[Coco] Frustrated in Seattle

[Bob Devries]

Ed, you said:
> (4) At 0058 (hex) error 243 is generated (this seems to happen just after 
> the head does a "re-seek" (my word for what happens) and the errors 
> continue until I abort the format

The re-seek you are hearing is normal for that size disk. That is the OS 
writing the first sector of the file allocation table to the disk at sector 
2 of track 0.

As to getting error 243, which is CRC Error, this means that somehow the 
data is being corrupted  after it is written to the disk.

When I was using 3.5" disks (not doing so now) I used 720K drives and 720K 
floppies. I did not modify the descriptor. Even if you use 1.4MB drives, and 
suitably modified 1.4MB disks (remembering that the coco cannot do the data 
rate of 1.4MB drives), you should not need to modify the 80 track 
descriptor.

--
Regards, Bob Devries, Dalby, Queensland, Australia

Isaiah 50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me
the capacity to be his spokesman,
so that I know how to help the weary.

website: http://www.home.gil.com.au/~bdevasl
my blog: http://bdevries.invigorated.org/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ed Orbea" <ed.orbea at gmail.com>
To: "Coco Group @ Maltedmedia.com" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 12:55 PM
Subject: [Coco] Frustrated in Seattle


>I am getting frustrated with my attempts to utilize 3.5" floppy drives with 
>NitrOS9. It is not the fault of the O/S, rather it is my lack of knowledge, 
>so I am asking for some help or guidance.
> My system is a CoCo3 with a Cloud-9 512kb memory upgrade
> Either a Disto Super Controller II or a Tandy Controller (26-3129)
> Roy's VGA converter
> NitrOS9, 6809 Level II, Revision Date: 2006-03-02
> DriveWire 2.0
>
> When I use either controller, and the correct drivers, I have absolutely 
> no problems with 5.25 diskettes. I have a couple of different disk drive 
> configurations
> (a) Dual 360k DSDD 40 track drives (standard 40dd descriptor)
> (b) Dual 1.2m DSHD 80 track drives (standard 80dd descriptor, but using 
> 5.25 DSDD media)
> (c) Single 360k DSDD 40 track & Single 1.2m DSHD 80 track (standard 40dd 
> and 80dd descriptors)
> On all 1.2m drives, I have pins 1-4 taped over as per previous messages in 
> this group
>
> I am aware that I am "fudging the system" by using 5.25 DSDD diskettes as 
> 3.25 diskettes. The descriptor for these drives/disks shows:
> Format: CoCo
> Size: 3 1/2"
> Sect per Track: 18
> Track 0, Sect per Track: 18
> Physical Cylinders: 80
> Track Offset: 0
> Sector Offset: 1
> Min Sector Allocation: 8
> Recording Format: MFM
> Track Density: 135
> # of logical cylinders: 80
> Surface: 2
> Interleave: 3
> And as I said, I have had absolutely no problems with any drives/media but 
> in all cases I am using DSDD media.
>
> Now, I want to convert to 3.5" media. I have purchased several TEAC 
> FD-235HF drives from a local PC recycler. The TEAC drive I an first 
> attempting to use (I have cleaned it out and tested it on a Windows XP 
> system, and it all works correctly) is the model 4291. This model has 10 
> jumpers which can be seen at: 
> www.teac.co.jp/dspd/product/magnetic/jumper/fd_jumper.html
>
> This drive is set as DS1. According to the specs on this drive, HA, HI, 
> HO, and LHI are used to select density mode bu either interface pin #2 pr 
> High Density hole selector.
> (1) I have jumpered HI and LHI so the drive will set the HD level to LOW.
> (2) I have jumpered HA which should utilize the sensor
>
> Now, I am using HD (1.44 IBM type) 3.5" media, not 720 media. I have tried 
> it with the density hole covered (with black tape) and uncovered. 
> Regardless of the way I jumper the drive or cover/uncover the density hole 
> on the media, the following occurs.
> (1) Format the media with a default 80dd descriptor (confirmed by dmode)
> (2) The format portion completes without any error
> (3) After entering a disk name (using any text) the verify portion starts
> (4) At 0058 (hex) error 243 is generated (this seems to happen just after 
> the head does a "re-seek" (my word for what happens) and the errors 
> continue until I abort the format
>
> So, for those of you who are using 3.5" media with NitrOS9:
> (1) What floppy drives are you using (720 or 1.44)?
> (2) What media are you using (720 or 1.44)?
> (3) Did you modify your 80dd descriptor and if so what did you change?
> (4) Did you have to do any "jumpering" or pin-covering on your 3.5" 
> drives?
> (5) What question do I need to ask, that I am ignorant about, and thus, 
> don't know to ask?
>
> Thanks
>
> Ed
>
>
>
>
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