3 ms·

15-20 is about the lifetime of a floppy as well (and less than that for some of the cheaper mass-produced floppies like what AOL shipped for free).

wkat4242 2y ago
I've had really great experiences with recovering 3,5" floppies from 40 years ago. Not so much with 5 1/4". Despite the ultra low density of 360kB on that huge surface.
- dasil003 2y ago
  I wonder if it's due to contact with the soft shell
  - account42 2y ago
    I guess it also depends on the drives and 3,5" drives have seen continued improvement for much longer.
    - wkat4242 2y ago
      True. For the 3,5" drives I simply used a USB version which are available aplenty. For the 5 1/4" I needed to use a Greaseweazle ( https://sordan.ie/product/1527/newest-greaseweazle-v41-usb-floppy-adapter-flux-reader-writer/ https://sordan.ie/product/1527/newest-greaseweazle-v41-usb-f... ) as there are no USB versions available. The drive I have is a good quality HD drive though (1,2MB) so it should be able to read 360kB disks with no issue.
_the_inflator 2y ago
Mine work now for almost 40 years. And don't forget: floppy disks have mechanical attrition. The floppy disk lifetime was, as always, an estimate. My 5 1/4 disks for C64 seem to be the way more robust product compared with the 3 1/2 for Amiga and later PC. Maybe information density plays a role here. CDs have the reflection layer problem, not the information loss per se. That's the main difference between disks and CDs.
- snvzz 2y ago
  for 3.5", DD have proven much more durable than HD. And notably HD were terrible at being used as DD, as is generally the case with Amiga floppies.
  - _the_inflator 2y ago
    Yep, I refrained from using them. Also too expensive. With the advent of Amiga hard disk I didn’t need that much disks anymore. I bought mine - 50mb! - at the World of Commodore 1991 I think.
  - aidenn0 2y ago
    That makes sense; my copy of Star Trek: The Rebel Universe (DD) still works, while few of my circa 1990 Sierra floppies (HD) work.

wkat4242 2y ago

I've had really great experiences with recovering 3,5" floppies from 40 years ago. Not so much with 5 1/4". Despite the ultra low density of 360kB on that huge surface.

dasil003 2y ago
I wonder if it's due to contact with the soft shell
- account42 2y ago
  I guess it also depends on the drives and 3,5" drives have seen continued improvement for much longer.
  - wkat4242 2y ago
    True. For the 3,5" drives I simply used a USB version which are available aplenty. For the 5 1/4" I needed to use a Greaseweazle ( https://sordan.ie/product/1527/newest-greaseweazle-v41-usb-floppy-adapter-flux-reader-writer/ https://sordan.ie/product/1527/newest-greaseweazle-v41-usb-f... ) as there are no USB versions available. The drive I have is a good quality HD drive though (1,2MB) so it should be able to read 360kB disks with no issue.

_the_inflator 2y ago

Mine work now for almost 40 years. And don't forget: floppy disks have mechanical attrition. The floppy disk lifetime was, as always, an estimate. My 5 1/4 disks for C64 seem to be the way more robust product compared with the 3 1/2 for Amiga and later PC. Maybe information density plays a role here. CDs have the reflection layer problem, not the information loss per se. That's the main difference between disks and CDs.

snvzz 2y ago
for 3.5", DD have proven much more durable than HD. And notably HD were terrible at being used as DD, as is generally the case with Amiga floppies.
- _the_inflator 2y ago
  Yep, I refrained from using them. Also too expensive. With the advent of Amiga hard disk I didn’t need that much disks anymore. I bought mine - 50mb! - at the World of Commodore 1991 I think.
- aidenn0 2y ago
  That makes sense; my copy of Star Trek: The Rebel Universe (DD) still works, while few of my circa 1990 Sierra floppies (HD) work.