[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Hub ring

ugfailau@sunybcs (Fai Lau) (12/22/87)

	A while ago someone mentioned why there is no hub
rings on HD diskettes. Well, in this month's issue
of PCResource there is an article about floppies.
Let me quote the author

	"The hub ring, an integral part of all 5-1/4 inch, DS, DD
disk, seems intended to correct these conditions [controlling
the size of the center hole]. Not so. Without exception, every
technician I talked to said the hub ring no longer serves a purpose,
if it ever did. Worse, if you don't put the hub on right, it can
throw off the center hole or distort the disk."

	Take it for what it's worth.

Fai  Lau
SUNY at Buffalo (The Arctic Wonderland)
UU: ..{rutgers,ames}!sunybcs!ugfailau
BI: ugfailau@sunybcs INT: ugfailau@cs.buffalo.EDU

caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) (12/30/87)

In article <7424@sunybcs.UUCP> ugfailau@sunybcs.UUCP (Fai Lau) writes:
:
:	A while ago someone mentioned why there is no hub
:rings on HD diskettes. Well, in this month's issue
:of PCResource there is an article about floppies.
:Let me quote the author
:
:	"The hub ring, an integral part of all 5-1/4 inch, DS, DD
:disk, seems intended to correct these conditions [controlling
:the size of the center hole]. Not so. Without exception, every
:technician I talked to said the hub ring no longer serves a purpose,
:if it ever did. Worse, if you don't put the hub on right, it can
:throw off the center hole or distort the disk."

Putting a hub ring on a diskette that has data on it is risky.
It's best to do it before using it.  Sometimes one doesn't have
that choice because the diskette's center hold has been munched
by inserting it in the drive.  That's why virtually all DSDD
diskettes come with a reinforced center hole.

HD drives and some other drives spin the hub when a diskette is
inserted, so HD diskettes don't need the reinforcement.  PROVIDED
you don't insert the diskette when the machine is turned off.

I can assure you, disk drives can and do crunch the center hole
of unreinfoeced diskettes unless they are spinning when you put the
diskette in.