[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Detecting write-protected diskette on PC, AT, etc

mendell@utcsri.UUCP (Mark Mendell) (12/12/87)

    Is there any way to detect a write-protected diskette without trying to
do a write to the diskette?  I have read the relevant parts of Norton's
Programmers guide to the IBM PC, and have experimented with the BIOS call
Get diskette status (0x1).  I am already using the Verify Diskette Sectors
(0x4) interrupt to check for the presence of a formatted diskette.  That works
perfectly for that purpose.

    I am trying to detect if a later open will fail, without having to 
write a critical error handler to detect the un-writable diskette.

    Is there any DOS or BIOS call that will return the information for me?

    Please mail any responses to me.


Thanks

-- 
Mark Mendell
	    Computer Systems Research Institute    University of Toronto
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