[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Needed: Source of arcane disk knowledge

psm@manta.NOSC.MIL (Scot Mcintosh) (07/24/89)

Every so often we need to install some new, usually large, hard disk
into an IBM PC or clone.  This is usually an exercise in frustration
because the disk isn't one of the standard types, and we don't really
know what's going on internally.  We typically use Speedstore and a
great deal of experimentation to get us through it.  I can't help thinking
that life would be easier if we knew more about the low-level workings
of this process.  Does anyone know of a source of such information as
exactly what happens when one locks out bad sectors/tracks, where the
drive type is stored, how the partition information is recorded, how
a partition is made active, etc.?  In short, the sort of info that a
person would have to know in order to write a software package like
Speedstore.  Please send email if possible, and I'll summarize to
the net.