Finally, Death of the 3.5 inch floppy disk
in [Computers]
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From: George Neuner on 28 Apr 2010 13:59 On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:55:51 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Stuart Longland wrote: >some of the [diskettes] I have at home are slowly decaying with age. > >Interesting. What's decaying about them? I've got Fuji MF2HD from the >90's and they still work fine. The media does not have high enough coercivity to retain magnetic alignment indefinitely - given enough time it loses orientation and your data simply fades away. And unlike hard disks, diskette R/W heads actually touch the recording surface and gradually wear away the media. George
From: larwe on 28 Apr 2010 14:00 On Apr 28, 1:59 pm, George Neuner <gneun...(a)comcast.net> wrote: > And unlike hard disks, diskette R/W heads actually touch the recording > surface and gradually wear away the media. Well... sorta. The magnetic layer is covered with a low-friction protective layer. So strictly speaking the heads do not touch the recording per se, merely a coating over it :) But yes they are not flying heads.
From: Joerg on 28 Apr 2010 14:49 George Neuner wrote: > On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:55:51 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > >> Stuart Longland wrote: >> some of the [diskettes] I have at home are slowly decaying with age. >> >> Interesting. What's decaying about them? I've got Fuji MF2HD from the >> 90's and they still work fine. > > The media does not have high enough coercivity to retain magnetic > alignment indefinitely - given enough time it loses orientation and > your data simply fades away. Hmm, I have disks dating back to 1990 and none of them has ever lost data or caused read errors. But some posters said that they still can have lost writeability. No idea why. I did always make sure to never buy disks from dubious sources but always the good stuff, name brands. > And unlike hard disks, diskette R/W heads actually touch the recording > surface and gradually wear away the media. > Yes, and that wear is clearly visible. However, the typical disk is used as file storage and only once in a while read back, and then only small parts of it. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Spehro Pefhany on 28 Apr 2010 14:54 On Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:49:10 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Yes, and that wear is clearly visible. However, the typical disk is used >as file storage and only once in a while read back, and then only small >parts of it. I have an old HP logic analyzer that boots off of a floppy.
From: Joerg on 28 Apr 2010 14:55
atec7 7 > wrote: > Magnum wrote: >> "atec7 7" <""atec77\"@ hotmail.com"> wrote in message >> news:hr8v8b$962$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... >>> They are still around but the usb stick far out sells them >> >> Hardly surprising because Sneakernet with a floppy = 1.4Mb. >> >> Sneakernet with a USB stick = several Gb. >> >> > Tell that to any older machine that wont usb boot or certain version of > winblows if it needs sata or other drivers on install Like this one: http://www.cnczone.com/classifieds/data/4/large/2.jpg I believe it is fairly young for a shop machine, mid 90's. There's stuff out there that dates back to the days of 8" floppies. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM. |