[comp.sys.atari.st] MSDOS formater

hofer@urz.unibas.ch (Remo Hofer) (01/24/91)

Is there a PD diskformater around, which produces real MSDOS disk, except
that it puts in a serial number? I mean it should write a MSDOS bootsector
(except serial number), a compatible media byte, the FAT and the root
directory should have the same length and it should write the same number of
FATs as on MSDOS disks. Is there such a beast around?

Remo

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hofer@urz.unibas.ch (Remo Hofer) (01/25/91)

In article <1991Jan24.101341.1327@urz.unibas.ch>,
hofer@urz.unibas.ch (Remo Hofer) writes:
> Is there a PD diskformater around, which produces real MSDOS disk, except
> that it puts in a serial number? I mean it should write a MSDOS bootsector
> (except serial number), a compatible media byte, the FAT and the root
> directory should have the same length and it should write the same number of
> FATs as on MSDOS disks. Is there such a beast around?

I've got some answers, but none of them did answer my question. So I have to
clarify myself. I know that there are tons of utilities, that write MSDOS
kompatible bootsectors. One of them is the formater of TOS 1.4. But I look for
a formater that also writes all the other stuff ecaxtly like MSDOS does in the
standard way. So that after formating nobody can see, if it was formated on a
MSDOS PC (say MSDOS 3.2) or on the ST. The use would be, that no utility that
claims to read/write MSDOS disk would deny to handle such a disk. The utility
could be on any machine (Mac, SUN,...). There are such utilitie, that only
partaly handle the MSDOS bootsector parameters. One is GEMDOS another is MSDOS
itself.

Remo
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 X.400:  S=hofer;OU=urz;O=unibas;P=SWITCH;A=ARCOM;C=CH

jerry@TALOS.UUCP (Jerry Gitomer) (01/26/91)

hofer@urz.unibas.ch (Remo Hofer) writes:

:In article <1991Jan24.101341.1327@urz.unibas.ch>,
:hofer@urz.unibas.ch (Remo Hofer) writes:
:: Is there a PD diskformater around, which produces real MSDOS disk, except
:: that it puts in a serial number? I mean it should write a MSDOS bootsector
:: (except serial number), a compatible media byte, the FAT and the root
:: directory should have the same length and it should write the same number of
:: FATs as on MSDOS disks. Is there such a beast around?

:I've got some answers, but none of them did answer my question. So I have to
:clarify myself. I know that there are tons of utilities, that write MSDOS
:kompatible bootsectors. One of them is the formater of TOS 1.4. But I look for
:a formater that also writes all the other stuff ecaxtly like MSDOS does in the
:standard way. So that after formating nobody can see, if it was formated on a
:MSDOS PC (say MSDOS 3.2) or on the ST. The use would be, that no utility that
:claims to read/write MSDOS disk would deny to handle such a disk. The utility
:could be on any machine (Mac, SUN,...). There are such utilitie, that only
:partaly handle the MSDOS bootsector parameters. One is GEMDOS another is MSDOS
:itself.

I use PC-Ditto I (the 8088 emulator in software version) on
the ST and format using PC-DOS 3.3.  If you must have
PC/MS-DOS formatting why not go to the real thing?



-- 
Jerry Gitomer at National Political Resources Inc, Alexandria, VA USA
I am apolitical, have no resources, and speak only for myself.
Ma Bell (703)683-9090      (UUCP:  ...{uupsi,vrdxhq}!pbs!npri6!jerry 

djw@hpldsla.sid.hp.com (David Williams) (01/29/91)

> ............................................ormater of TOS 1.4. But I look for
> a formater that also writes all the other stuff ecaxtly like MSDOS does in the
> standard way. So that after formating nobody can see, if it was formated on a
> MSDOS PC (say MSDOS 3.2) or on the ST. The use would be, that no utility that
> claims to read/write MSDOS disk would deny to handle such a disk. The utility
> could be on any machine (Mac, SUN,...). There are such utilitie, that only
> partaly handle the MSDOS bootsector parameters. One is GEMDOS another is MSDOS
> itself.

This does not answer your question directly, but it may give you
some ideas.

I have  much  the same  problem  as you, I need to make  3.5inch
MS-DOS  disks  that can be read on Atari, HP Un*x,  MS-DOS,  and
maybe  others.  The disks get  created  (typically)  at the Un*x
site.  What I did was  format  a disk on  MS-DOS,  then  made an
image  copy of the  disk on  Unix.  That  is, I  copied  all the
sectors  from the disk into a  standard  Un*x file (for the Un*x
heads:  dd if=/dev/rfd/my_disk  of=dos_image bs=512).  Now, when
I want to make a dos disk on Un*x, I hard  format  the disk (lay
the tracks  down), then image copy the dos image back to the new
floppy media (dd if=dos_image of=/dev/rfd/my_disk bs=512).  It's
a bit slow, but works  great.  As it is  possible  to read,  and
write the raw disk on the Atari, I see no reason that this would
not work on the Atari.  Just ideas..

djw@hpldsla.hp.com

ljdickey@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Lee Dickey) (02/05/91)

In article <1991Jan24.101341.1327@urz.unibas.ch> hofer@urz.unibas.ch (Remo Hofer) writes:
>Is there a PD diskformater around, which produces real MSDOS disk, except
>that it puts in a serial number? I mean it should write a MSDOS bootsector
>(except serial number), a compatible media byte, the FAT and the root
>directory should have the same length and it should write the same number of
>FATs as on MSDOS disks. Is there such a beast around?


I looked recently at the code for "IBMFMT" by Moshe Braner.  If I
understand what is being asked, I think that this is exactly what Moshe
has done.  Both the  code and the program have been posted, so I think
you should find them both at "panarthea" and "terminator".  The site
"panarthea" is the one from which all our binaries and sources are
posted to the net, and it is a mail server.  The site "terminator" is
now becoming known as "atari.archive.umich.edu", and it is both a mail
and an ftp server.

Another program of the same nature is "ps2form".  I think that it is
about the same, putting in the random serial number and writing a
binary image of a DOS 3.3 boot sector.  There is some subtlety about
just what is done first that makes this different from "ibmfmt", but
the effect is the same.

Both of these program are free.