ianking@tcom.stc.co.uk (Ian King) (01/05/90)
Stupid Question Time -------------------- I have just acquired an 386SX PC using an SCSI rodime HD. I am having problems running some programs on it. The programs run OK from floppy but will not run if you copy them to the hard-disk. Other little problems such as funny file sizes led me to conclude that I ought to re-format the HD from scratch. Now the stupid question.. HOW YOU YOU LOW_LEVEL FORMAT AN SCSI DRIVE? I've no experience of SCSI drives at all. I can high-level format it ie format c: /s . All my other machines are standard ST506(?) interface. I can low-level format these OK (c800:5) & then high-level format or use Disk Manager (Seagate/Miniscribe drive-specific flavours). I rang the computer manufacturer & they said it couldn't be done :-) !??! Are they giving me a lot of bull sh.. ? Or am I getting really confused about disk formatting? Thanks in Advance.... .....................Ian King. -- Ian King <ianking@tcom.stc.co.uk> or <...mcvax!ukc!stc!ianking> ADVANCE MICRO COMPUTERS...you know IT makes sense! :-) JANET: ianking%stc@uk.ac.ukc
neese@adaptex.UUCP (01/07/90)
>Now the stupid question.. HOW YOU YOU LOW_LEVEL FORMAT AN SCSI DRIVE?
What host adapter do you have? If it is an Adaptec AHA-154x adapter, you
would invoke, via debug, g=dc00:5 and let her rip.
Roy Neese
Adaptec Central Field Applications Engineer
UUCP @ {texbell,attctc}!cpe!adaptex!neese
merch!adaptex!neese
uunet!swbatl!texbell!merch!adaptex!neeseemmo@moncam.co.uk (Dave Emmerson) (01/09/90)
In article <2696@arran.tcom.stc.co.uk>, ianking@tcom.stc.co.uk (Ian King) writes: > Stupid Question Time > -------------------- > [deleted] > > Now the stupid question.. HOW YOU YOU LOW_LEVEL FORMAT AN SCSI DRIVE? > > [deleted] I know how he feels. I had great fun installing a Quantum PRO80S on my '286 AMI machine. First I tried with a WD XT/AT SCSI controller. This repeatedly reported 'no drives'. After many discussions with the techie at Abacus+, I finally shipped the drive and controller back to them. They tried allsorts and finally concluded that neither was faulty, they just wouldn't work together. A small cash adjustment later, I got my drive back with a Future Domain controller board. This recognised that a QP80S was attached, but no more. After several attempts, I found that one of the AMI's resident disk types would get it a bit further. This was type 45 (yours may be different), one of the 0Mb 0 Cylinders, 0 Heads configurations. Then I ran Disk Manager on it. That came up with some weird Cyl/Head combination, so I messed around for another day before finally deciding to f*** it all and try initialising it anyway. Lo and behold, it worked. So did Partitioning. It's never caused any trouble since. My thanks to Abacus+ for their support throughout, particularly in view of the fact that I only bought the controller from them. No affiliation, just a happy customer. The moral? I guess sometimes you just have to 'suck it and see'. NB: you *could* try running Norton's disk doctor on it if you have it, or maybe you should try a virus checker/killer. Things like bad block management and interleave should be hidden by the SCSI interface, so don't waste time worrying over them. Good luck! Dave E.
emmo@moncam.co.uk (Dave Emmerson) (01/11/90)
> >Now the stupid question.. HOW YOU YOU LOW_LEVEL FORMAT AN SCSI DRIVE? > It's probably worth mentioning that some SCSI drives execute format in a second or so. That is, it just 'remembers' it's been formatted, and skips the rest (it was done at the factory, and can only be done the one way, so why do it all again.). Partitioning is PDQ too, so don't think it's screwed up if it only takes a minute or two, so long as no errors get reported. Dave.
kmcvay@oneb.UUCP (Ken McVay) (01/12/90)
In article <359@marvin.moncam.co.uk>, emmo@moncam.co.uk (Dave Emmerson) writes: > > >Now the stupid question.. HOW YOU YOU LOW_LEVEL FORMAT AN SCSI DRIVE? Many SCSI drives arrive from the distributor already low-levelled. I recently installed two Miniscribe 3130S's, and all that was needed was to run FDISK and do the high-level format....these are the only two I've played with, and I don't know if others are shipped ll'd or not...try running FDISK and find out... -- 1B Systems Management Ltd. | 4B - 2520 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, B.C. V9T 3L3 Kenneth McVay | Voice: 604-758-7414 | Envoy: ken.mcvay | RCSA: 89:681/1