The number is, as Chr$ mentioned, written at format time, and never changes. If it is seen to change, then the system assumes a new cartridge has been inserted ad the details need to be cached. There is a similar method with floppies, hard drives and QXL.WIN files too.bwinkel67 wrote:Is that random number supposed to change if a new file is added (which it didn't do)? I guess I never swapped cartridges between microdrives before.
It works well, until you do what you did and swap the cartridge between drives and add a new file or delete one and then swap back again. Next time you access the cartridge, the random number hasn't changed so it is assumed nothing has changed. There's no "the cartridge has been removed" notification to the system, which would make things easier in cases like yours.
Cheers,
Norm.