Overall condition
All 720 sectors were recovered, but 1 of them needed more than one attempt. That is the signature of media that is still readable but no longer suitable and the signal is weakening in places.
What we recommend. Your data is complete and we have imaged your disk successfully. Because of the originating condition we recommend retiring this disk and not relying on it for future reads, as sectors that need retries today commonly become unreadable within a few years.
Grade limited: all data was recovered, but some sectors needed more than one attempt.
Disk format
360KB 5.25" double-sided
360 KB
Sectors read cleanly
719 / 720
99.9% on the first attempt
Sectors unreadable
0
No data lost
Files found
38
330.2 KB of content
The disk surface
Each ring is one cylinder, drawn where it sits on the physical disk — cylinder 0 at the outside edge, working inwards. Each block is one sector, placed at the angle at which it actually passed under the head, measured from the index hole. Scattered marks mean ordinary age-related decay. Marks that line up into an arc or a streak mean physical damage to the media.
- Read cleanly
- Needed a retry
- Failed checksum
- Header damaged
- Not found
What we found
- 1 sector(s) would not read on the first attempt but were recovered by re-reading the captured signal with different decoder settings. Nothing was lost, but this is an early warning sign rather than a clean result.
- 5 sector(s) returned different data on different revolutions of the disk. That means the magnetic signal in those places is genuinely marginal, not simply mis-read.
What is on the disk
38 file(s) in 0 folder(s), totalling 330.2 KB. The disk is labelled 10705210.05. Full checksums are in the technical appendix.
| Name | Size | Last modified |
|---|---|---|
| DEMO.BAT | 7 bytes | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| RFDEMO.BAT | 5.3 KB | 1987-02-02 15:36 |
| R1.COM | 1.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| R21.COM | 1.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| R22.COM | 1.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| SG_ASKW.COM | 724 bytes | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| SG_DMODE.COM | 460 bytes | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| SG_MEM.COM | 550 bytes | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _ALT_A_Z.SG1 | 378 bytes | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_0.DBD | 11.4 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_M.DBD | 4.2 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_D.DBD | 3.3 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_1.DBD | 22.9 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_2.DBD | 20.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_3.DBD | 27.7 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_4.DBD | 26.5 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_5.DBD | 55.2 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_9.DBD | 35.4 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_F.DBD | 16.6 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _FILE_Q.DBD | 8.9 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| _DBTIME.EXE | 35.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| LOOP.EXE | 16.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| RF_LOOP.SPS | 2.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 100.GX1 | 2.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 111.GX1 | 3.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 121.GX1 | 2.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 131.GX1 | 2.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 141.GX1 | 1.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 151.GX1 | 2.1 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 161.GX1 | 1.9 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 162.GX1 | 1.6 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 171.GX1 | 1.5 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 172.GX1 | 1.9 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 173.GX1 | 2.5 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 181.GX1 | 1.6 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 191.GX1 | 2.2 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 192.GX1 | 1.2 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
| 200.GX1 | 2.8 KB | 1987-01-20 13:48 |
Everything below is the measured detail behind the assessment above. It is included so that the result can be checked, reproduced and compared against a future assessment of the same disk.
Capture provenance
| Source file | rapidfile_revs-5.scp |
|---|---|
| File size | 31.93 MB |
| SHA-256 of capture | 91379b806ff1fe7280ed6d32acd381e5251fe240fd9cf64fb4ced1cd8fa1e721 |
| Container | SuperCard Pro (.scp) v0.0 |
| Revolutions per track | 5 |
| Capture drive | TEAC FD-55BR |
| Track records in capture | 80 (40 cylinders x 2 side(s); the .scp container numbers tracks as cylinder x 2 + head) |
| Sample resolution | 25 ns per tick |
| Index cued | yes |
| Capture flags | 0x23 |
| Decoder | IBM System 34 MFM |
| Analysis time | 5.24 seconds |
| Sector image | verified sectors only — 0 unreadable sector(s) filled with a repeating 32-byte ASCII record naming the sector, so the gap identifies itself in a hex dump or a damaged document |
| Report generator | x86.world flux assessment 1.1.2 |
| Score calibration | 2026.08-r1 |
Detected format
Nothing in a flux capture states the physical format. The identification below is inferred from what the decoder found: cylinder count, sector layout, data rate and measured spindle speed. A 1.2MB drive turns at 360 rpm and everything else at 300, which is what separates the two high-density formats.
| Identified format | 360KB 5.25" double-sided |
|---|---|
| Confidence | Matched a standard PC format |
| Basis | 40 cylinders x 2 head(s), 9 sectors of 512 bytes, 250kbps, 299.8rpm |
| Cylinders | 40 |
| Heads | 2 |
| Sectors per track | 9 |
| Sector size | 512 bytes |
| First sector number | 1 |
| Data rate | 250 kbps MFM |
| Mean spindle speed | 299.75 rpm (spread 0.43 rpm) |
| Nominal capacity | 360 KB |
How the score was reached
| Component | Weight | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-pass readability 719 of 720 sectors verified on the first attempt, with no retries. | 30% | 98.6 | |
| Data recovered 720 of 720 sectors recovered in total, including 1 that needed retries. | 30% | 100.0 | |
| Signal timing quality Mean timing error 4.1% of a bit cell (worst track 9.5%). Pristine media sits near 3.5%. | 20% | 94.6 | |
| Read repeatability 5 sector(s) returned different data between revolutions. | 10% | 99.3 | |
| Mechanical and surface consistency Spindle speed varied by 0.43 rpm across the capture; 0 flux dropout(s) recorded. | 10% | 100.0 | |
| Weighted score 98.4, reduced to 89.0. Grade limited: all data was recovered, but some sectors needed more than one attempt. | |||
| Overall | 100% | 89.0 | |
Signal timing
A Greaseweazle records when each magnetic transition occurred, never how strong it was, so no amount of processing can report magnetic amplitude. What can be measured is timing: how far each transition landed from where the encoding says it should be. On healthy media the histogram below shows three narrow spikes at two, three and four bit cells. As media ages those spikes broaden and begin to merge.
| Mean timing error | 4.06% of a bit cell |
|---|---|
| Worst track | 9.54% of a bit cell |
| Flux transitions analysed | 16,739,344 |
| Dropouts recorded | 0 |
| Spindle speed spread | 0.425 rpm |
Sector status by cylinder
The same information as the surface map, in the coordinates you would use to re-read a specific area. Rows are cylinders, columns are sectors.
- Read cleanly
- Needed a retry
- Failed checksum
- Header damaged
- Not found
Retry analysis
Where a sector fails its checksum, the captured flux is decoded again with different phase-locked-loop settings and, where available, a different revolution of the disk. No single tuning wins everywhere: a track whose speed drifted wants a loop that tracks aggressively, while a track with localised dropouts wants one that holds its lock and coasts through. The count below is how many sectors each tuning rescued that earlier ones could not.
| Decoder profile | Period / phase | Sectors rescued |
|---|---|---|
| Steady lock Slow period tracking with gentle phase correction. Best all-round result on the calibration set. | 0.010 / 0.20 | 1 |
| Balanced Moderate tracking. Handles gradual speed drift across a track. | 0.020 / 0.40 | 0 |
| Agile Fast tracking for tracks written on a drive running off-speed. | 0.050 / 0.60 | 0 |
| Coasting Near-fixed clock. Rides through dropouts without being dragged off frequency. | 0.004 / 0.10 | 0 |
| Aggressive Maximum agility. Occasionally rescues badly warped media at the cost of noise sensitivity. | 0.100 / 0.80 | 0 |
Affected sectors
Angle is measured from the index pulse, which is what makes physical damage identifiable: a scratch or a mould ring produces failures clustered at similar angles across many cylinders.
| Cyl | Head | Sector | Angle | Status | Revs OK | Attempt | Unstable bytes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 7 | 236.0° | Recovered on retry | 1/5 | 5 | 95 |
Filesystem integrity
The filesystem was parsed directly from the assembled image without mounting it. The kernel driver exists to make damaged filesystems look usable — it prefers the first FAT silently, skips entries it dislikes and reports none of it — which is precisely the information this section is for.
| Filesystem | FAT12 |
|---|---|
| OEM name in boot sector | IBM 3.1 |
| Volume label | 10705210.05 |
| Volume serial | (none) |
| Bytes per sector | 512 |
| Sectors per cluster | 2 |
| Reserved sectors | 1 |
| FAT copies | 2 |
| Sectors per FAT | 2 |
| Root directory entries | 112 |
| Media descriptor | 0xFD |
| Total sectors | 720 |
| BPB valid | yes |
| Boot signature 0x55AA | present |
| FAT copies agree | yes |
| Clusters total | 354 |
| Clusters in use | 350 |
| Clusters free | 4 |
| Clusters marked bad | 0 |
| Lost cluster chains | 0 (0 clusters) |
| Cross-linked clusters | 0 |
File inventory and checksums
SHA-256 is computed over each file's recovered contents, truncated to the length recorded in its directory entry. Files marked other than intact contain at least one sector that failed verification, or have a damaged allocation chain.
| Path | 8.3 name | Bytes | Modified | Attr | Clusters | SHA-256 | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /DEMO.BAT | DEMO.BAT | 7 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 1 | 60f682e3cc7530a11c219854e5cd1c82f73dd8a0b68ae7421aedbdb679bc69ee | intact |
| /RFDEMO.BAT | RFDEMO.BAT | 5,420 | 1987-02-02 15:36:26 | ---A | 6 | 5142659038f22b97c2ede8d75f6271b9f7366edc33643c92b873dcac57b852c9 | intact |
| /R1.COM | R1.COM | 1,130 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 2 | 75499f059708d0b4fbde5c80382abb28f29d7417fa786e75e3b8322a6742f4a9 | intact |
| /R21.COM | R21.COM | 1,130 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 2 | fef9ab16475a2d4722dce528c0c537243ee0938d61d3bc7576ba38d0c936716e | intact |
| /R22.COM | R22.COM | 1,130 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 2 | 20454f7644faed5590c1ddd77b9d7048102c6d4139b5c9ae0c7b4e7a8cbbc35c | intact |
| /SG_ASKW.COM | SG_ASKW.COM | 724 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 1 | d079d3bc136c690e8f3e6a1260882097f658cdc7b8dbc08449f14fba72c74629 | intact |
| /SG_DMODE.COM | SG_DMODE.COM | 460 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 1 | 089527ed9e15f3b19ef3253b61171570dc5ee62c3cf9c827e1748a52cabf6e1e | intact |
| /SG_MEM.COM | SG_MEM.COM | 550 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 1 | 0c382ded8116a7481373580fc16fe0dd92030511f4757db98b88840db591c04d | intact |
| /_ALT_A_Z.SG1 | _ALT_A_Z.SG1 | 378 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 1 | fb1b5494736a4a93da5631ebca7f03a0798b58833bc0c766eee555ca71f9250c | intact |
| /_FILE_0.DBD | _FILE_0.DBD | 11,723 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 12 | bd9a59b494e0adbb9faf3219301778503c8af949b9f572d077f033bcf81cfb04 | intact |
| /_FILE_M.DBD | _FILE_M.DBD | 4,263 | 1987-01-20 13:48:00 | ---A | 5 | 001173fc274bb883a125c20e8fbaa1cd1db277c740f3bd23819cbb07b61f4342 | intact |
| /_FILE_D.DBD | _FILE_D.DBD | 3,363 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 4 | d921927ad8859681d003e472b49dbcb3e70e217fadc4fac86b9d93ff767ac118 | intact |
| /_FILE_1.DBD | _FILE_1.DBD | 23,499 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 23 | dde13cd1185f95ebf510494ed7d7419d2f02b09373fe617a9e1256b1c1ddd0e2 | intact |
| /_FILE_2.DBD | _FILE_2.DBD | 21,258 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 21 | 3be3ebdd1126462de38834c8b256c107249ba4aad1684f205ce4caa0a3054995 | intact |
| /_FILE_3.DBD | _FILE_3.DBD | 28,411 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 28 | e1664fdff2e44d952be6e66975f47929587ff6516ddd0a5fa113a0c0679c6aae | intact |
| /_FILE_4.DBD | _FILE_4.DBD | 27,115 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 27 | c14c730df4c73126d24576bb8f4c30c356424484e56733665a1d99d17bcd5b05 | intact |
| /_FILE_5.DBD | _FILE_5.DBD | 56,524 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 56 | c409db039c83c4abd27f1f143a86b7c9872dd69a9b4c71f42a771a58c7838486 | intact |
| /_FILE_9.DBD | _FILE_9.DBD | 36,256 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 36 | f139eaae6123a2760e50034fedada4df4039d9755769de77365a7c5b41152c45 | intact |
| /_FILE_F.DBD | _FILE_F.DBD | 16,999 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 17 | d40fabe6f90865895c3b22e05515b3cc5c2d6bcfc810fb40a41a681ea9be5d43 | intact |
| /_FILE_Q.DBD | _FILE_Q.DBD | 9,144 | 1987-01-20 13:48:02 | ---A | 9 | f2d48e3dc3ed97ca2ed41a3bc7198193a45364a0ddb5722a286225dbf3de40b9 | intact |
| /_DBTIME.EXE | _DBTIME.EXE | 36,608 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 36 | f2669357e68189817d3d283b5d7dbf5fcc83e1eb537e71badd1789681e6548bf | intact |
| /LOOP.EXE | LOOP.EXE | 17,178 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 17 | 6f3de1a47603f46907ac5558c82d4d2d09ccacd8650349e5d8a654ebf891828a | intact |
| /RF_LOOP.SPS | RF_LOOP.SPS | 2,176 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 3 | 101442d4ec812f1d58aabc5c78ffc985931a4fc71c6f02b117c3dfdf0c19ab6b | intact |
| /100.GX1 | 100.GX1 | 2,816 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 3 | a9b220d23768166059f6f0a831cf3e68bb985d2b050cc20369e6d918bb1d4b64 | intact |
| /111.GX1 | 111.GX1 | 3,840 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 4 | a88923cfdcf7f81fde959376a4b217318b009f0e79332eb43c471b0190c2dc81 | intact |
| /121.GX1 | 121.GX1 | 2,176 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 3 | 4cb1f7e6f59f223210b00631f99232fd7145183575cb5f2c3926b14d7d3ab267 | intact |
| /131.GX1 | 131.GX1 | 2,176 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 3 | 0b551f336087bfc3fd91f42b713e092febb917acc27140a348b453c026787a81 | intact |
| /141.GX1 | 141.GX1 | 1,792 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 2 | bb4ec3cef8d531520b43071eeaeaf54d5dfb32e2b559111a9fc8212560ccfce7 | intact |
| /151.GX1 | 151.GX1 | 2,176 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 3 | 69e9cf53b30858f2743cfb59c1f62d61246eabdd59cf5dc1a377cefc04d5cbb3 | intact |
| /161.GX1 | 161.GX1 | 1,920 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 2 | 6fe1e883bda929156b3930e0fdd415d733321335d06218e50edd42d664fd2e58 | intact |
| /162.GX1 | 162.GX1 | 1,664 | 1987-01-20 13:48:04 | ---A | 2 | 0d5f9c43609761dd15696c8822d1d1a2759f88996f27ffddfe16bee1e4719956 | intact |
| /171.GX1 | 171.GX1 | 1,536 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 2 | b0359341f1339ea38a201efddcaad588824b585cb64c140dd107ad39d090ff48 | intact |
| /172.GX1 | 172.GX1 | 1,920 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 2 | 97078d9f4d3d8cc5844313b89a28c383fb37cad783eba36377100e0d50c293ee | intact |
| /173.GX1 | 173.GX1 | 2,560 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 3 | 6432d406dc6016fc2ec029bac79567e6b2fd5fad67a717b3192e4a36f36f322a | intact |
| /181.GX1 | 181.GX1 | 1,664 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 2 | 6c7119260647a4bcd6dc0b1f9dbf37b380c176368a1a8776b8aea125d77c44f6 | intact |
| /191.GX1 | 191.GX1 | 2,304 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 3 | a4cf3938acbd785a5a39671dbd9fe00288835936cb720f53e5e42d3da1f49202 | intact |
| /192.GX1 | 192.GX1 | 1,280 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 2 | 4809c0cbbe4c6210c904dfaf969fe56b59f6a9fd3dcb56fe463fbe310303e6a5 | intact |
| /200.GX1 | 200.GX1 | 2,816 | 1987-01-20 13:48:06 | ---A | 3 | 6e3c6b96321bb4d1c5952f822443b1c8b1bef1cf93ce70a3c8283d564f78e2ce | intact |
Method and limitations
What was done
The capture was decoded from raw flux timings. A software phase-locked loop converts the intervals between magnetic transitions into a bit stream; sector address marks are located in that stream and each sector's header and payload verified against its own CRC. Where a checksum failed, the same flux was decoded again with different loop settings and against other captured revolutions before the sector was declared unreadable. No data was re-read from the physical disk at any point in this analysis; every figure here comes from the single capture named above, which is why the same capture can be re-analysed indefinitely without further wear on the media.
What this cannot tell you
- Magnetic signal strength is not measurable from this equipment. A Greaseweazle records transition timing only. Every quality figure in this report is derived from timing accuracy and read repeatability, which correlate with signal health but are not a direct measurement of it.
- The overall score is a weighted heuristic, not a measurement. Its components are shown individually above so that the verdict can be checked against the underlying numbers. Calibration version 2026.08-r1.
- A single-revolution capture cannot measure repeatability. Sectors that read correctly once may not read correctly again.
- Physical media size cannot be determined from flux alone and is inferred from cylinder count, data rate and spindle speed.
- A sector that passes its CRC is almost certainly correct, but CRC-16 is not a cryptographic checksum. Roughly one damaged sector in 65,536 would pass by chance.
- This assessment describes the condition of the media at the moment of capture. Magnetic media continues to degrade in storage.
- A raw sector image cannot record that a sector is unknown; it can only record what a sector contains. The list of unreadable sectors in this report and its JSON companion is the authoritative record, not the image. Where an unambiguous artefact is needed, an ImageDisk (.imd) copy carries per-sector error and unavailable flags directly.