Blank media shelf

[Halcyon]

This was an "IRC exclusive" but I figured I'd post here also.

I've been re-evaluating my storage and sorting through a lot of stuff I had. Donating something components, testing and throwing away faulty stuff etc...

Part of this exercise was to organise my blank media where I could easily find them, rather than being tucked away in boxes. So I set up some cheap garage shelving from the hardware store inside a spare wardrobe.

I'd love to hear about and see what types of media you guys have laying around. The more obscure, the better!

From top to bottom:

• 3.5-inch double-sided, high-density disks
• 3.5-inch double-sided, double-density disks
• Box of mixed 3.5-inch disks of various capacities, including some old Amiga software
• 8-inch, double-sided, double-density disks
• 5.25-inch double-sided, double-density disks
• 5.25-inch double-sided, high-density disks
• Box of mixed 5.25-inch disks
• DVD-R in jewel cases
• BD-R (25 GB) discs
• DVD+R (8.5 GB) dual-layer discs
• CD-R (700 MB) discs
• CD-RW discs
• DVD-R (4.7 GB) single-layer discs
• DVD+R (4.7 GB) single-layer discs
• MiniDV cassettes in various lengths
• Compact cassette tapes
• ZIP disks (100 MB)
• ZIP disks (250 MB)
• Castlewood ORB (2.2 GB) disks
• 130mm (2.6 GB) magneto-optical disks
• Jaz disks (1 & 2 GB)
• 90mm/3.5-inch (230 MB) magneto-optical disks
• 9-track tape reels (600 feet long, 6250 bits/inch/track
• Various VHS tapes
• Boxes of LTO-2 tapes

[cfbsoftware]

I'd love to hear about and see what types of media you guys have laying around. The more obscure, the better!

I use the Quad-density 2S/4D, 96 TPI, 5 1/4" floppies on my Sage computers allowing up to 800 KB to be stored on a single floppy.

[Psi]

You need some LS120 disks

and maybe some DVD-RAM

[Halcyon]

You need some LS120 disks

and maybe some DVD-RAM

I plan on expanding my collection of both disks and drives. Currently I don't have anything that is LS-120. I would love it though.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Yeah, quad density 5.25 floppies, with the SFD-1001 drive gets me 1 MB of storage.
74 minute Minidisc.
90 minute Sony NT digital microtape
3.25" floppy disc

[Kleinstein]

AFAIK the Commodore SFD1001 floppies were still 2D media, just a more efficient data format than normal MFM with a fixed number of sectors per track.

[AndyC_772]

No DAT, or DDS tapes...?

[Halcyon]

No DAT, or DDS tapes...?

Actually now that you mention it, I do have some somewhere... I'm sure I'll come across them during my organisation. I have a DDS drive.

[SeanB]

Used to have blank Betacam SP tapes around, used as a source of case parts in the instance a SP tape master needed to be repaired. Also had a few Umatic tapes around for the same reason.

Also had a few 74188 32x8 fusible link proms, used as display decoders in some bespoke avionics, and also used as memory decoders as well elsewhere in the test benches.

[gamalot]

QIC tapes are my favorite.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I also have a microcassette, like answering machine thingies.

[Alex Eisenhut]

AFAIK the Commodore SFD1001 floppies were still 2D media, just a more efficient data format than normal MFM with a fixed number of sectors per track.

Both the SFD-1001 manual and the spec of the mechanism say that double-density media will work, for some reason it is Commodore 8-bit lore that you need quad density disks for a SFD-1001. Maybe because of the 100 TPI thing. I don't know.

[granzeier]

Do you have Stringy Floppys, from Exatron (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exatron_Stringy_Floppy )? A friend had one for his TRS-80 Model I.

I also seem to remember that there was an 8-Track system, but don't remember anything else about it.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Oh, why yes I do. Forgot about that one, since I never opened it. It's the Entrepo version for the 64, called the Quick Data Drive.

[cfbsoftware]

Both the SFD-1001 manual and the spec of the mechanism say that double-density media will work, for some reason it is Commodore 8-bit lore that you need quad density disks for a SFD-1001. Maybe because of the 100 TPI thing. I don't know.

Quad density disks are hard to find, and they were even hard to find in the 80s. It turned out that you could format regular double density disks (the same disks used in the 1541) as quad density disks and they usually worked. No disk manufacturer would guarantee them if you did that, of course. But with no other options, people did it. Of course, it’s better to locate and use actual quad-density disks in the SFD.

https://dfarq.homeip.net/commodore-sfd-1001

[Alex Eisenhut]

"It turned out that you could format regular double density disks"

So it turned out that you could use the media the manufacturer specified?

You think the manufacturer of the mechanism and the drive somehow got it wrong that it just needs double-density media. 

[helius]

QIC tapes are my favorite.

They certainly look heavy duty with the solid machined aluminum baseplate. But the situation with the decayed tension bands is a big hassle as there is no exact replacement available. Substitute bands made for ladies' brassieres or food packaging plants may work for data recovery, but their longevity when used for real backup purposes is a question mark. And changing them is certainly not easy for the inexperienced.

[cfbsoftware]

"It turned out that you could format regular double density disks"

So it turned out that you could use the media the manufacturer specified?

You think the manufacturer of the mechanism and the drive somehow got it wrong that it just needs double-density media. 

"regular double-density disks" are 48 TPI. Unfortunately the so-called "Quad-density" disks are also referred to as "Double-density" but they are 96 TPI. Refer to the section headed 5.25" Floppy Disks in the following article:

http://www.3480-3590-data-conversion.com/article-floppy-disks.html

[helius]

The magnetic characteristics of the media does not determine the number of tracks; that is determined by the drive. The magnetic domains of the media have a characteristic B-H curve that set a limit on the number of flux transitions per length and the intensity of the field, but these are more relevant to the data rate (or bits/track) and not the number of tracks since the tracks are so far apart.

"regular double-density disks" are 48 TPI. Unfortunately the so-called "Quad-density" disks are also referred to as "Double-density" but they are 96 TPI.

They are referred to the same because they are the same in every parameter that matters, such as coercivity and flux transitions per inch.

Refer to the section headed 5.25" Floppy Disks in the following article:

Your cited article says:

These double the capacity of the original drive by doubling the number of cylinders (tracks) from 40 to 80. They use the same media as the the 40 cylinder 48 TPI drives

So if the media is the exact same, by would it ever be labeled differently? Magnetic media carries defects, and the location of those defects can be important. Depending on the formatting scheme, defects may be impermissible on the first track, or even on all tracks. That requires that disks are formatted&verified with the same track layout as they will be used with. Even there you may come unstuck, since some sector sizes and sector gaps may contain defects that are not detected using other sizes.

[retiredfeline]

In your photo do you need to store the floppies in a lockable box? I suppose if a thief wanted to nab them to auction at Sotheby's they'd take the whole box.

[SeanB]

Lockable box was so they would not fall out when you inevitably dropped it

[Halcyon]

In your photo do you need to store the floppies in a lockable box? I suppose if a thief wanted to nab them to auction at Sotheby's they'd take the whole box.

The lock is not important. I use it for storage so I can quickly flip through disks that have already been written to. It's a nice way to organise boot disks, programs etc...

The lock box is more for nostalgia at this point.

[ebastler]

I'd love to hear about and see what types of media you guys have laying around. The more obscure, the better!

Paper tape, both the 1" (8 bit) and 11/16" (5 bit Baudot) variant. 

Running low on these... If you know of a source selling them at a reasonable price, or have some rolls you would want to sell or trade, please get in touch!

[marcopolo]

90MB Bernouilli



44 or 88 MB Syquest

[Psi]

OMG SyQuest,  not seen one of them in many many years.