[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Q:400k disk = Which blocks?



In article <560f31$5u8@login.freenet.columbus.oh.us>
dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Althoff) writes:
>Okay, so I want to directly access a 400k 3.5" disk using the ProDOS block
>read command.  Can anyone tell me which blocks I need to read?  Is it, for
>instance, all odd-numbered blocks, all even numbered blocks, the first
>half of the disk...or what?

Assuming you're using a device that supports 400K disks (I have a vague
recollection that the Unidisk 3.5 doesn't), just give READ_BLOCK a block
number in the range 0...799--i.e. treat the disk as if it occupied the
first half of an 800K disk.

The actual physical relationship between block numbers on a 400K disk and
block numbers on an 800K disk is a lot more compilated than that, but the
interface firmware automatically recognizes 400K disks and performs the
necessary translations transparently.

               - Neil Parker
-- 
Neil Parker                       | No cute quote, no cute ASCII art, no cute
nparker@cie-2.uoregon.edu         | disclaimer, no deposit, no return....
nparker@cie.uoregon.edu           | (This space intentionally left blank:
http://cie-2.uoregon.edu/~nparker |                                           )