. Just one more of a plethora of reasons that Northgate has the best clones going, folks. (An unpaid, unrequested advertisement.)
marty@homxc.UUCP (M.B.BRILLIANT) (03/07/89)
From article <7979@xanth.cs.odu.edu>, by rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey): [ about formatting DSDD floppies above 360K on a high-density drive ] > .... > I would be curious to know what machines/dos version that 800KFMAT will > work on. I tried it on three different PCs (UNISYS 386, Honeywell AP, > and Zenith) without success. The format program seems to work fine, but > none of the machines will recognize the 800K format either with or > without the 800K driver program. > > On the other hand, CONFMT will format diskettes that I can read on ALL > of the PCs (as long as they are using DOS 3.3). And no driver is needed! I can't tell you where 800KFMAT works, but I can tell you that on my system, CONFMT didn't do any better than 800KFMAT at 800K. In both cases I got "sector not found" errors trying to write large files (or trying to read after writing). I am running MS-DOS 3.3 on an XTurbo clone with a DTK motherboard, a DTK/ERSO BIOS, and DTK add-ons. Another aspect of failed 800K formatting is that thereafter the diskette gives "sector not found" errors when formatted normally at 360K. I fixed that by putting the diskette in its sleeve and erasing it with a magnet (the kind used to post things on refrigerators - take the disk to the kitchen, not the magnet to the computer nook!!! :-) M. B. Brilliant Marty AT&T-BL HO 3D-520 (201) 949-1858 Home (201) 946-8147 Holmdel, NJ 07733 att!homxc!marty Disclaimer: Opinions stated herein are mine unless and until my employer explicitly claims them; then I lose all rights to them.
les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell) (03/08/89)
In article <5844@homxc.UUCP> marty@homxc.UUCP (M.B.BRILLIANT) writes: >From article <7979@xanth.cs.odu.edu>, by rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey): >[ about formatting DSDD floppies above 360K on a high-density drive ] .... >> I would be curious to know what machines/dos version that 800KFMAT will >> work on. I tried it on three different PCs (UNISYS 386, Honeywell AP, >> and Zenith) without success. I had no problem using 800KFMAT in an AT&T 6386 WGS and did not need the TSR to access the disks. However, now I would like to be able to access them running VP/ix under unix. Has anyone gotten that to work? If not, how about something similar using a 720K format which should look just like the 3.5" disks? Les Mikesell
aburt@isis.UUCP (Andrew Burt) (03/09/89)
In article <15426@cup.portal.com> Star-Raider@cup.portal.com (Jack Wahoo Pettrey) writes: >I use the 800k format routine all the time with no problems on my >Northgate AT-Clone. I had no problem formatting some floppies to 800k, but I went back to see how well they held the data I put on them... One gave read errors after a day of sitting, another after less than a week. Both floppies I tried were perfect initially (at 800k) -- the read/write problems developed only after time. On a generic I tried to format it would format and accept data but lose it within an hour. Those that held the data longer were higher quality floppies. I dunno... I'm not trusting any data to 800k floppies. (Unless they were 1.2Mb high density floppies... but that's a waste.) -- Andrew Burt ncar!isis!aburt "Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time."