Andy McFadden wrote:
In comp.sys.apple2 mdj <mdj.mdj@gmail.com> wrote:Unless such a format can allow for a bitream that records every readable flux transition in a continuous track at every possible track position, there's no way to guarantee it will not prove inadequate for some software title or another :(The canonical example is a disk with physical damage; I think Mask of the Sun used this approach. The disk has a tiny pinhole bored in it. You get inconsistent data back when reading it, and you will certainly never read back what you write.
Which is one case demonstrating the need to read each "track" multiple times to distinguish the "hard" transitions (repeatable) from the "soft" transitions (noise). This information is also required when part of the protection is the detection of an *unrecorded* area on the disk (same as a physical hole). -michael ******** Note new website URL ******** NadaNet and AppleCrate II for Apple II parallel computing! Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/ "The wastebasket is our most important design tool--and it's seriously underused."