Re: argh! linux and floppies
[This message has also been posted to linux.debian.user.]
In article <7bTgB-6hm-15@gated-at.bofh.it>, Mark Grieveson wrote:
>> I did try to use superformat. It seemed to do the low level format
>> OK, but then it got to running mformat and the drive just made a whole
>> lot of noise and eventually gave me the following error: ....
>>
>>
> This is exactly what happens with me as well.
One more thing. Scraping the mold helps the head contact the
surface better, but it doesn't erase the remnants of the old
tracks very well. Those old tracks impose background noise
on the new ones and make read errors more likely. Use
a bulk eraser if you can. The ones they sell for audio
tape work fine. Scrape the mold, then bulk erase, then format.
I don't know what fine adjustments superformat thinks it's
making. It's been a long time since I looked at the NEC
floppy controller but I don't remember it having very many
knobs to twiddle. I suspect its reputation for doing a
"better" format than fdformat may be due to it doing
a mold scraping pass first.
But the best advice is just avoid floppy disks if you
possibly can. Fry's has a 1 GB USB flash drive for US$15
after the rebate. That's 700 floppies' worth and it fits
on your keyring. They had a 128 MB drive for three bucks.
Floppies are obsolete.
Cameron
Reply to: