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These are the formats that PARADOS supports. The format name, capacity, number of
directory entries, type (single sided or double sided) number of sectors per track, and the
sector IDs are shown. Every format is supported in either drive A or B.
FORMAT
CAPACITY DIRECTORIES TYPE SECTORS/TRACK SECTORS
PARADOS 80 396k
128
SS 10
&91-&9a
PARADOS 41 203k
64
SS 10
&81-&8a
PARADOS 40D 396k
128
DS 10
&a1-&aa
ROMDOS D1 716k
128
DS 9
&01-&09
ROMDOS D2 712k
256
DS 9
&21-&29
ROMDOS D10 796k
128
DS 10
&11-&1a
ROMDOS D20 792k
256
DS 10
&31-&3a
ROMDOS D40 396k
128
SS 10
&51-&5a
S-DOS
396k
128
SS 10
&71-&7a
DATA (SS 40) 178k
64
SS 9
&c1 -&c9
DATA (DS 40) 356k
64
DS 9
&c1 -&c9 E
DATA (SS 80) 356k
64
SS 9
&c1 -&c9 E
DATA (DS 80) 716k
64
DS 9
&c1 -&c9 E
SYSTEM (SS 40) 169k
64
SS 9
&41-&49
SYSTEM (DS 40) 346k
64
DS 9
&41-&49 E
SYSTEM (SS 80) 346k
64
SS 9
&41-&49 E
SYSTEM (DS 80) 704k
64
DS 9
&41-&49 E
IBM (SS 40) 169k
64
SS 8
&01-&08
IBM (DS 40) 346k
64
DS 8
&01-&08 E
IBM (SS 80) 346k
64
SS 8
&01-&08 E
IBM (DS 80) 704k
64
DS 8
&01-&08 E
ULTRAFORM 203k
64
SS 9
&10-&19
With PARADOS supporting twenty two formats, which one should you use. For 3" disks, you
can use DATA SS 40, which is the standard CPC disk format. There is also ULTRAFORM and
PARADOS 41 for 3" disks, both offering 203k per disk. Obviously these formats will not be
recognised by other CPCs without PARADOS .
It is preferable to use a double sided, 80 track format for 3.5" disks, which give you
between 700k-800k per disk. The best formats are ROMDOS Dl and ROMDOS D2 as far as
reliability is concerned. Other formats may offer a larger capacity, but they may be
unreliable, particularly ROMDOS D10 and D20. ROMDOS D1 gives 128k directory entries and
716k a, disk, which is sufficient for most purposes. If you need more directory entries, for
disks containing many small files egg letters or clip art, then ROMDOS D2 allows up to 256k
directory entries. We would advise through experience that you stick to these two formats.
PARADOS occupies just six bytes of user memory during normal use. These are bytes &bafa-
&baff, just below the firmware jumpblock. The last two, the bytes at &bafe and &baff
form the drive definition bytes which is the Configure option in PARADOS. The default
settings are &00 and &03 which translates to DRIVE A: 40 tracks, single sided, DRIVE B: 80
tracks, double sided.