Re: Disk reading problem

["Frank Townsend" <ftownsen@nospam.net>]

With Michael's suggestion in mind I tried a BASIC CATALOG which produced the
"I/O ERROR."
Next, a volume verify with Copy II Plus gave the message "Not a DOS 3.3 or
ProDOS disk."

Hmmm.

A look with Ewen Wannop's "Chameleon" gave the answer:  both disks are
PASCAL diskettes which catalog normally and which I can no doubt copy.

Mystery solved!


"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
20040128160447.11601.00000819@mb-m12.aol.com">news:20040128160447.11601.00000819@mb-m12.aol.com...
> Frank Townsend wrote:
>
> >I have two 5-1/4" Apple II disks that will not (apparently) read or
catalog.
> >
> >One is a BASF FlexyDisk "1x hardsectored 10 sector holes"
> >The other is a Wabash "SoftSector Single Side/Single Density" with
> >"48TPI35/40 Tracks"
> >
> >The drive light illuminates then goes on to the next drive when I try to
> >catalog using the catalog utility from ShrinkIt.  Even BlockWarden
(ProSel8)
> >won't read the disk.
> >
> >Is there anything I can do to retrieve the data or browse what is there?
>
> Those disks are compatible with Apple II drives, though the hard-sectoring
> is not used by Apple.  SSSD is the minimum standard for Apple II disks,
> so you're OK there.
>
> If you attempt to catalog them, even in BASIC, it should spin the disk
> for a while, re-calibrate a couple of times, and then eventually surrender
> with an "I/O ERROR" if the catalogs cannot be read.  Just flashing the
> light doe snot indicate that reading has even been attempted.  How long
> does the light stay on, and what noises does the drive make when it is?
>
> The brief flashing of the light you describe sounds like the "volume scan"
> that some programs do (like ProSel) in order to give you a volume name
> menu to select a disk for cataloging.
>
> You can override this by specifying a slot and drive, which will result
> in the full round of catalog read attempts described above.
>
> If the catalog cannot be read by BASIC, then either the disk is copy-
> protected or parts of the catalog have become unreadable.  In either
> case, running Copy II Plus and doing a volume verify is my next step.
>
> That will give you a report of the bad (unreadable by standard read
> routines) sectors on the disk, and should give you a good idea of
> whether only a few sectors are unreadable (most data recoverable)
> or _most_ are unreadable, suggesting: 1) a badly deteriorated disk,
> 2) a dirty, slow, or otherwise non-functioning disk drive, or 3) a
> copy-protected disk that will require advanced methods to copy
> and/or recover.
>
> -michael
>
> Check out amazing quality sound for 8-bit Apples on my
> Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/