Date   : Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:29:59 +0100
From   : John Kortink <kortink@...>
Subject: Re: Writing Master Compact disks on a RiscPC

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:00:41 +1300, Richard Hobbis wrote:

>I have a Master Compact with built-in 3.5" floppy drive, ADFS 2.10 and 
>MOS 5.10.
>I also have a StrongARM RiscPC with 3.5" drive.
>I can format disks on the Compact to 640k using *FORMAT 0 L
>and I can write files to the disk and read them back on the Compact.
>
>I can then read the disk in the RiscPC no problem. WooHoo! But if I 
>write to it on the RiscPC, e.g. modify a BASIC program on the disk, if I
 
>then Dismount the disk from the RiscPC and put it back in the Compact 
>and do a *DIR I get a "Disc error 48 at :0/000002" error. Occasionally, 
>just occasionally, I get a directory listing but it's still followed by 
>the disc error message.
>I've tried formatting the disc on the RiscPC but the disc is not 
>readable at all on the Compact.

Not all 3.5" drives are equal. Different drives may
have heads with different widths (especially when one
is a high density drive, the other double density).
What one drive writes to a disc may be unreadable on
the other (due to differing widths of the magnetic
signals).

To ensure maximum success, both drives have to be
the same. It's possible that the high density drive
works on the Compact, and/or the double density drive
works on the Risc PC, so the cheapest solution would
be to do all reading and writing with the same drive
(i.e. (re-)attach the drive to both machines, every
disc). A better solution is to try and get two of the
exact same drive and attach one to both machines.


John Kortink

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