Floptical

2025-09-25T05:16:11Z

209.205.88.125: /* Operating system support */ IRIX is past tense

{{Short description|Type of floppy disk drive}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Use list-defined references|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Floptical disk 21MB.jpg|right|thumb|The 21 MB Floptical {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch disk]]
'''Floptical''' refers to a type of floppy [[disk drive]] that combines magnetic and optical technologies to store data on media similar to standard {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch [[floppy disk]]s. The name is a [[portmanteau]] of the words "floppy" and "optical". It refers specifically to one brand of drive and disk system, but is also used more generically to refer to any system using similar techniques.

The original Floptical technology was announced in 1988<ref name="Webber_1988_Insite"/><ref name="Kotkin_1988_Insite"/><ref name="Brownstein_1988_Insite"/> and introduced late in 1991{{citation needed|date=June 2017|reason=As the product was announced in 1988 to be marketted in 1989, we need a reliable sources (ideally user comments) for the actual date when it entered the market}} by [[Insite Peripherals]], a [[Venture capital|venture funded]] company set up by Jim Adkisson, one of the key engineers behind the original {{frac|5|1|4}}-inch floppy disk drive development at [[Shugart Associates]] in 1976. The main shareholders were [[Maxell]], [[Iomega]] and [[3M]]. This original format normally held 21 MB of data, compared to the contemporary 3.5" floppy capacity of 720 kB or 1.44 MB.

Over the next several years, similar products were introduced by other companies with ever increasing capacity, eventually reaching 240 MB in some systems. All of these, along with competing systems like the [[Zip drive]], were replaced by writable [[CD-ROM]]s in many roles, and later, by [[thumb drive]]s which were simpler, smaller, and faster.

== Technical aspects ==
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto" float:right
|+Technical specifications
|Unformatted || 25 [[Megabyte|MB]]
|-
|Formatted || {{val|20385}} [[Kilobyte|KB]]
|-
|[[Rotational speed]] || 720 [[Revolutions per minute|rpm]]<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Track density || {{val|1250}} [[Tracks per inch|TPI]]<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Recording density || {{val|23980}} bpi ([[Run Length Limited|RLL]])<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Transfer from disk || 1.6 [[Megabit per second|Mb/s]]<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Buffer transfer rate || 2 MB/s<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|[[seek time|Average seek time]] || 65 [[millisecond|ms]]<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Settle time || 15 ms<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Motor start time || 750 ms<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Number of heads || 2<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Cylinders || 755<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>
|-
|Sectors per track || 27
|-
|Sector size || 256, 512, or 1024 [[byte]]s (set at format time)
|-
|Interface || [[SCSI]]
|}
The technology involves reading and writing data magnetically, while optically aligning the read/write head in the drive using grooves in the disk being sensed by an infrared LED and sensor (a form of [[visual servo]]).<ref name="Pollack_1990_Floppy"/> The magnetic head touches the recording surface, as it does in a normal floppy drive. The optical servo tracks allow for an increase in the tracking precision of the magnetic head, from the usual 135 tracks per inch to {{val|1250}} tracks per inch. Floptical disks provide 21 [[megabyte|MB]] of storage. The drive has a second set of read/write heads so that it can read from and write to standard 720 KB and 1.44 MB ({{val|1440}} KB) disks as well.<ref name="Pollack_1990_Floppy"/><ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec"/>

To allow for a high degree of compatibility with existing [[SCSI]] host adapters, Floptical drives were designed to work as a standard floppy disk drive, and not as a removable [[hard disk]]. To ensure this, a "write lockout" feature was added in the [[firmware]], effectively inhibiting writing (including any kind of [[disk formatting|formatting]]) of the media. It is possible to unlock the drive by issuing a SCSI Mode Sense Command, and Insite also issued [[EPROM]]s where this feature was not present.

At least two models were produced, one with a manual lever that mechanically ejected the disc from the drive, and another with a small pinhole into which a paperclip can be inserted, in case the device rejected or ignored [[SCSI]] eject commands.

== Market performance ==
Insite licensed the floptical technology to a number of companies, including [[Panasonic Corporation|Matsushita]], [[Iomega]], [[Hitachi Maxell|Maxell/Hitachi]] and others. A number of these companies later formed the '''Floptical Technology Association''', or '''FTA''', to try to have the format adopted as a replacement of standard floppy disks.

Around 70,000 Insite Flopticals are believed to have been sold worldwide in the product's lifetime. [[Silicon Graphics]] used them in their [[SGI Indigo]] and [[SGI Indy]] series of [[computer workstation]]s. It was also reported that [[Commodore International]] had selected the Insite Floptical for its [[Amiga 3000]].<ref name="Bixby_1991_Floptical"/> However, this did not take place, and while Flopticals were installed in many Amiga systems, they were sold by either Insite, TTR Development or Digital Micronics (DMI), and not bundled by [[Commodore International|Commodore]].

Iomega licensed the Floptical technology as early as 1989 and produced a compatible drive known as the '''Insider'''.

A few years later, a number of other companies introduced Floptical-like but incompatible systems:

Iomega introduced their own [[ZIP-100]] system storing 100 MB in 1994, which would go on to sell into the tens of millions. Later versions would increase the capacity to 250 and 750 MB. These had the disadvantage of not being able to read or write normal floppies, which generally required a second drive to be available.

Another similar system was [[Imation]]'s [[LS-120|LS‑120]] ''SuperDisk'' in 1996. The LS-120 stored 120 MB of data while retaining the ability to work with normal {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch disks, interfacing as a standard floppy for better compatibility. A later [[LS-240]] version would store up to 240 MB.

A smaller competitor was the almost unknown [[Caleb UHD144]] in 1997. Their primary advantage was the low cost of their disks.

Since 1998, [[Sony]] also tried their own Floptical-based format, the [[Sony HiFD]], but quality control problems ruined its reputation. The first version could store 150 MB, but it was soon replaced by a 200 MB version.

There was serious consideration that one of these systems would succeed where the Floptical failed and replace the standard floppy disk outright, but the rapid introduction of writable [[CD-ROM]] systems in the early 2000s made the market disappear.

== Operating system support ==
Support of Floptical drives is present in all [[Microsoft]] [[Windows NT]] operating systems up to [[Windows 2000]], where it figures as 20.8 MB drive format option in the [[Format (command)|FORMAT command]] options. The FORMAT command in [[Windows XP]] and newer lacks support of the Floptical drive.<ref name="Microsoft_Windows-XP"/> Floptical support exists in SCO [[OpenServer]] as well. [[SCSI]]-equipped [[Macintosh]] computers could boot from a Mac operating system installed on a Floptical; a formatting utility application was provided to erase and format Floptical disks. Likewise, Silicon Graphics's [[IRIX]] operating system included Floptical support.

==See also==
{{Portal|Physics|Electronics|Engineering}}
* [[Magneto-optical drive]]
* [[SuperDisk|SuperDisk (LS-120)]]
* [[Zip drive]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Bixby_1991_Floptical">{{cite journal |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue135/8_The_flops_a_hit.php |title=The flop's a hit. (floptical technology) |author-first=Robert |author-last=Bixby |journal=[[Compute!]] |issue=135 |date=November 1991 |access-date=2017-06-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619170009/http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue135/8_The_flops_a_hit.php |archive-date=2017-06-19}}</ref>
<ref name="Pollack_1990_Floppy">{{cite journal |title=The Evolution of the Floppy Disk for PCs |series=Business Technology |author-first=Andrew |author-last=Pollack |journal=[[The New York Times]] |date=1990-03-14 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/14/business/business-technology-the-evolution-of-the-floppy-disk-for-pc-s.html |access-date=2017-06-19 }}</ref>
<ref name="Floptical_1990_Spec">{{cite web |title="Floptical" drive info |date=1990-01-17 |url=http://www.verycomputer.com/26_3919ffadf06acbac_1.htm |access-date=2017-06-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619140852/http://www.verycomputer.com/26_3919ffadf06acbac_1.htm |archive-date=2017-06-19}}</ref>
<ref name="Webber_1988_Insite">{{cite journal |author-first=Julie |author-last=Webber |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Insite's "Floptical" Drive to Increase Storage Capacity |access-date=2012-01-20 |journal=[[InfoWorld]] |date=1988-08-15}}</ref>
<ref name="Kotkin_1988_Insite">{{cite journal |title=The Return of the Floppies - Floppy disk drive company looks to innovate to compete with Japanese manufacturers |author-first=Joel |author-last=Kotkin |journal=[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]] |date=1988-09-01 |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/19880901/5944.html |access-date=2017-06-19 }}</ref>
<ref name="Brownstein_1988_Insite">{{cite journal |title=High-Capacity Floppies are Drives of the Future - Experts See 100MB Capacity |author-first=Mark |author-last=Brownstein |journal=[[InfoWorld]] |date=1988-09-12 |pages=27, 30, 32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_zkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT4 |access-date=2017-06-19 }}</ref>
<ref name="Microsoft_Windows-XP">{{Cite web |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |url=http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/dos_diffs.mspx?mfr=true |title=Lack of Floptical support in Windows XP |access-date=2007-09-12}}</ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |url=http://spie.org/x648.html?product_id=167584 |title=Manufacture of 21 MB Floptical disk using acousto-optically controlled laser ablation process |author-first=Fred Charles |author-last=Thomas |editor-first1=Leonard R. |editor-first2=Richard W. |editor-last1=Migliore |editor-last2=Walker |date=1994-02-01 |journal=Proceedings SPIE 2062, Lasers as Tools for Manufacturing |series=Lasers as Tools for Manufacturing |volume=2062 |page=113 |doi=10.1117/12.167584 |bibcode=1994SPIE.2062..113T |s2cid=109498036|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |title=486 Group To Discuss High-Density Drives |author-first=Alice |author-last=LaPlante |journal=[[InfoWorld]] |date=1989-04-03 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_zkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT4 |access-date=2017-06-19 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.yesterdaystechnology.com/html/floptical_disks.html |title=Floptical Disks |access-date=2017-05-24 |author=Yesterday's Technology |date=2016}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.obsoletemedia.org/floptical/floptical-case/ |title=Floptical (case) |access-date=2017-05-24 |author-first=Jason |author-last=Curtis |work=Museum of Obsolete Media |date=7 October 2014 |editor=Museum Of Obsolete Media}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/360344254/Iomega-Floptical-Technology-Primer-1992-1 |title=Floptical Technology Primer |publisher=Iomega Corporation Publication |date=1992 |access-date=2017-10-01}}

[[Category:Optical computer storage]]
[[Category:Floppy disk computer storage]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1991]]

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Floptical