Problem formatting DS,HD diskettes on Kaypro

[durgadas311]

I just got a box of NOS 3M floppies that are DS,HD (pre-formatted for IBM) and I cannot format them on my Kaypro. If I try the "image" option I get a WRITE ERROR and if I try the "blank" option I get a CHECKSUM ERROR. The cut-outs on the jackets are identical to the 3M DS,DD floppies I used successfully just last week. I checked and there is only one index hole (they are not hard-sectored). Does anyone have any idea why these DS,HD diskettes don't work?

 

[compaqportableplus]

You can't format HD (High Density) disks in a double density drive and expect them to work reliably. HD disks have a different type of magnetic coating that doesn't play well with DD drives.

 

[rittwage]

Yes, the magnetic coercivity is much higher on 5.25" HD diskettes, so you can't write to them reliably with DD drive.

 

[ldkraemer]

Yes, stick with DS/DD Floppy's formatted for 80 Tracks, Double Sides, DD which are called Quad Density
on a 96 TPI Floppy Drive. (((80 Tracks x 2) * Number of Sectors) * Bytes per Sector) = Quad Density

# 22DISK
BEGIN KAY4  Kaypro, Pro-8 ROM - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25" - 512 x 10
DENSITY MFM, LOW
CYLINDERS 80 SIDES 2 SECTORS 10,512 SKEW 4
SIDE1 0 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
SIDE2 0 20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29
ORDER SIDES
BSH 5 BLM 31 EXM 3 DSM 196 DRM 95 AL0 080H AL1 0 OFS 2
END

# KAY4  Kaypro, Pro-8 ROM - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25" - 512 x 10
diskdef kay4
  seclen 512
  tracks 80
  sectrk 20
  secbase 0
  blocksize 4096
  maxdir 96
  skew 1
  offset 10240
  boottrk 0
  os 2.2
end

# libdsk
[kay4]
description = KAY4  Kaypro, Pro-8 ROM - DSDD 96 tpi 5.25" - 512 x 10
sides = extsurface
cylinders = 160
heads = 2
secsize = 512
sectors = 10
secbase = 0
datarate = DD

# Flashfloppy/GOTEK
[kay4]
cyls = 80
heads = 2
secs = 10
interleave = 1
bps = 512
id = 0
#rpm = 360
rpm = 300
rate = 250
mode = mfm
iam = no

Larry