Date   : Sat, 17 May 1997 08:43:38 +0200
From   : "Mark Usher" <marku@...>
Subject: The Beloved Beeb and Disc Drives (cont....)

Thanks for all your comments / pointers earlier in the week.

Quick reminder

BBC ------- 31/2--------------51/4 
8271        PC 1.44             BBC Standard (320 ?)

So after exhaustive testing, I've managed to work out that the 3 1/2 drive
was causing the problem along with the format progam from the AcornUser SWR
utils.  Changed the Acorn 1.20 DFS to Watford 1.44 DFS and changed the
drive to a SONY MPF520-1. *form80 1, and Bob's your uncle.
Some other DFS kept bringing sector errors,  Watford 1.43 also somtimes on
4F/FF, ie when it tried to "close" the format.

Now I can format a 3 1/2 DD disk quite happily.  But using it is a
different story.
It is the same if I take a 1.2MB 5 1/4 drive.  I am using DD disks,
formatting them but getting Bad Sector errors when I try and copy to them. 
I presume that I must try and switch them into a SD or at least a DD mode.

Am I right in this, or am I missing something more fundamental ?
Advice on the best 8271 based DFS to use would also be appreciated.

Mark Usher