[comp.sys.att] MASM Int 25h on PC AT

2212msr@whuts.UUCP (06/21/87)

On a PC or XT an Int 13h,function 04h can be used to determine if there is a 
disk in a drive.  This does not work on an AT (or clone).  Can anyone suggest a
workaround or alternative solution?

I'm currently issueing a Int 25h (sector read), which works on all machines
The problem I'm having is the case where a program is running on a machine
with a single floppy drive and (apparently) COMMAND.COM causes a message  
to the effect..Insert Diskette in Drive A/B: .. Press Enter ...
How can I supress this message?  Does anyone know any way around this
problem.  (The machines where I encounter this problem most frequently
are AT&T PC-6300s.  It is possible that this is a result of AT&T's brain
damaged MS-DOS - after all these are the people who changed DOS 3.1 to yield
8K clusters on 30Mb hard disks!)

Max S. Robin                           DISCLAIMER:I speak only for myself
AT&T Bell Laboratories                            and no one else
Whippany, NJ
email:whuts!2212msr
voice:201-386-6

ralf@b.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Ralf Brown) (06/29/87)

In article <2232@whuts.UUCP> 2212msr@whuts.UUCP (ROBIN) writes:
>I'm currently issueing a Int 25h (sector read), which works on all machines
>The problem I'm having is the case where a program is running on a machine
>with a single floppy drive and (apparently) COMMAND.COM causes a message  
>to the effect..Insert Diskette in Drive A/B: .. Press Enter ...
>How can I supress this message?  Does anyone know any way around this
>problem.  [...]
>
>Max S. Robin                           DISCLAIMER:I speak only for myself
>email:whuts!2212msr

Unfortunately, there is no way to suppress this message, as it is generated
deep within IBMBIO.COM's disk device driver (and no, it is not due to a 
braindamaged version, *all* versions of PCDOS--and most of MSDOS [Eagle's
MSDOS 1.25 didn't have it, but also assumed two floppies]--act this way).  I
would have suggested using INT 13h, but you indicated that it does not work
reliably on AT's.  The problem may be with having a 1.2M floppy drive...

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