moss@ttidca.TTI.COM (Les Moss) (09/09/88)
I have a disk problem which I have been unable to solve. I would
appreciate any ideas.
My configuration: ALR386 AT Clone, WD1006RAH 1:1 Interleave RLL
disk controller, Microscience HH1050 Disk (1024 Cyl, 5 Heads).Rom
Bios: By Phoenix ALR number 1.10-01 (latest) supports this disk as
type 37 (1024 Cyl, 5 Heads, 26 sectors, precomp -1 (what is
precomp?)). Setup says drive type is 37.
I run a low level format (with WDFMT) with above parameters.
Everything is OK. Next I boot ms dos 3.3 from floppy (OK) and run
FDISK. FDISK terminates with "error 2003: Integer divide by zero".
I also tried low level format with Spedstor and boot with Compaq
DOS 3.1. In this case COMPAQ DISKINIT terminates with "divide
overflow".
Finally I used Spedstor's partition editor to "high level" format.
This works but when I boot with the spedstor disk driver I get
messages "physical size not equal logical size". In this case I
ran a diagnostic (PC Technician) and it says my C drive has 0
heads. Is this the zero that causes the divide overflow?. Where
does it get the number of heads?
Help!
--
Les Moss
Citicorp TTI
3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, ext. 2982
Santa Monica, CA 90405 moss@ttidca.tti.comcjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Charles Lord) (09/10/88)
I need to low-level a pair of 40Mb drives I had on a CP/M system. Where can I get WDFMT, as it isn't "built-in" like it is on the XT-type controllers? -- Charles Lord ..!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl Usenet Cary, NC cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Bitnet #include <std.disclamers> #include <cutsey.quote>
jordan@gandalf.nosc.mil (Martin C. Jordan) (09/14/88)
Our group has recently acquired ALR 386/220 machines. We installed our own WD1006 controllers and hard drives and have had no problem in getting the machines up and running. If my memory serves me correct, the WDFMT format routine supplied with our units was for the ALR 66 a machine sporting a fast RLL hard disk controller/drive combination. If my memory serves me correctly, standard low-level formatting sets up the hard disk with 17 sectors per track. RLL gives you 50% more storage capacity by low-level formatting the hard drive to 26 sectors per track. If your hard disk controller is NOT an RLL-type controller, the supplied WDFMT program may be forcing it to do things to the disk for which it was never intended. I have had 1st-hand experience with strange controller/drive problems. My advice would be to get a copy of IBM's Advanced Diagnostics for the AT or DISKMANAGER by ONTRACK and use one or the other for low-level formatting of your hard disk. I have found DISKMANAGER to be extremely versatile but not quite as easy to use as IBM's Advanced Diagnostics. I hope this is of some value to you. Keep me posted of your success! Service to you, Martin Jordan jordan@nosc