chuck@UMBC1.UMBC.EDU ("Chuck Rickard; ", PC) (07/19/89)
> I have an AT compatible with a 720KB 3.5" floppy as drive B and would >like to format diskettes for use on an Atari 520 ST with a 360KB 3.5" floppy. >The ST's drive is SS/DD while the AT's drive is DS/DD. MS-DOS v3.30 does >not allow me to format a 3.5" disk single-sided. Is there a PD format >that would allow me to format a single-sided disk? If not, can someone >supply me with the correct parameters for formatting the disk single-sided >so that I can attempt to modify an 800K format program (800KFMAT) to do the >trick. > Has any ST user accomplished this on any IBM compatible??? > >Dzung Hoang >hoang@comus.cs.tulane.edu >tulane!comus!hoang At one point I was in the same position you are now in, and I found that the only way I could do this was to format the disk on the IBM in SS/DS 40 track mode. This only allows for 180K per disk, but it works. Another thing you could try is formatting it SS 80 track, and then copying the boot sector from an IBM disk onto the Atari disk. Chuck Rickard UMBC Academic Computing CHUCK@UMBC
liebo@csclea.ncsu.edu (Dr. Stan Liebowitz) (07/19/89)
There is an easier way that probably will work. Get a public domain formatter calledsuch as eeDC format. Format the disk with 80 tracks, 9 sectors, and pick the ibm boot option. This is easier than copying the boot sector over. I have found DC formatted disks can be read by IBM, although I can vouch for single sided.