Date   : Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:33:02 +0100
From   : "Ian Wolstenholme" <BBCMailingList@...>
Subject: Re: Floppy woes

The format & verify (and *FREE & *MAP for that matter) commands 
weren't part of 8271 DFS, ie. versions 0.9, 0.98 & 1.20.  These were
only brought in when the 1770 upgrade came out, ie. DFS versions
2.0 onwards.

Generally the supplier of the disc drive would include a utility disc
containing the disc formatter & verifier or these could be found on
the BBC Model B welcome disc.

Best wishes,



Ian


----- Original Message -----
From: David Harper
To:  <bbc-micro@...>
Sent:  Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:04:47 +0100
Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Floppy woes

Charlie Robson wrote:

> I have 6 x 5.25 drives on my desk, and nearly all the ones that spin up 
> all
> report disk fault 18 at 00/00. I suspect they're all 40T.

This is the common fault when disks are not formatted, or have been formated 
in DD (such as by ADFS or on a PC). It is worth trying with disks that you 
know are DFS formatted ones.

> There is one promising drive that will go further and seek, but the seek
> ends in the head twitching for a second and then giving the error 18 at
> 14/03.
>
> I don't have the DFS utils disk so therefore can't format any floppies :(

DFS did not come with a utilities disk. All the commands you need are in the 
ROM. Syntax for formatting is:

    *FORM <40 | 80> <Drive no>

where the first parameter is the number of tracks. If you don't know about 
the drives, try formatting with 40 tracks first for safety.

> ...
>
> Can anyone offer me words of advice, a pat on the shoulder or failing that
> a large g&t?

Hard to do the latter via the Internet, but best of luck.