<s>
Floptical	B-Device
refers	O
to	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
that	O
combines	O
magnetic	O
and	O
optical	O
technologies	O
to	O
store	O
data	O
on	O
media	O
similar	O
to	O
standard	O
-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
is	O
a	O
portmanteau	O
of	O
the	O
words	O
"	O
floppy	B-Device
"	O
and	O
"	O
optical	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
refers	O
specifically	O
to	O
one	O
brand	O
of	O
drive	O
and	O
disk	B-Device
system	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
more	O
generically	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
any	O
system	O
using	O
similar	O
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Floptical	B-Device
technology	O
was	O
announced	O
in	O
1988	O
and	O
introduced	O
late	O
in	O
1991	O
by	O
Insite	O
Peripherals	O
,	O
a	O
venture	O
funded	O
company	O
set	O
up	O
by	O
Jim	O
Adkisson	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
key	O
engineers	O
behind	O
the	O
original	O
-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
development	O
at	O
Shugart	O
Associates	O
in	O
1976	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technology	O
involves	O
reading	O
and	O
writing	O
data	O
magnetically	O
,	O
while	O
optically	O
aligning	O
the	O
read/write	O
head	O
in	O
the	O
drive	O
using	O
grooves	O
in	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
being	O
sensed	O
by	O
an	O
infrared	O
LED	O
and	O
sensor	O
(	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
visual	O
servo	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
magnetic	O
head	O
touches	O
the	O
recording	O
surface	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
does	O
in	O
a	O
normal	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
optical	O
servo	O
tracks	O
allow	O
for	O
an	O
increase	O
in	O
the	O
tracking	O
precision	O
of	O
the	O
magnetic	O
head	O
,	O
from	O
the	O
usual	O
135	O
tracks	B-Device
per	I-Device
inch	I-Device
to	O
tracks	B-Device
per	I-Device
inch	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Floptical	B-Device
disks	B-Device
provide	O
21	O
MB	O
of	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
drive	O
has	O
a	O
second	O
set	O
of	O
read/write	O
heads	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
read	O
from	O
and	O
write	O
to	O
standard	O
720KB	O
and	O
1.44MB	O
(	O
KB	O
)	O
disks	B-Device
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
allow	O
for	O
a	O
high	O
degree	O
of	O
compatibility	O
with	O
existing	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
host	O
adapters	O
,	O
Floptical	B-Device
drives	O
were	O
designed	O
to	O
work	O
as	O
a	O
standard	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
and	O
not	O
as	O
a	O
removable	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
ensure	O
this	O
,	O
a	O
"	O
write	O
lockout	O
"	O
feature	O
was	O
added	O
in	O
the	O
firmware	B-Application
,	O
effectively	O
inhibiting	O
writing	O
(	O
including	O
any	O
kind	O
of	O
formatting	B-Application
)	O
of	O
the	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
unlock	O
the	O
drive	O
by	O
issuing	O
a	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
Mode	O
Sense	O
Command	O
,	O
and	O
Insite	O
also	O
issued	O
EPROMs	B-General_Concept
where	O
this	O
feature	O
was	O
not	O
present	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
least	O
two	O
models	O
were	O
produced	O
,	O
one	O
with	O
a	O
manual	O
lever	O
that	O
mechanically	O
ejected	O
the	O
disc	O
from	O
the	O
drive	O
,	O
and	O
another	O
with	O
a	O
small	O
pinhole	O
into	O
which	O
a	O
paperclip	O
can	O
be	O
inserted	O
,	O
in	O
case	O
the	O
device	O
rejected	O
or	O
ignored	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
eject	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Insite	O
licensed	O
the	O
floptical	B-Device
technology	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
companies	O
,	O
including	O
Matsushita	O
,	O
Iomega	O
,	O
Maxell/Hitachi	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
these	O
companies	O
later	O
formed	O
the	O
Floptical	B-Device
Technology	O
Association	O
,	O
or	O
FTA	O
,	O
to	O
try	O
to	O
have	O
the	O
format	O
adopted	O
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
of	O
standard	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
70,000	O
Insite	B-Device
Flopticals	I-Device
are	O
believed	O
to	O
have	O
been	O
sold	O
worldwide	O
in	O
the	O
product	O
's	O
lifetime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silicon	O
Graphics	O
used	O
them	O
in	O
their	O
SGI	B-Device
Indigo	I-Device
and	O
SGI	B-Operating_System
Indy	I-Operating_System
series	O
of	O
computer	B-Device
workstations	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
reported	O
that	O
Commodore	O
International	O
had	O
selected	O
the	O
Insite	B-Device
Floptical	I-Device
for	O
its	O
Amiga	B-Device
3000	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
this	O
did	O
not	O
take	O
place	O
,	O
and	O
while	O
Flopticals	B-Device
were	O
installed	O
in	O
many	O
Amiga	O
systems	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
sold	O
by	O
either	O
Insite	O
,	O
TTR	O
Development	O
or	O
Digital	O
Micronics	O
(	O
DMI	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
bundled	O
by	O
Commodore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Iomega	O
licensed	O
the	O
Floptical	B-Device
technology	O
as	O
early	O
as	O
1989	O
and	O
produced	O
a	O
compatible	O
drive	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Insider	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
years	O
later	O
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
companies	O
introduced	O
Floptical-like	O
but	O
incompatible	O
systems	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Iomega	O
introduced	O
their	O
own	O
ZIP-100	O
system	O
storing	O
100MB	O
in	O
1994	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
go	O
on	O
to	O
sell	O
into	O
the	O
tens	O
of	O
millions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
similar	O
system	O
was	O
Imation	O
's	O
LS‑120	B-Device
SuperDisk	B-Device
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LS-120	B-Device
stored	O
120MB	O
of	O
data	O
while	O
retaining	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
normal	O
-inch	O
disks	B-Device
,	O
interfacing	O
as	O
a	O
standard	O
floppy	B-Device
for	O
better	O
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
later	O
LS-240	B-Device
version	O
would	O
store	O
up	O
to	O
240MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
smaller	O
competitor	O
was	O
the	O
almost	O
unknown	O
Caleb	B-Device
UHD144	I-Device
in	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
1998	O
,	O
Sony	O
also	O
tried	O
their	O
own	O
Floptical-based	O
format	O
,	O
the	O
Sony	O
HiFD	O
,	O
but	O
quality	O
control	O
problems	O
ruined	O
its	O
reputation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
serious	O
consideration	O
that	O
one	O
of	O
these	O
systems	O
would	O
succeed	O
where	O
the	O
Floptical	B-Device
failed	O
and	O
replace	O
the	O
standard	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
outright	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
rapid	O
introduction	O
of	O
writable	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
systems	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
2000s	O
made	O
the	O
market	O
disappear	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Support	O
of	O
Floptical	B-Device
drives	O
is	O
present	O
in	O
all	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Windows	I-Device
NT	I-Device
operating	O
systems	O
up	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
,	O
where	O
it	O
figures	O
as	O
20.8MB	O
drive	O
format	O
option	O
in	O
the	O
FORMAT	B-Application
command	I-Application
options	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FORMAT	B-Application
command	I-Application
in	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
and	O
newer	O
lacks	O
support	O
of	O
the	O
Floptical	B-Device
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Floptical	B-Device
support	O
exists	O
in	O
SCO	B-Operating_System
OpenServer	I-Operating_System
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SCSI-equipped	O
Macintosh	B-Device
computers	O
could	O
boot	O
from	O
a	O
Mac	O
operating	O
system	O
installed	O
on	O
a	O
Floptical	B-Device
;	O
a	O
formatting	B-Application
utility	O
application	O
was	O
provided	O
to	O
erase	O
and	O
format	O
Floptical	B-Device
disks	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Likewise	O
,	O
Silicon	O
Graphics	O
's	O
IRIX	B-Operating_System
operating	O
system	O
includes	O
Floptical	B-Device
support	O
.	O
</s>
