6BQ5 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 It's been a long time since I knew the lay of the land so to speak. Which floppy disks should I search for that could work in a 1050 and a XF551 drive? Are there any currently manufactured floppies out there? I don't have a drive yet but want some floppies on hand for testing when I do get a drive. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR> Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Double Sided Double Density (DSDD) 5.25" Floppy Disks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6BQ5 Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Any brands in particular to search for or avoid? Or, all they all generally similar enough it doesn't matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 (edited) I doubt 5.25" floppies were produced beyond the mid-late 90s. It'd be interesting to know, maybe 1 or 2 manufacturers stuck around. I have lots of Memorex and don't think any have gone bad... which is more than I can say for their optical media which had a high fail rate. Verbatim have always been pretty good though I've got plenty of their DVDs but few floppies. Had a box or 2 of Fuji - they tend to not make junk and all still good. The media companies that have good reputation today and were around then generally had good floppies. Not sure of the specifics but probably avoid the high density 1.2 Meg ones, likely they have the same low signal strength as the HD 3.5" ones. Hard sectored supposedly fine. And single or double sided, can't say I ever had issue with disks only certified as SS. re are they still made - seems these guys manufacture floppy disks still http://www.athana.com/ Edited January 2, 2019 by Rybags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Avoid the 96 tpi (tracks per inch) type, they are for later PC systems with 1.2mb storage capacity as Rybags mentioned go for 48 tpi instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 (edited) There's also the extra index holes requirement for XF551 to do "flippies" but isn't that only for the initial format? Edited January 2, 2019 by Rybags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 There's also the extra index holes requirement for XF551 to do "flippies" but isn't that only for the initial format? Depends on the drive mech. Some won't read flippies at all w/o that hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I'm only speaking from reading 2nd hand information online, but I've gathered 'Mitsumi' mech XF551's can read/write flippies without using index hole on 2nd side, just can't format. 'Chinon' mechs cannot even read a flippy reverse side without index hole. Mitsumi mechs are apparently later in XF551 production timeline, and most common in North America, and Chinon's are from earlier in the production timeline and more common in Europe. I recently opened a BNIB box of Fuji M2-DD disks, and they are great quality - glassy like coating on the magnetic surface makes for almost silent operation when turning. (Most 'matte' looking disk media are very noisy nowadays due to friction inside the disk sleeves). Here is a current ebay buy it now listing for a sealed box of these same disks: https://www.ebay.com/itm/283211051915 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 (edited) I got a box of sealed 3m DD and Sony DD and those are working great. I guess we have to stick to TDK, Kodak (Verbatim), Sony, Fuji in general. No bad experiences with Dysan, 3M or Memorex. But I don't know why I rate them a little lower. I had problems with Precision and Platinum (Syncom) ones. At least for me, I try to stay away from unbranded or retail branded diskettes. I got one box of used SKC ones made in Korea. 10 year ago, I worked in automation and they were trashing old stuff from old automation system. I "save" them from the trash and re-formatted them. Those have been working wonderfully for me, very smooth ones, but I guess there are very hard to find nowadays. Another thing, I can confirm that Mitsumi based XF551 can read and write the b side without problems. I tried to use mydos, Sparta, or DosXE so don't need to do flip diskettes. If I need to create a flippy, I format the b side using a 1050. At the time (90's) I ask a friend who owned a 1050 to format the b side for me. Edited January 3, 2019 by manterola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 The only brand that I have bad experiences with is Nashua. Even the cheapest 'white brand' 5.25" ds/dd disks do still work error free. Although I have all the modern inventions in atari 8bit storage land, I still love old fashioned floppy disks (and sometimes even tape lol) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 It's been a long time since I knew the lay of the land so to speak. Which floppy disks should I search for that could work in a 1050 and a XF551 drive? Are there any currently manufactured floppies out there? I don't have a drive yet but want some floppies on hand for testing when I do get a drive. Thanks! Check out this page: http://www.athana.com/html/diskette.html I've had Athana, and don't remember any issues with them. OTOH, I have lots of good used diskettes (cheap). If you are interested, send me a PM. -Larry 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) As if there is that much choice in 2018 2019..... Edited January 4, 2019 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) Check out this page: http://www.athana.com/html/diskette.html I've had Athana, and don't remember any issues with them. OTOH, I have lots of good used diskettes (cheap). If you are interested, send me a PM. -Larry While their disks were quite good, the factory-glued Athana labels began to go mouldy after approx. 3 years. The disks still worked fine, but I removed the Athana labels wherever possible (not all of them could be fully removed by hand, due to the glue they used). And no, my room does not have a high humidity, no labels of any other brands, including the noname brands, did get mouldy in my Atari rooms in the last 30 years. Since Athana were the only ones, that did go mouldy, it must have something to do with the glue they use... so, if Abbuc imports diskettes from them, they better import them without Athana labels... Think most bad disks I had were either BASF (red and yellow labels/sleeves) or Edixa. Also some of the noname brands e.g. with a sleeve that had "Mini Diskette" printed on them. But to my surprise, most of the noname disks worked and still work fine! I can also confirm that Sony, TDK, JVC and Fuji worked fine for me. I do not like the Kodak disks and a few other brands, because of their thick cardboard sleeves... Edited January 4, 2019 by CharlieChaplin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I have 2 definitions of a 'good' disk... 1st is good enough to read/recover the data on them... 2nd is if it will pass a new format with no errors in both single or double density... Many disks that pass test 1 won't pass test 2. Only then can I be confident the disk is good enough to go 'back into circulation' for use for current activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 depending on the drive... sometimes bulk erasing may be needed when formatting from sd to dd to sd to dd etc.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarxx Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Avoid whatever manufacturer that Synapse used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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