Problems with formatting a PC disk on an Amiga

[MethodGit]

OK, I want to format a PC disk into Amiga format. I loaded up Workbench, inserted a PC disk (throughout this bit it is known as DF0:BAD) and chose initialize. However (after a few disk swaps, I only have 1 drive ya see) when it gets to the actual formatting bit, my Amiga complains that the disk is write-protected, even though it is actually write-enabled. OK, so I took the disk back to the PC and this time full-formatted it to 720k format, in the hope that this would solve the problem.

No change. :(

I swear this Amiga could simply format PC disks before, or maybe I'm doing something wrong. Anyone care to help poor lil' Marz with this mysterious problem?

[Amigaboy]

ok. You're obviously using Kickstart 1.3 or below if you said you went to "Initialise" ....Bleh

Anyway. I had the same problem on one of my internal drives on my A1200. It couldn't write to any disks. The drive is screwed. It could be the same for you. Try it with an external drive

Otherwise, try formatting it with XCopy. That always works. Format it there, then try taking it back to Workbench and format it again

[Twistin'Ghost]

Also, some drives don't like high density floppies, so if it has the two holes, that could also be causing issues.

[RetroMan]

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
Also, some drives don't like high density floppies, so if it has the two holes, that could also be causing issues.

Yup, usually you must use tape to cover the second hole on a HD disk, there´s normaly no other way to make the floppy writable on Amiga ..... BUT if the disk is formatted and written, you can take of the tape and use it, that´s weird ;):)

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by Amigaboy
Anyway. I had the same problem on one of my internal drives on my A1200. It couldn't write to any disks. The drive is screwed. It could be the same for you. Try it with an external drive

Dear god, I hope it ain't screwed. But then again it loaded up my Workbench disk perfectly so I don't think this is the case. Speaking of Workbench, I remember every time I tried to make a copy of my Workbench disk, they always reported a read/write error on them, whereas the original disk works like a charm (I'm using the original to do this PC disk formatting). At the beginning though, copies worked absolutely fine but a few years later they suddenly refused to cooperate. I still don't get it after all these years.

Originally posted by Amigaboy
Otherwise, try formatting it with XCopy. That always works. Format it there, then try taking it back to Workbench and format it again

You mean that thing in the "Windows/Command" directory? How do I use it exactly? I haven't tampered about with it before, ya see, and I don't know where to find instructions on it.

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
Also, some drives don't like high density floppies, so if it has the two holes, that could also be causing issues.

I just tried using a low-density (i.e. one hole) disk, and I got the same result. :(

Originally posted by RetroMan
Yup, usually you must use tape to cover the second hole on a HD disk, there´s normaly no other way to make the floppy writable on Amiga ..... BUT if the disk is formatted and written, you can take of the tape and use it, that´s weird ;):)

What kind of tape should I use to cover a small disk hole?

[Twistin'Ghost]

It sounds to me like either your drive heads are dirty or more likely the heads are out of alignment. Get a head cleaning disk (you need one anyway) and you may need to have the drive aligned by a tech (don't attempt it yourself).

X-Copy: How could you have used an Amiga as long as you have and not know what X-Copy is? Not the PC program, but the commercial Amiga defacto standard disk copying choice of pirates everywhere.

Tape. (sigh) Tape, dude. Scotch tape. A band-aid. Masking tape. Tape!

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
It sounds to me like either your drive heads are dirty or more likely the heads are out of alignment. Get a head cleaning disk (you need one anyway) and you may need to have the drive aligned by a tech (don't attempt it yourself).

I don't know any technicians who still care about old KS1.3 people like me. Anyone care to offer me some help? Preferably technicians in the UK, though. :p And near my area. Of West London.

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
X-Copy: How could you have used an Amiga as long as you have and not know what X-Copy is? Not the PC program, but the commercial Amiga defacto standard disk copying choice of pirates everywhere.

Hey, just because I've used an Amiga for years doesn't mean that I know the ins and outs of every Amiga Workbench util. http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/flamingmad.gif Anyway, where is this X-Copy? On the Extras disk? If it's on a buy-this-from-some-catalogue-disk, I'm buggered. I don't know any Amiga catalogue which still caters to KS1.3 people like me.

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
Tape. (sigh) Tape, dude. Scotch tape. A band-aid. Masking tape. Tape!

There, that's all I needed to know! http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/suuuure.gif Besides, I didn't want to use too big a tape just to cover a small hole. And what if it affected the way the Amiga held the disk inside?

[Twistin'Ghost]

Technicians aren't rated by the Workbench revision number. Either they can align an Amiga drive or they can't. The drive has nothing to do with the Workbench revision. And you are in England - the Amiga was huge there. How hard could that be to find? I know Amiga techs here in the US and most people here have no clue what an Amiga is/was.

As I stated in my previous response to you, X-Copy is commercial which means a software package that was for sale. If it came with Workbench, I'd have said that instead. And it being the standard for pirates, it's hard to imagine you thinking it was part of the OS...

I thought not making the tape covering the hole too big was so obvious, it hardly merited even as much space as it's already been given here. But just in case I am wrong: do not put so much tape over the hole that the disk will not insert into the drive. Also, make certain the disk can still eject FROM the drive, as well. Double-sided adhesive tape is also a bad idea, as this may cause the disk to become stuck inside the drive. Duct tape can also be problematic. Try to avoid audio recording tape, as well, for it has no gummy surface and may become lodged in the disk drive's gear mechanisms.

:laughing

[Amigaboy]

But then again it loaded up my Workbench disk perfectly

Same with my internal drive. It read disks fine (played games, booted workbench, etc.) but when it came to writing to the disk, it wouldn't let me

And because I'm such a nice guy, X-Copy can be found Here (http://www.panoramafirm.com.pl/serwis/emu/download/romy/amiga/utils/XCopy&Tools.zip) (of course, I have no idea if it's really X-Copy, but the archive is called XCopy&Tools, so I'm making an educated guess :D

[MethodGit]

Hmm, okay. Only problem now is: how do I convert this XCopy ADF to a real Amiga floppy? I'd probably need a null-modem cable for this one, I guess. :( I was thinking about getting cables and stuff and doing that kind of Amiga-disk-transferring anyhow since disk2fdi apparently can't even read a lot of my disks properly. :mad (This explains why I haven't let loose a flood of my collection recently.)

But wait! If I can't find an Amiga-formattable floppy, how am I even going to be able to transfer XCopy in the first place? :shocked http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/eyepop.gif Rrrrrggghhhh!!! :scream http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/cursing.gif http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/scream.gif

Are there any shops in the UK which still sell Amiga-compatible blank disks? http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/lurk.gif

[Amigaboy]

Why don't you try to find someone who sells (or is willing to give you) an Amiga disk which, when booted, allows you to use PC disks, thus allowing you to transfer from your PC to Amiga

[Akira]

I know about this because I've been doing it for years :)

I agree with meegaboy, you drive has got to be fucked. When you use HD disks in an Amiga drive you shouldn't be getting a write protect error, but a verification error. You an use HD disks without taping teh secon hole for as long as you don't try to verify teh disk. Writing and reading works fine but verifying fails (this means you have to always tape the disks to use them with TransADF, because it always verifies).

Also, if it is formatted in PC HD format, you must format it in Amiga DD format first before being able to use it.

Fix your drive or get a new one. Beter yet, go to eBAy and buy an A1200 with a 200MB HD.

I know the ins and outs of every Amiga Workbench util. Anyway, where is this X-Copy? On the Extras disk?

HEhehehehe. If you knew the ins and outs of every Amiga Workbench util you wouldn't ask if XCopy is in the Extras disk :P

[Amigaboy]

I know the ins and outs of every Amiga util (at least....I used to) :)

[Twistin'Ghost]

I find it hard to believe Marz knows the ins and outs of anything Amiga, personally. I cannot claim that for myself, either and I know quite a bit more about the Amiga than he. I would just never make such a bold statement as that in the first place. I could bang out a 10 question quiz just off the top of my head that would very likely score a grade of 0 from Marz (even using the Web for reference!)

But don't take this the wrong way, Marz. I am not flaming or insulting you here. I just wouldn't call you a 'power user' is all.

[Akira]

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
I just wouldn't call you a 'power user'

How about 'self abuser'? :laugh

[MethodGit]

I actually have a spare A500 stored away somewhere in my house. :) Hopefully the disk drive will accept HD disks, but I really *hope*. Fingers crossed (shame RCK couldn't find a smilie representing this action).

[Akira]

Marz ' the excuse machine' Attakz

Buy a 1200 with an HD instead of buying PC equipment. I bet that if you sell your HD you can get a loaded Amiga.

[MethodGit]

Shit, the third-party disk drive lodged inside this spare A500 (whoever originally owned it removed the Amiga's original one and inserted what looked like an external disk drive inside it). is a buggered one. The only time it's active is when you insert a disk after turning the Amiga on. It doesn't try to detect other disks you may insert while it's on. This means that it won't load other disks in Workbench unfortunately. :(

I looked at AmigaStuff.co.uk, they have some pretty good prices for A500s, A1200s & CD³²s. :) Are they a good company to purchase stuff from?

[Akira]

I never shopped from them, why dont you try the used and overused sites like Power Computing (www.powerc.com)?

Anyway, if your drive doesnt recognize disks, you could use the diskchange command under Workbench/ADos

[CHiEF]

i wouldn't shop at amigastuff.co.uk if i were you, they are unreliable and in my experience the products i received from them either did not function correctly or even AT ALL. check the hard disk on fire thread, i bought that from them.

i would much rather recommend www.powerc.com they are quick, reliable, cheap and all the products i bought from them actually work.

which was nice.

[redblade]

Yup, usually you must use tape to cover the second hole on a HD disk, there´s normaly no other way to make the floppy writable on Amiga ..... BUT if the disk is formatted and written, you can take of the tape and use it, that´s weird ;):)

hmm I've been formating HD disks because they are easier to get access to then Double Density disks and alot cheaper but damn it. I format it, copy files to it, and a couple of weeks later the files are gone, and I have to reformat the disk.

Is the drive fucked ?!?!

[RetroMan]

hmm I've been formating HD disks because they are easier to get access to then Double Density disks and alot cheaper but damn it. I format it, copy files to it, and a couple of weeks later the files are gone, and I have to reformat the disk.

Is the drive fucked ?!?!
Don´t think so ! Just use another brand of HD Disks and try it out ! HD Disks need a higher magnetic field to be properly formatted, some I tried out are really hard to use on Amiga, like SONY HD DISKS and MAXELL HD DISKS ! But I never had problems with some no-name hd disks at all ;) :D

[D-Dan]

It was a bug in Workbench. If you boot from a write protected floppy, then WB assumed all floppies inserted afterwards were write protected. I thought it was a WB 2.0 problem, but may be wrong on that. Try write enabling your bootdisk during bootup (you can write protect once your system has started) and format the new disk then. It should work OK.

[redblade]

I don't really want to put games on the disk, to boot up on. I just want to use them for storage.

So how about a list of what High Density disks are hard to use on Amiga =]. I take it that SONY and MAXELL are there for starters =].

[Akira]

I never had any success with any brand of HD disks. They will all lose data eventually, and very soonish at that.

I would recommend you to back up your data to the PC instead.