Home      Discussion      Topics      Dictionary      Almanac
Signup       Login
Table of 8-inch floppy formats

Table of 8-inch floppy formats

Overview
This is a table of 8-inch floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD, the initials of which should not be confused with "fixed disk drive," which...

ette formats as introduced by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...

 and DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a pioneering American company in the computer industry. It is often referred to within the computing industry as DEC...

:
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Table of 8-inch floppy formats'
Start a new discussion about 'Table of 8-inch floppy formats'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum
 
Encyclopedia
This is a table of 8-inch floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD, the initials of which should not be confused with "fixed disk drive," which...

ette formats as introduced by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...

 and DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a pioneering American company in the computer industry. It is often referred to within the computing industry as DEC...

:
|-
! bgcolor="#808080" rowspan="3" | Category
! bgcolor="#808080" | Drive designation
! bgcolor="#808080" | 23FD
! bgcolor="#808080" colspan="3" | 33FD
! bgcolor="#808080" colspan="2" | 43FD
! bgcolor="#808080" colspan="3" | 53FD
|-
! bgcolor="#808080" | Media designation
! bgcolor="#808080" | N/A (read only)
! bgcolor="#808080" colspan="3" | Type 1
! bgcolor="#808080" colspan="2" | Type 2
! bgcolor="#808080" colspan="3" | Type 2D
|-
! bgcolor="#808080" | App. size
! bgcolor="#808080" | 80 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 242 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 284 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 303 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 492 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 568 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 985 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 1,136 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 1,212 KB
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2" | Drive
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Heads (data surfaces)
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 2
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Spindle motor
speed (RPM
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a unit of frequency of rotation: the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

)
| align="center" | 90
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2" | Controller
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Transfer rate (kbit/s)
| align="center" | 33.333
| align="center" | 250
| align="center" | 250
| align="center" | 250
| align="center" | 500
| align="center" | 500
| align="center" | 500
| align="center" | 500
| align="center" | 500
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Encoding
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | MFM
| align="center" | MFM
| align="center" | MFM
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="3" | Media
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Track density (TPI)
| align="center" | 32
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Bit Density (BPI)
| align="center" | 1,594
| align="center" | 3,268
| align="center" | 3,268
| align="center" | 3,268
| align="center" | 3,408
| align="center" | 3,408
| align="center" | 6,816
| align="center" | 6,816
| align="center" | 6,816
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Density designation
| align="center" | SS SD
| align="center" | SS SD
| align="center" | SS SD
| align="center" | SS SD
| align="center" | DS SD
| align="center" | DS SD
| align="center" | DS DD
| align="center" | DS DD
| align="center" | DS DD
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="3" | Geometry of the
index cylinder (0)
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Sectors
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Sector size (byte
Byte
A byte is a unit of information storage representing the smallest addressable element for a given computer architecture. It often designates a sequence of bits whose length is determined by the architecture...

s)
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | (side 0:128
1:256)
| align="center" | (side 0:128
1:256)
| align="center" | (side 0:128
1:256)
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Size (bytes)
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | 3,328
| align="center" | 3,328
| align="center" | 6,656
| align="center" | 6,656
| align="center" | 9,984
| align="center" | 9,984
| align="center" | 9,984
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="4" | Geometry of
remaining cylinders
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Usable cylinders
| align="center" | 32
| align="center" | 73 (74)
| align="center" | 75
| align="center" | 75
| align="center" | 75
| align="center" | 75
| align="center" | 75
| align="center" | 75
| align="center" | 75
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Sectors per track
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 15
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 15
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 15
| align="center" | 8
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Number of sectors
| align="center" | 640
| align="center" | 1,898
| align="center" | 1,110
| align="center" | 592
| align="center" | 3,848
| align="center" | 2,220
| align="center" | 3,848
| align="center" | 2,220
| align="center" | 1,184
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Sector size (bytes)
| align="center" | 319
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | 256
| align="center" | 512
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | 256
| align="center" | 256
| align="center" | 512
| align="center" | 1024
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2" | Capacity
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Formatted (bytes)
| align="center" | 81,664
| align="center" | 242,944
| align="center" | 284,160
| align="center" | 303,104
| align="center" | 492,544
| align="center" | 568,320
| align="center" | 985,088
| align="center" | 1,136,640
| align="center" | 1,212,416
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Formatted (KiB)
| align="center" | 79.75
| align="center" | 237.25
| align="center" | 277.5
| align="center" | 296
| align="center" | 481
| align="center" | 555
| align="center" | 962
| align="center" | 1,110
| align="center" | 1,184
|-
| colspan=11|SS = Single Sided; DS = Double Sided; SD = Single Density; DD = Double Density; N/A = Not Applicable; TPI = Tracks per Inch; BPI = Bits per Inch>


In addition, Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a pioneering American company in the computer industry. It is often referred to within the computing industry as DEC...

 introduced their own floppy formats:
|-
! bgcolor="#808080" rowspan="2" | Category
! bgcolor="#808080" | Drive designation
! bgcolor="#808080" | DEC RX01
! bgcolor="#808080" | DEC RX02
|-
! bgcolor="#808080" | App. size
! bgcolor="#808080" | 250 KB
! bgcolor="#808080" | 500 KB
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2" | Drive
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Heads (data surfaces)
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 1
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Spindle motor speed (RPM
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a unit of frequency of rotation: the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

)
| align="center" | 360
| align="center" | 360
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2" | Controller
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Transfer rate (kbit/s)
| align="center" | 250
| align="center" | 500
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Encoding
| align="center" | FM
| align="center" | FM/MFM
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="3" | Media
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Track density (TPI)
| align="center" | 48
| align="center" | 48
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Bit density (BPI)
| align="center" | 3,200
| align="center" | 6,400
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Density designation
| align="center" | SS SD
| align="center" | SS DD
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="4" | Geometry
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Cylinders
| align="center" | 77
| align="center" | 77
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Sectors per track
| align="center" | 26
| align="center" | 26
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Total sectors per disk
| align="center" | 2,002
| align="center" | 2,002
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Sector size (byte
Byte
A byte is a unit of information storage representing the smallest addressable element for a given computer architecture. It often designates a sequence of bits whose length is determined by the architecture...

s)
| align="center" | 128
| align="center" | 256
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2" | Capacity

! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Formatted (bytes)
| align="center" | 256,256
| align="center" | 512,512
|-
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | Formatted (KiB)
| align="center" | 250.25
| align="center" | 500.5
|-
| colspan=6|SS = Single Sided; SD = Single Density; DD = Double Density; TPI = Tracks per Inch; BPI = Bits per Inch>