Date   : Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:50:28 +0100 (BST)
From   : Greg Cook <debounce@...>
Subject: Re: writing and reading on 3.5 floppy

On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:17:21 +0100, salahdin mahmud <tbkc@...>
wrote:

> I have heard of a patched dfs 1.21 but hav also tried 3 *fx commands
> which 
> according to sprow do the same timing trick. I have tried the fx
> commands 
> with no luck on my 8271 fdc bbc when writing and then reading the
> data 
> although I can format and verify without problems. The ironic thing
> is that 
> files which were saved years ago using a 720k drive can be read by
> the sony 
> drived without problems.
> 
> So does the patched dfs do a lot more than the *fx commands and wsill
> it 
> enable me to save and load games to the sony floppy drive? 

Hello, and welcome to the list.

*FX 255 (if that was one of the commands) controls the speed the heads
move across the discs.  3.5in drives are fast enough to accept any
speed the BBC can do (and at the slowest speed they rattle horribly!)

I don't think this is to do with the changes in 1.20 -> 1.21.  That was
to work with newer drives that did 'seek ahead', and since you say 720K
discs read OK, the controller is probably not timing-out.

Are you formatting on new HD floppy discs?  Their magnetic properties
are different to the older "blue" 720K discs.  The amount of difference
it makes is, well, a matter of dispute on this list, but it's enough to
confuse some systems.

If possible try to find an old, blank DD disc (with only one hole in
the corner) and do your tests on that.  You can try a HD disc with the
extra hole covered up, and this may work, but it is not guaranteed to
be reliable.

Best of luck,

Greg Cook
debounce@...
http://homepages.tesco.net/~rainstorm/



       
       
               
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