[Coco] Why not 5.25 with XP?

[Mike Pepe]

David wrote:
> Hi Phil, thanks for the reply
> 
> Not being overly-techy when it comes to disk structures, etc..
> 
> Would it be possible to read two 256 byte (coco) sectors as one 512 byte 
> sectors, and decode in software?

No, the sector is a monolithic unit that contains a preamble, CRC error 
detection, and other control information. Attempting to read a 512 byte 
sector on a 256 byte disk will result in nothing more than a very 
confused disk controller.

> When writing out, you'd need to first read in the 512 bytes, modify the 
> sector(s) as required, then write out as a 512 byte block.

It's not that simple, I'm afraid. Now, under OS9, you could do something 
like split a 512 byte sector into two pieces... but that's not what 
you're asking.

> Although this is double-handling, with smart use of software buffering 
> etc it would work well.. as long as the hardware can be fooled into 
> playing along

There are drivers under OS9 that do something similar for IDE drives, 
but that's another story. Stuff that Cloud9 sells, for instance.

> Of course, I'm probably not only barking up the wrong tree, but in the 
> wrong yard altogether

Well, I think you're in the right yard!

-Mike