[comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware] Floppies

chris@genly.UUCP (Chris Hind Genly) (06/20/91)

Thanks to all those that sent email anwering my questions about floppies.
Here is a summary:

5 1/4 inch
----------

     DS DD, 40 tracks, 9 sectors/track,  360K formatted
     DS HD, 80 tracks,                ,  1.2M formatted, 1.4(?) raw

- Diskette case is identical for the DD and HD diskettes.  There is no
  hole or slot in the case to distinguish between the two densities.

- Coercivity of HD diskettes is about twice that of DD diskettes.
  So a DD drive cannot make enough signal impression on an HD diskette.

- The HD track 0 is about .100" closer to the hub than the DD track 0.
  Many HD disks don't have acceptable media where track 0 of a DD diskette
  would be.


3 1/2 inch
----------

     DS DD 80 tracks,  9 sectors/track,  720K formatted, 1M raw
     DS HD 80 tracks, 18 sectors/track, 1.44M formatted, 2M raw
     DS ED                              2.88M formatted, 4M raw,
                                        requires DOS 5.0 and above.

- DD and HD diskettes have roughly the same coercivities.

- HD diskettes have a square hole in the plastic casing directly opposite
  from the write-protect hole.  DD diskettes do not.


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----------------------------------------------------------------

hartung@crl.ucsd.edu (Jeff Hartung) (06/20/91)

In article <chris.4257@genly.UUCP> chris@genly.UUCP (Chris Hind Genly) writes:
<3 1/2 inch
<----------
<
<     DS DD 80 tracks,  9 sectors/track,  720K formatted, 1M raw
<     DS HD 80 tracks, 18 sectors/track, 1.44M formatted, 2M raw
<     DS ED                              2.88M formatted, 4M raw,
<                                        requires DOS 5.0 and above.
<
<- DD and HD diskettes have roughly the same coercivities.
<
<- HD diskettes have a square hole in the plastic casing directly opposite
		       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
<  from the write-protect hole.  DD diskettes do not.

...and we all know the trick one can therefore use to format DD 3.5" diskettes
at 1.44 Mb, right?  :-)  Of course, one must take care not to damage the
diskette when punching the hole into the plastic casing, and I wouldn't
recommend this for anything you don't have a second, more reliable copy of
somewhere (i.e., don't use these for hard disk backups, etc. :-)

-- 
 --Jeff Hartung--  	
 Disclaimer: My opinions only, etc., etc., BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!...
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 UUCP - ucsd!crl.ucsd.edu!hartung

donm@pnet07.cts.com (Don Maslin) (06/21/91)

>
>5 1/4 inch
>----------
>       [...]
>- The HD track 0 is about .100" closer to the hub than the DD track 0.
>  Many HD disks don't have acceptable media where track 0 of a DD diskette
>  would be.
>
If that is so, why doesn't a HD drive get 'confused' when reading a DD
diskette?


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