u2zj@vax5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (02/01/90)
In article <1405@iraun1.ira.uka.de> tremmel@ira.uka.de (Wolfgang Tremmel) writes: >Hi! >Can anybody tell me if it's possible (and how) to format a disk on an >AT in the following format: > 80 Tracks > 18 Sectors / Track > 512 Byte / Sector > >Wolfgang Tremmel tremmel@ira.uka.de tremmel@garf.ira.uka.de If you dont mind writing your own program, you can use INT 13h, service 5 (format diskette track) to custom format tracks and sectors on your diskette. This service formats a diskette a track at a time. Register AL contains the number of sectors/track. AH = 5h - format diskette one side of a diskette track AL = number of sectors CH = track DH = head DL = drive ES:BX = pointer to (number of sectors) * (4-bytes) these 4-byte fields decribe (track#,head#,sector#, sizecode) for each sector on the track. the sizecode is: 0=128 bytes, 1=256 bytes, 2=512 bytes, 3=1024 bytes. It's pretty easy to do from a high level language, like microsoft C. The other way to change the number of sectors (I can't really vouch for this) is to modify byte offset 4 in the disk base table using debug or a program of your own design. ============================================================== |Stanton Loh | u2zj@vax5.cit.cornell.edu | |Baker Lab, Cornell Univ | u2zj@crnlvax5.BITNET | |Ithaca, NY 14853-1301 | stanton@chemres.tn.cornell.edu | |(607) 255-3726 | | ==============================================================
emmo@moncam.co.uk (Dave Emmerson) (02/05/90)
In article <1405@iraun1.ira.uka.de|, tremmel@iraun2.ira.uka.de (Wolfgang Tremmel) writes: | Hi! | Can anybody tell me if it's possible (and how) to format a disk on an | AT in the following format: | 80 Tracks | 18 Sectors / Track | 512 Byte / Sector | Those are standard parameters for 3.5 inch Quad-density (HD) drives on an AT. If your controller recognises the 1.44Mb 3.5 inch type of drive, then just set it up for that. If it only knows about 1.2MB 5.25 inch drives, you'll have to replace it. "Setting up" may involve switches, links or the CMOS RAM configuration (either by a holding a certain key down while booting, or by running a setup.exe/com program) - check your manuals. If you're trying to get 18 sectors/track on a 5.25 inch drive, give up, you'll have to hack the hardware about as well as the software. Dave E.