mark.ji@canremote.uucp (MARK JI) (11/03/89)
Something is distinctly wrong with my A500.. Whenever i try to format a new disk, the format procedure always starts up, when after formatting the first track and trying to validate it, the computer tells me that the disk is unreadable.. I know that the disks are not bad, they are DS/DD..etc. and work fine on other amigas. I can go around this by copying blank-preformatted disks onto my non-for matted disks.. but that is a real time waster as i only have the internal and not another external drive. Can anyone tell me how to go about formatting my disks ? I'm beginning to wish i stayed on the IBM, being immune to these problems. Mark * QNet 1.03a3: Amiga Blue International (416)844-0465 Toronto (SmartNet)
robin@sabre.uucp (Robin D. Wilson/1000000) (11/09/89)
In article <89110701494798@masnet.uucp> mark.ji@canremote.uucp (MARK JI) writes: >Something is distinctly wrong with my A500.. Whenever i try to format a >new disk, the format procedure always starts up, when after formatting >the first track and trying to validate it, the computer tells me that >the disk is unreadable.. I know that the disks are not bad, they are > >Mark I agree! I have the same problem. When I try the format command from the Shell I get exactly the same problem. I don't have the amigados manual, but from the 1.3 Enhancements book that came with my A500 it looks like I am typing the right command. So far I haven't tried the "initialize" option from the workbench, but I would still like to know how its done from the Shell. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Disclaimer: The views expressed herein, are the sole responsibility of | |the typist at hand (who may or may not be the person listed below -- | |depending on how many people it pisses off). | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |USNail: UUCP: | |2323 Wells Branch Pkwy., #G107 cs.utexas.edu!romp!ibmaus!auschs\ | |Austin, TX 78728 !sabre.austin.ibm.com!robin |
rar@auc.UUCP (Rodney Ricks) (11/09/89)
In article <89110701494798@masnet.uucp> mark.ji@canremote.uucp (MARK JI) writes: >Something is distinctly wrong with my A500.. Whenever i try to format a >new disk, the format procedure always starts up, when after formatting >the first track and trying to validate it, the computer tells me that >the disk is unreadable... >Can anyone tell me how to go about formatting my disks ? Have you been playing any heavily protected games lately? I have a friend whose disk drive acted flaky after sessions of playing Menace. I forget what he did to fix the problem. I'll ask him when I see him. Then again, I doubt if that's your problem, but I'll just throw that out there anyway, just in case. >I'm beginning to wish i stayed on the IBM, being immune to these >problems. Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, that's a good one... 'IBMs are immune to those types of problems...' Wait, I didn't see any smileys!!! Were you serious? IBM PCs and Clones do have those type of disk problems, believe me. Right now, I'm sitting in a lab full of AT&T PC6310's. They have been here somewhere between one and two years. Out of the 15 in here, four of the hard disks have spontaneously died. Recently, one of the floppy drives died, too. It scared one of the students to death. She thought that something was wrong with her disk, and that she had lost a lot of work that she had done on a paper. It turns out that the drive just couldn't read the disk. She went to another computerand its drive had no trouble reading the disk. I worked for a computer dealer once who told me about one time when he was repairing an IBM PC. It had a dead floppy drive. When he took out the drive, he noticed that it was made of such cheap plastic that he could actually BEND it in his hand! (The drive was made in Malaysia...) This wasn't some kind of clone, this was a real live, "true blue" IBM PC! Also, if you want to look more into drive reliability (particularly hard-drive reliability), you can ask about the earlier PC ATs, whose hard drives very often died a very early death. This is not to say that you should not complain about such problems, specifically the reliability problems with the Amiga 500. Just remember that the IBM clones have such problems, too. Also remember (in this case) that the floppy drive isn't made by Commodore, it's bought from someone else. Whose to sat that if you bought a PS/2 you wouldn't get the same drive (or the same quality drive)? So, it's ok to complain. Remember, complaining is what Amiga owners do best!!! Oh, and for those whose complain about real-time clock inaccuracies, each of the battery-backed clocks in these AT&T PCs seem to have a mind of its own. I don't think any of them keep time very well at all. I know that all of these things are pains and they should be fixed, but we share these pains with PC clone owners. >Mark > > * QNet 1.03a3: Amiga Blue International (416)844-0465 Toronto (SmartNet) -- "We may have come over here in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now." -- Jesse Jackson Rodney Ricks, Morehouse College
swan@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US (Joel Swan) (11/09/89)
In article <89110701494798@masnet.uucp> mark.ji@canremote.uucp (MARK JI) writes:
:Something is distinctly wrong with my A500.. Whenever i try to format a
:new disk, the format procedure always starts up, when after formatting
:the first track and trying to validate it, the computer tells me that
:the disk is unreadable.. I know that the disks are not bad, they are
:DS/DD..etc. and work fine on other amigas.
:I can go around this by copying blank-preformatted disks onto my non-for
:matted disks.. but that is a real time waster as i only have the
:internal and not another external drive.
:Can anyone tell me how to go about formatting my disks ?
Have you given the manual a try?
:I'm beginning to wish i stayed on the IBM, being immune to these
:problems.
:
:Mark
:
: * QNet 1.03a3: Amiga Blue International (416)844-0465 Toronto (SmartNet)
How can you say the "IBM [is] immune to these problems" when you DON'T KNOW
WHAT THE PROBLEM IS?? ;-)
Give us more info. Are you "initializing" form workbench? Using the format
command from the CLI? Do you have the Disk-validator in your L: directory?
What "specifically" are you doing to "format" the disk?
Joelsennett@s.cs.uiuc.edu (11/11/89)
/* Written 10:40 am Nov 8, 1989 by robin@sabre.uucp in s.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.amiga */ In article <89110701494798@masnet.uucp> mark.ji@canremote.uucp (MARK JI) writes: >>Something is distinctly wrong with my A500.. Whenever i try to format a >>new disk, the format procedure always starts up, when after formatting >>the first track and trying to validate it, the computer tells me that >>the disk is unreadable.. I know that the disks are not bad, they are >I agree! I have the same problem. When I try the format command from the >Shell I get exactly the same problem. I don't have the amigados manual, but >from the 1.3 Enhancements book that came with my A500 it looks like I am >typing the right command. So far I haven't tried the "initialize" option >from the workbench, but I would still like to know how its done from >the Shell. /* End of text from s.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.amiga */ You may want to check your WB disk for viruses. I had a problem similar to this a few months ago whenever I would try to re-format disks. It turned out that I had a virus on my boot disk! The format command on 1.3 must have some check for a standard boot block ... I may be wrong about this but the problem cleared up as soon as I got rid of the virus. Mike Sennett sennett@cs.uiuc.edu
LadyHawke@cup.portal.com (Classic - Concepts) (11/17/89)
> something is distinctly wrong with my A500
1. This is just to confirm the previous post that there IS a virus which
can cause format to not work. I discovered this after I got VirusX.
When I had purged the virus from about 4 diskettes, the FORMAT problem
went away.
2. Have you moved your 500 without protecting the drive mechanism somehow?
You can't 'park' a floppy, but people do various things, feeding it a
disk, using a cardboard insert, etc. if they are moving their machines
so it doesn't get damaged.
3. Your disk might be slightly out of alignment. It might not be bad
enough to show up all the time, but might show up on FORMAT. A realign-
ment and cleaning usually runs abpit $36 (around here, anyway).
4. Cheap diskettes? Bad batch? Some very early SKC diskettes were bad.
5. Bug in the operating system, depending on whether you menu-select or
use CLI??? I've always used CLI with no problems.
You haven't had this problem on IBMs? You've just been lucky. Look
at how many sectors get locked out in formatting a diskette on an IBM. At
least if it formats on an Amiga, you know the whole disk is good and usable.
Julie (LadyHawke)