[cctalk] Re: Flipping an 8" diskette

When punching holes in the envelope I've always had a piece of thin cardboard between the back of the punch and the disk. I've never had a problem this way. I damaged a disk once with the punch and the lesson was learned. You just cut the cardboard to slip conveniently in the center hole, between the disk and the envelope. Dwight ________________________________ From: Mike Stein via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, September 1, 2022 7:39 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Cc: Mike Stein <mhs.stein(a)gmail.com> Subject: [cctalk] Re: Flipping an 8" diskette Flipping disks to use both sides in a single-side drive was really only feasible in Commodore and similar drives that did not rely on an index hole for locating the data on the disk; the notch was to allow writing to the disk and had to be added on the opposite edge. To use a flipped 5 1/4" disk in any other drive requires punching holes for the index sensor in the opposite location, as well as the write (un)protect notch; this can be tricky and it's easy to damage the actual 'cookie' unless you remove it first. All 8" drives use an index hole and also require punching corresponding index holes but, as Jonathan points out, it's a little more complicated because the original location of the hole is different depending on whether the disk is single- or double-sided . On the other hand, you don't have to add a notch on an 8" drive unless you want to write-protect it; the notch acts the reverse of the 5 1/4" notch, i.e. notch=protect, no notch=write enabled. Finally, there's the issue of the medium itself; if you're flipping single-sided disks the early 8" disks are more likely to have flaws on the unused side than the later 5 1/4" diskettes. m On Thu, Sep 1, 2022 at 4:10 AM Liam Proven via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: