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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!iag.net!tous2.oau.org!bilver!bill From: bill@bilver.oau.org (Bill Vermillion) Subject: Re: Why does /dev/fd* cause crashes??? Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Orlando / Winter Park, FL Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 15:23:47 GMT Message-ID: <1997May12.152347.28395@bilver.oau.org> References: <24624bb2.u9t27e.8236@slip106.termserv.siu.edu> Lines: 38 Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:40759 In article <24624bb2.u9t27e.8236@slip106.termserv.siu.edu>, Jim Dutton <jimd@slip106.termserv.siu.edu> wrote: >Hi Jason, on May 5 you wrote: > >[many unwise concepts about using floppies] >Let's ask this question: shouldn't a car ignition system "recognize" that >when the engine is already running and you engage the starter motor, ... >Shouldn't the "system" be smart enough to protect itself against users? >Well, using floppy disks like they are nothing more than extraneous fluff >from a pillow is not acceptable, nor smart, no matter WHAT operating >system you use. The problem is THE floppy driver. In day's of yore the BIG floppies - 8" fellas - had mechanisms that would lock the disk in the drive if it was in use by the OS. Current SCSI removeable media do that - things such as the Zip drives and the Jaz drives - and take an 'eject' or resetting the SCSI adaptor to free them. Just a case of making things cheaper. Some floppy drives don't notify the system of a medium change - as many DOS users found out when they scrambled their floppies after changing disks. >Let's just say - DON'T TOUCH THE FLOPPY while that little accesss/activity >LED is active. Good advice. Too bad people don't always look at the light before pushing the button. Of course this doesn't help a bit if the drive is not being accessed, and it is still mounted, and the drive doesn't support disk change logic/circuitry. -- Bill Vermillion - bill.vermillion@oau.org | bill@bilver.com