Re: Old Diskettes

[dog_cow@macgui.com (D Finnigan)]

jacobst wrote:
> in the 80s I had an Apple II+. with a disk II drive. (Actually still
> have it, but it is boxed up).
> I wanted to get back into the Apple stuff, so I bought a IIgs on eBay
> that came with a duo disk.
> After setting up the IIgs, I am finding that most of my old 5.25 disks
> (not all) are not readable by the duo disk unit.  the ones that work
> seem to work very reliably, but for the ones that don't, I am lucky if
> I can get a catalog listing on them once in several tries.  I am not
> sure if it is the duo disk not working, or if it is just the floppies
> are just too old.
> 
> How can I tell if the problem is the duo disk unit, or the floppies
> being too old?  What is the life expectancy of the data on the floppy
> disks?  Are there any options on getting these old floppies to read so
> I can get the data off?
> 

A few tips:

The Duo Disk may need to have head cleaning. If the floppy disks weren't
written with that particular disk drive, then the drive may need speed
adjustment or head alignment.

For the floppies, let them warm up to at least room temperature. They may
even need to be a bit warmer. Leave them in the floppy drive, or on the
Apple to let them warm up a bit more.

5.25" floppy disks will last several decades. I just booted 13-sector disk
with a date of 1979 two evenings ago for the first time (I didn't realize it
was 13-sector until then).

I have used all of these techniques to copy both Apple II and Macintosh
5.25" and 3.5" disks.

-- 
]DF$
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/