Re: Apple II-Or Come on people, It's a 20 year old computer

[russotto@wanda.vf.pond.com (Matthew T. Russotto)]

In article <398f2417$1@hal.grnco.net>, Arkain <rwking@no.usa.spam.net> wrote:
}Note: The medium was 80 track, not 35.

80 discrete positions of the read-write head doesn't mean 80 tracks.

}There were several problems with the original controllers though. Due to the
}use of common grade components, the read-write head was too large to write
}to individual consecutive tracks. 

Not the fault of the controllers, but the drives themselves.

}That brought the # down to 40. Some of the old A2+
}hardware couldn't handle going the full 40 and would overwrite track #35
}when trying to write to the last 5 tracks. So the original format was made
}35 track.

Right, the original Disk IIs from Shugart couldn't reach Tracks 36-39.
(they could reach Track 35, but it wasn't used anyway, possibly just
to give a margin of error.  Copy protected disks used it often enough)

}Later versions of the disk controller didn't have the same track motion
}limitations. That lead to a slew of formatting software to format disks at
}40 tracks instead of the standard 35. I enjoyed using 160K floppies.

Again, it wasn't the controller, it was the drive itself.  There was
a hardware hack (basically, bending the piece which stopped the
arm) to get 40 tracks out of even the original Disk II.

-- 
Matthew T. Russotto                                russotto@pond.com
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in pursuit
of justice is no virtue."