[vox-tech] advice for floppy disks

[Peter Jay Salzman]

what part of

   "not for backup.  i need floppies."
	
do we not understand here?   :)

maybe the problem is that you don't know what floppies can be used for
other than backups?   my application is a linux firewall.  the operating
system (or in this case, a piece of it) fits on a floppy.  you pop the
floppy in, turn the firewall machine on and walk away.  so you see,
i'm using the floppy as a *boot device*.  not for backup.

please change the subject when posting about backups.  i don't want it
threaded with the other emails i want to read on floppy recommendations.

ryan, about your script.  it certainly is sensitive to format.  why would
you think otherwise?  by accessing /dev/fd0, you're already choosing a
discipline for the floppy driver.  what if the disk was formatted with 21
sectors per track?

pete


begin Ryan <ryan@mother.com> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> I wrote a bash script to back up my floppies to a compressed file named 
> according to date. This has the advantage of being insensitive to format, and 
> not requiring the disk to be mounted.
> 
> - ----- Begin Script -----
> 
> #!/bin/bash
> TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y.%m.%d.%H.%M.%S)
> cat /dev/fd0 | gzip -9 > ~/backups/fd0.${TIMESTAMP}.img.gz
> 
> - ------ End Script ------
> 
> On Tuesday, January 01 2002 09:42 pm, kabloom@ucdavis.edu wrote:
> > My biggest suggestion for floppies is that you should never carry them
> > loose in your pocket. When I used floppies in high school (last year) I
> > found that floppies carried loose in my pocket died within a day, and
> > floppies in floppy carriers lasted long enough that I can't recall losing
> > data from one of them.
> >
> > Two other good floppy tricks. One: if the data is really important, put
> > multiple copies on the same disk. The other: always back the floppies up
> > on a hard drive somewhere.
> >
> > And so it was written and so it was done (by Peter Jay Salzman
> > <p@dirac.org>)
> >
> > > not for backup.  i need floppies.
> > >
> > >
> > > begin Rod Roark <rod@sunsetsystems.com>
> > >
> > > > What I do for fast, reliable, cheap backup is mount hard drives in
> > > > removable carriers.
> > > >
> > > > -- Rod
> > > >    http://www.sunsetsystems.com/
> > > >
> > > > On Tuesday 01 January 2002 11:15 am, Henry House wrote:
> > > > > On Tue, Jan 01, 2002 at 09:31:50AM -0800, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> > > > > > i'm sure someone here keeps track of this stuff...
> > > > > >
> > > > > > what's some really high-quality floppy disks brands?  i'd be
> > > > > > willing to pay unreasonable prices just as long as they're
> > > > > > reliable.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > i'm sick and tired of floppy disks dying on me.  what's the best
> > > > > > brands to get?
> > > > >
> > > > > I would not use any type of removable winchester storage for data
> > > > > too valuble to lose. That goes for floppies, zip cartriges, and
> > > > > anything else that contains a rotating, flexible platter. By their
> > > > > very nature these devices are mechanically unreliable. If you want
> > > > > reliability, use tapes or CD-RW (which is actually pretty cheap
> > > > > now).
> > > > >
> > > > > Failing that, I suggest you find the most expensive type available
> > > > > and go with that. Also, I would avoid any product made by Verbatim.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > vox-tech mailing list
> > vox-tech@lists.lugod.org
> > http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox-tech
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