format PC floppy to use on Amiga?

[sim085]

Hello, I have a few new PC floppy disks which work fine on PC. I would like to format these in such a way that I can use them as Amiga floppy disks (not to transfer files between PC and Amiga, but to use them as if Amiga floppy disks).

I had a similar thread in the past but what was suggested then is not working. I have Windows7. I insert the floppy disk and then from command promt I enter the following command:

FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9

However I get the following output

H:\>FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9
Insert new disk for drive A:
and press ENTER when ready...
The type of the file system is RAW.
The new file system is FAT.
Formatting 720K
Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable.

Does anyone know if I can format a PC disk to use it as an Amiga disk? or this is not possible?

[sim085]

If you want to format floppies with a PC file system (e.g. FAT16) that you can then use on both the PC and the Amiga (with CrossDOS) then you need either Double Density floppies or High Density floppies with a sellotape on the second hole. It is simpler to just format them on the Amiga - if you have CrossDOS installed simply select to format the PC0: (instead of DF0:).

I do not want to use the disks for the PC, just for the Amiga? does that change anything? Or I still need CrossDOS?

[sim085]

You will need OS3 with PC0: installed (or CrossDos)

nope just format them on the amiga

So is it just a question of cover the High Density hole insert in the Amiga and click format? Or I still need CrossDos or some other tool? My aim is to have disks which I can boot from. From what I found out on the net, using CrossDos to format a disk means you'll need CrossDos to read the content of that disk and therefore impossible to use such disks unless in Workbench.

[sim085]

First you need to tell us what Amiga you have, what Workbench/Kickstart version and how much ram? Then we can find a proper solution.

A500+ with Workbench 3.1, 2MB ChipRAM, and 8MB FastRAM.

[sim085]

You can not boot from PC disks, but you can use them to copy files from PC to Amiga. Mostly I used them to copy LHA files to Amiga.
To make your workbench read PC disks, go to "Sys:Storage/DosDrivers" folder and copy file labeled PC0 to Sys: Devs/DosDrivers, that's it.
Reboot the Amiga and it should work.
When you insert a disk you should see 2 disk icons, one an typical floppy icon and other PC0:?, when you click on that icon and select format, that disk will be readable on PC.

Thank you that is good to know, I will try it out. Regarding booting from disk; the only option is pure Amiga Floppy disks then! Thanks again for the help and explanation.

[sim085]

If you wish to format any floppies for amiga use, just format them on amiga. That's it.

But will I be able to boot from such floppy disks? or I will need a tool like CrossDos to read such floppy disks?

[sim085]

After you use the c:install command to install the bootblock, yes.

How do you do that?

At the moment I am doing as follows:

1. Insert the floppy disk which works fine on PC, I get an icon DF0:?
2. Select icon DF0:? and go to Icon > Format Disk ...
3. Here I get the following information printed:

Current Information: Device DF0, 880 Capacity

4. I select none of the checkboxes and click format.
5. I get warning box that all data will be lost and click format.
6. Icon on desktop change to DF0:Busy
7. I get error message saying "Couldn't format cylinder 0"

... What am I doing wrong?? This happens on all PC floppy disks I have which work fine on PC.

[sim085]

Have you tried cleaning your drive?

All my new "amiga" disks load without any problem... format "amiga" disks work without any priblem ... so do not thing it is a problem of cleaning.

[sim085]

If it's an HD floppy, try covering the HD hole on the top left of the floppy.

used transaprent sellotape (is this good?) but still got error "Couldn't format cylinder 0".

[sim085]

What if you try a QUICK format?
(I'm looking at a 1.3 OS currently)
From a Shell, type:
format DRIVE df0: NAME Data QUICK
(I think that's right)...

Command looks ok, but did not work either. Note I am trying to format more then one "pc" floppy and none are working... all fail on cylinder 0, while on PC I did manage to format them.

[sim085]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. As I said the relative new "amiga" floppy disks format fine. The very old "amiga" floppy disks (which data is also corrupt) don't format. Then I found some "amiga" floppy disks which when format give an error on some cylinder and then when I format again give an error on another cylinder and the previous cylinder is formatted successfully. The “pc” floppy disks never work and format always fail on cylinder zero.

I understand this might be a problem with the age and amount of dust in the drive … therefore I was wondering; does anyone know how to clean the floppy drive?? need to use any special liquid??

[sim085]

If you are not affraid to open you floppy drive then you can use cotton swabs and 91% isopropyl alcohol. Just swab both heads clean.

I already opened it to see how it works 91% isopropyl alcohol is the same as surgical spirit? Is contact cleaner better? Sorry do not know this stuff ...

[sim085]

Can you just confirm exactly what you mean by "pc" floppy disks? They are DD ones, yes? Because HD ones will just fail on track 0 very often.

They are HD not DD ...