A few bits of information.

     The Magneto-Optical drives I was looking at do do 512
 byte-per-sector media (supposed to auto-detect, the drives come
 with manuals).  I'll probably buy some in January.

     Regarding the I/O H&K session.  You mention possible
 problems with write caching bits and so-on on VMS.  I was
 having problems with directory data apparently not getting
 written out onto a Quantum drive I have on my Macintosh, so I
 went into the driver setup software (happens to be FWB, which
 allows you to do a number of customizations), and turned of
 what I think was the WCT bit (I can go back and look).  Many of
 the problems I was having appear to have gone away.  So it may
 be worth mentioning that it may be a problem on platforms other
 than VMS.

     There is a program called RZSPINUP which is supposed to let
 you set the spinup bit on drives like the RZ23, so you can move
 them from DEC equipment to PCs or Macs or other platforms where
 the driver doesn't send out a spinup command.  I am looking for
 a copy now (there were a number of them around Digital, but the
 references are old and out-of-date).  If it is at all possible,
 I think this should also go onto the next Freeware collection,
 because it's something that a lot of people seem to ask for in
 News and other places.  The newest version is supposed to
 recognize quite a few different kinds of drives, not just one
 model.  I think it was originally for MS-DOS, though there may
 also be a VMS version.  It's also supposed to already be on at
 least one Digital Web site, so getting it cleared for
 distribution should be easy.  (If you already have a copy,
 please let me know, as I could really use it at the moment.)

     And if I don't see you before then, happy new year.

     Bart.