[Coco] Dumb way to write 3.5" floppy in Coco RSBASIC?

KnudsenMJ at aol.com KnudsenMJ at aol.com
Sat Dec 6 18:10:09 EST 2003


I alluded to something in passing that some folks didn't understand what I 
was asking or wondering about.  Well, here it is:

My Coco3 has 3 disk drives -- two 5.25" and one 720K 3.5".
I use the 3" drive only under OS-9, with the /C0 descriptor.

Now, my dumb question is this:
If I stick a blank 3" floppy in it, and while still in RSBASIC, simply type
FORMAT #2 (which is what BASIC would call this drive),
will BASIC go ahead and do a SS 35T format of this disk?
Without complaining?  Probably, RSBASIC doesn't look around very much :-)

Now, second question:  Suppose I copy some BASIC files to this disk, again 
without telling BASIC what I'm doing and hoping it can't tell.

I then stick this 3.5" floppy in my PC, run Jeff V's Import.exe or whatever, 
and try to read this disk the way I used to read 5.25" floppies on my old PC.
Will this work?
Will I have to "lie" to DOS by temporarily hacking the BIOS settings about my 
PC drive?  It's a high-density model, and I've heard you have to tell the 
BIOS CMOS settings that it's something else (like 8", I forget).

Any predictions what will happen?  I'd like to find a way to get some BASIC 
code of mine onto the PC for sharing with others.  I do have a 5.25" drive, 
actually several, lying around, but don't know their condition .  I do have room 
in my PC.
Thanks, Mike K.



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