Date   : Fri, 21 Oct 2005 22:53:43 +0100
From   : Jon Ripley <jon@...>
Subject: Re: PC World 3.5" floppy drives

Pete Turnbull wrote:
> On Oct 21 2005, 21:50, Richard Gellman wrote:
> 
>>BUT... I can *read* an A4000-formatted floppy (formmated as L (640K))
>>in the PC World drive.
>>
>>I bet I can't successfully write to it...
>>
>>Yup. That corrupted it.
 >
> I suspect what's actually happening is that the drive is set for the
> wrong density, ie is using the wrong write current.  Is this a
> high-density-capable drive?

The drive itself may not be an issue here. I am wondering whether a 
high-density disk has been formatted to ADFS L format. The A4000 will 
allow a DS/HD disk to be formatted to a DS/DD format and it will appear 
to work very well, however when the high-density disk is put into the 
drive attached to the Beeb the drive will not allow the disk to be read.

If you're using a double density disk just ignore this post, if not then 
cover the HD detection hole or use a double density disk instead.

The drives used in Acorn Archimedes machines are not the least bit fussy 
about writing disks at the wrong density.

Have fun,
Jon Ripley
-- 
http://jonripley.com/