DOS feature on formatting disk

[Gordon JC Pearce]

Dwight K. Elvey wrote:

>  Sure but what about not reading track 0 before formatting
> means it should abort the formatting without first doing
> a low level format of that track. It is just stupid.
> If I completely erase the track, it formats just fine.
> As Sellam says, it is just stupid design.
> Dwight

I'll bet you'll find that the drive isn't seeking back to track zero 
correctly.  All other tracks will be OK but there will be a small 
buildup of shite on the slider knocking the head a tiny bit "inside" the 
proper place for track zero.

What this means is that it partially overwrites track zero, and rewrites 
a new one.  But there will be a certain amount of interference between 
the two tracks, and it will not successfully read.

Gordon.