Adam.Frix@f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Adam Frix) (10/11/89)
It's been brought up, for informational purposes, that it's tough to format a high-density floppy as an 800K disk, but it can be done by taping over the small hole in the floppy, the one that's across from the write-protect slider. It's also been said that taping over the hole that tells the Superdrive it's a HD floppy is not officially sanctioned by Apple, etc., because of the danger of the tape coming off in the drive. I'd like to take this opportunity to mention that tape coming off in the drive is the least of your worries. The drive can be replaced. The problem here is, the magnetic media on a HD disk has different specifications (I'm not a techie, can't remember exactly what they are) than an 800K disk. These specs are different enough that trying to format a HD as 800K and vice-versa puts your data in danger. While it may seem an inexpensive way to get HD, if you try to drill holes in 800K disks to get the Superdrive to think it's 1.4 meg, you will sooner or later (probably sooner) lose your data. This is NOT the same situation as using single-sided disks as double-sided. And, for those of you who work in II*x/PS2 offices and have access to incredibly quantities of HD disks but can't find 800K floppies for you to use at home, the same warning applies. Using HD disks in your 800K drives might work in the short run, but don't do this as a regular practice. So what's more important--adhesive tape in your drive, or lost data? --Adam-- -- Adam Frix via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH UUCP: ...!osu-cis!n8emr!cmhgate!200!Adam.Frix INET: Adam.Frix@f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG
wb1j+@andrew.cmu.edu (William M. Bumgarner) (10/13/89)
It should be safe to use the HD floppies as 800K.... basically an HD floppy has media that is manufactured to much tighter specs.... an HD should actually be just as reliable or more-so than on 800K floppy. b.bum wb1j+@andrew.cmu.eu