sarathy@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Rajiv Sarathy) (12/10/88)
How do I do it? I'm planning on replacing the WD controller witha an OMTI 1:1 MFM controller. The tech at the place of purchase told me that the HD will have to be reformatted (low-level) to tell it that interleave is now 1:1. How do I do this? He mentioned something like "DL /M", but I don't think this is a DOS command. Help! --Raj -- _____________________________________________________________________________ | Disclaimer: I'm just an undergrad. | | All views and opinions are therefore my own. | | | | Rajiv Partha Sarathy sarathy@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca | |_____________________________________________________________________________|
sarathy@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Rajiv Sarathy) (12/10/88)
In article <1988Dec10.094859.18130@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> I write: >How do I do it? > >I'm planning on replacing the WD controller witha an OMTI 1:1 MFM controller. > >The tech at the place of purchase told me that the HD will have to be >reformatted (low-level) to tell it that interleave is now 1:1. > >How do I do this? I found out from a local retailer that there's something called "disk manager" that does this. Can someone send me a copy of this? Please? Thanks in advance, --Raj -- _____________________________________________________________________________ | Disclaimer: I'm just an undergrad. | | All views and opinions are therefore my own. | | | | Rajiv Partha Sarathy sarathy@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca | |_____________________________________________________________________________|
pervect@bsu-cs.UUCP (Barrett Kreiner) (12/12/88)
In article <1988Dec10.094859.18130@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu>, sarathy@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Rajiv Sarathy) writes: > How do I do it? > > I'm planning on replacing the WD controller witha an OMTI 1:1 MFM controller. > > The tech at the place of purchase told me that the HD will have to be > reformatted (low-level) to tell it that interleave is now 1:1. > > How do I do this? > > He mentioned something like "DL /M", but I don't think this is a DOS command. > > Help! > > --Raj If this OMTI follows standard controller protocol, then this little beaut should do the trick. (pay attention now, tricks like this will get you labeled a "power user" :-]) execute debug from you floppy disk. at the '-', do this: -g=c800:5 on 90% of all hard disk controllers, this points to the assembler code for a low level format. You should be prompted (different for all controllers) on how you want to format the disk, including disk unit and interleave ratio. I have not had experience with RLL controllers, so this is a "best guess". I KNOW this works with hard disks from Segate, those that come with Zenith and AT&T computers, and flashcards. Anyone know different? From one undergrad to another, G'luck! |---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----| | Barrett Kreiner UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!pervect | :-] | | Technical Manager, Fine Arts Computer Lab|--------------------------|-----| | Ball State University. Muncie, Indiana |This space left blank on purpose| |------------------------------------------|--------------------------------| | How am I computing? Let my parents know at ddsw1!kreiner (HI ma & dad) | | Disclamer: "I don't know them! I'm a student, nobody listens to ME!" | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (12/12/88)
Formating with a program called "Disk Manager" (made by Ontrack) is good.
Another such program is called "SpeedStor" made by Storage Dimenstions (the
software division on Maxtor -- the network hard drive manufacturer).
But as far a I know, all of these programs make calls to the controller's
BIOS routines. All the hard drive controllers for XT-type machines should
come with a booklet telling you how to format the drive (low-level). From
my experience, most cases you use DEBUG and do a "G=C800:5" at the "-" prompt.
I'm not exactly sure if this works for the OMTI controller, but in 98% of the
controllers that I've come across in the past 4 years do use this address,
since Western Digital set the standard a while back (1984 or so).
I hope this answers the question about low-level formats.
-- J. Chin (a.k.a. Computer Dr.)
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xxxxxxxxxxxx Pittsburgh, PA 15213 BITnet: jc58@andrew.BITNET
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xxxxxxxxxx Disclaimer: Everything that I say is ONLY my views, not CMU's.cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Charles Lord) (12/12/88)
All HD controllers I've ever worked with (except Taiwan cheapos) have either had a LL format in the Bios or came with a format utility on diskette. I suggest you look there first. There are some costly as well as PD/Shareware disk managers/optimizers around, but the one for your controller is safest. -- * Charles Lord ..!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl Usenet (old) * * Cary, NC cjl@ecsvax.UUCP Usenet (new) * * #include <std.disclamers> cjl@ecsvax.BITNET Bitnet * * #include <cutsey.quote> cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Internet *
HyperDriven@cup.portal.com (Joseph C McDonald) (12/12/88)
I used to low level format drives using DEBUG. The controller's ROM usually
sits at C800 hex, with western digital's 27x I simply typed:
Debug
g=c800 /* this means go c800 */
/* from here the program in the controller took over and I just answered
questions about interleave factor ect. ect., your controller should
have instructions on how to install it and do a low level format. */
(sorry make that g=c800 g=c800:7 this tells it to go to offset 7)
Joseph McDonaldjborza%burgundy@Sun.COM (Jim_Borza) (12/13/88)
In article <5082@bsu-cs.UUCP>, pervect@bsu-cs.UUCP (Barrett Kreiner) writes: > If this OMTI follows standard controller protocol, then this little beaut > should do the trick. > (pay attention now, tricks like this will get you labeled a "power user" :-]) > > execute debug from you floppy disk. > at the '-', do this: > -g=c800:5 > on 90% of all hard disk controllers, this points to the assembler code for a > low level format. You should be prompted (different for all controllers) > on how you want to format the disk, including disk unit and interleave ratio. > > I have not had experience with RLL controllers, so this is a "best guess". > I KNOW this works with hard disks from Segate, those that come with Zenith > and AT&T computers, and flashcards. > > Anyone know different? > Just a word of caution: Adaptec controllers, for some reason known only to Adaptec, have their entry point for the on-board format routine at c800:0ccc (at least on those I've encountered).
karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM ([Karl Denninger]) (12/13/88)
Regarding OMTI controllers and XTs: If you have an OMTI RLL controller, get rid of it and FAST. Every one of them that I have had here has exhibited extreme temperature stability problems, to the point that they were unusable. Symptoms are increasing read-write failures as the system warms up, eventually leading to complete inability to retrieve anything on the disk. I've returned a half-dozen in the last year or so personally; there's still one of these monsters in our stockroom that was out of warranty -- I wouldn't even sell that, with a disclaimer that we know it has problems, for $5.00! Get a Western Digital WD27x board; it looks like a WX2 (real short card) but it says "27x" on the build level sticker. These have an on-board BIOS that is known to work, it can virtually configure the drive (so the system still thinks it's a 17-sector unit; very useful for some picky software) and most importantly, I have never had one go bad on me. If you must use that OMTI, the jump address Barrett Kreiner gave is close -- on OMTI controllers I believe it's G=C800:6 (not :5) (it has been a while). -- Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, ddsw1!karl) Data: [+1 312 566-8912], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910] Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. "Quality solutions at a fair price"
geoff@moss.ATT.COM (12/14/88)
In article <0XcgYUy00W0YMr315a@andrew.cmu.edu> jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) writes: > >come with a booklet telling you how to format the drive (low-level). From >my experience, most cases you use DEBUG and do a "G=C800:5" at the "-" prompt. >I'm not exactly sure if this works for the OMTI controller, but in 98% of the >controllers that I've come across in the past 4 years do use this address, I have the OMTI 1:1 controller. You do indeed format it with debug as described above. It works well. The controller, on the other hand, is a pain in the butt. I do not recommend it. You have to tell your bios that you do not have a hard drive or you will get a drive controller failure on reboot which you cannot clear (except by rebooting, of course, which doesn't help you worth a damn). I tried to bring up UNIX on the machine. Of course, it looks at the config area and won't work because you don't have a hard drive! If you fix the config area and ignore the failure, UNIX still can't deal with the drive. The way this controller works (as I have heard; I am certainly no expert at it) is that it writes its control info on an unused track. My OPTune disk interleaver/disk checker/disk optimizer very happily scribbles all over this track trying to figure the optimum interleave (which was indeed 1:1 on a 20MHz 386). Worked fine -- until I tried to reboot. Boot failure is not a happy error message. Fortunately I had backed up my hard disk (Seagate 4096) so recovery was not a problem. Conclusion: the OMTI works if you use MS-DOS and do not have any programs that scribble on that track. If I had known this, though, I would not have bought this controller. geoff sherwood att!moss!burl!geoff P.S. If someone can tell me how to get past the chicken-and-egg problem with UNIX and the bios, PLEASE DO!
dmc@ntcsd1.UUCP (David Clemens) (12/14/88)
I have a problem...
I am currently working with a Compaq 386 that initially had two disk
drives and a 20M hard disk running off of a Winchester controller card.
We are currently trying to upgrade the hard disk to a 122M Seagate drive
which came with it's own controller card, a Western Digital 1003-RAH.
Now... the problem is that the Western Digital card doesn't support the
floppy drives and the Winchester doesn't support the new hard disk, so we
have to make the two cards work together. The Winchester controller is
running the disk drives perfectly, the computer succesfully boots up with
a system disk. However, when we try an FDISK it returns a message saying that
no fixed disks are attached. We also tried to use Disk Manager, but it says that
there is a hardware error on the controller card or the disk.
I beleive that the software is looking on the Winchester card for the fixed
disk and is returning the error message. Can anybody out there tell me how
to get around this problem?
Thanx in advance...
David Clemens
Disclaimer: The above ideas were the result of the head-on collision of two
apparently random thought processes in the lower portion of my brain.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| I'm not wierd, I'm normal... | David Clemens |
| The rest of the world is wierd. | {backbone}!mcnc!rti!ntcsd1!dmc |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------keithe@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson) (12/14/88)
In article <1988Dec10.131416.20969@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> sarathy@gpu.utcs.UUCP (Rajiv Sarathy) writes:
]
] I found out from a local retailer that there's something called "disk manager"
] that does this. Can someone send me a copy of this? Please?
]
Disk Manager by Ontrack Computer Systems is copyright'ed material.
Specifically prohibited by the license is...
4.F. Making telecommunication data transmission of the
Software
So sorry, no - you'll have to buy yourself a copy. Call (800)
752-1333 for information (or (612) 937 1107 if the 800 # doesn't
work for you).
keithjc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (12/14/88)
Now if I recall correctly, you can disable the hard drive portion of the hard drive controller that comes with the Compaq. If however the hard drive controller (the original one, not WD-1003-RAH) is NOT the standard one from Compaq, then I will need more information before I can tell you what to do. One more suggestions is to buy a floopy controller and forget about that hard drive controller altogether. Western Digital has one of the best ones out for AT-type buses. (WD - stands for Western Digital, by the way.) -- J. Chin (a.k.a. Computer Dr.) ------------------------- Carnegie Mellon University ------------------------- 4730 Centre Avenue, Apt. #412 ARPAnet: Johnny.J.Chin@andrew.cmu.edu Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania 15213 BITnet: jc58@andrew.BITNET (412) 268-8936 UUCP: ...!harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!jc58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sarathy@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Rajiv Sarathy) (12/15/88)
A lot of the postings assumed that the OMTI 1:1 interleave controller is RLL. Is this true? I had assumed that it was MFM. (The salesman told me it was SCSI but was compatible with any hard drive --- yeah, right). Oh, and thanks to everyone who answered my question by posting and sending mail. I was able to successfully reformat the hard drive. Norton SI gave the Disk Index a boost from 2.3 to 3.6 for a Seagate ST251 (39ms) on an Everex 3000 (16 MHz 386 with a 64K 45ns cache which gives it an SI of 18.4). (Norton Utilities V4.0) Now, can anyone tell me how I can measure the controller's actual disk transfer rate?
hollen@spot.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck) (12/16/88)
From article <1988Dec14.142052.21164@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu>, by sarathy@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Rajiv Sarathy): > A lot of the postings assumed that the OMTI 1:1 interleave controller is > RLL. Is this true? I had assumed that it was MFM. (The salesman told me it > was SCSI but was compatible with any hard drive --- yeah, right). > Unless you specifically bought an RLL controller, the OMTI is MFM, you're right. Dion Hollenbeck (619) 455-5590 x2814 Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121 seismo!s3sun!megatek!hollen ames!scubed/
Peter.Dinda@circle.UUCP (Peter Dinda) (12/19/88)
Ragiv, there are other possibilities other than doing a complete low level format (and thus having to back up all the data) Programs such as SpinRite will dtermine the optimum disk interleave and then low level format the disk to it without destroying data. They do this by reading a track from the disk, putting it in memory, reformating the track and then putting the data back and going on to the next track. It can take a while (Took three hours on my 238R/27x combination), but certainly the way to go if you don't have a tape backup. -- Peter Dinda - via FidoNet node 1:121/1 UUCP: ...!uwvax!geowhiz!circle!Peter.Dinda ARPA: Peter.Dinda@circle.UUCP