[Coco] Dumb way to write 3.5" floppy in Coco RSBASIC?
KnudsenMJ at aol.com
KnudsenMJ at aol.com
Sat Dec 6 18:10:09 EST 2003
I alluded to something in passing that some folks didn't understand what I
was asking or wondering about. Well, here it is:
My Coco3 has 3 disk drives -- two 5.25" and one 720K 3.5".
I use the 3" drive only under OS-9, with the /C0 descriptor.
Now, my dumb question is this:
If I stick a blank 3" floppy in it, and while still in RSBASIC, simply type
FORMAT #2 (which is what BASIC would call this drive),
will BASIC go ahead and do a SS 35T format of this disk?
Without complaining? Probably, RSBASIC doesn't look around very much :-)
Now, second question: Suppose I copy some BASIC files to this disk, again
without telling BASIC what I'm doing and hoping it can't tell.
I then stick this 3.5" floppy in my PC, run Jeff V's Import.exe or whatever,
and try to read this disk the way I used to read 5.25" floppies on my old PC.
Will this work?
Will I have to "lie" to DOS by temporarily hacking the BIOS settings about my
PC drive? It's a high-density model, and I've heard you have to tell the
BIOS CMOS settings that it's something else (like 8", I forget).
Any predictions what will happen? I'd like to find a way to get some BASIC
code of mine onto the PC for sharing with others. I do have a 5.25" drive,
actually several, lying around, but don't know their condition . I do have room
in my PC.
Thanks, Mike K.
More information about the Coco
mailing list