elliott@aero.org (Kenneth B. Elliott III) (11/21/90)
Hopefully, someone out there has encountered and solved this problem.
I just purchased a Sony 3.5" 1.44 M drive (as a second drive) for my
AT clone (Bondwell--the ultimate clone machine). My first drive is a
5.25" 1.2 M drive. I've got a WD1003-WA2 controller. Once I finally
got it installed and set up as drive B:, I was able to copy to and
from it just fine. However, when I try to format it using Norton
Safe-format, it refuses, saying there's an error in the system area.
DOS normal format barfs over it also. Since I can successfully read
and write, and given that this happens with every one of the ten 3.5"
disks I've tried, I suspect that its a hardware problem
(oooooooohhhhh, bad word). I've tried the old pin 34 fix just on the
off-chance that it was the culprit, but I still can't format. Any
suggestions? Please e-mail and I'll summarize if there is sufficient
interest.
KBEIII
--
Ken Elliott
elliott@aerospace.aero.org
kris@beep.UUCP (Port'naybl) (11/28/90)
In article <ELLIOTT.90Nov20195545@sungod.aero.org>, elliott@aero.org (Kenneth B. Elliott III) writes: >Hopefully, someone out there has encountered and solved this problem. >I just purchased a Sony 3.5" 1.44 M drive (as a second drive) for my >AT clone (Bondwell--the ultimate clone machine). My first drive is a >5.25" 1.2 M drive. I've got a WD1003-WA2 controller. Once I finally >got it installed and set up as drive B:, I was able to copy to and >from it just fine. However, when I try to format it using Norton >Safe-format, it refuses, saying there's an error in the system area. >DOS normal format barfs over it also. Have you tried using "driver.sys" in your config.sys? Here is what I have on my XT clone's 3.5 inch floppy (720K). device=driver.sys /d:1 /c /f:2 /h:2 /s:9 /t:80. -- Port'naybl key!beep!kris woodowl!beep!kris "Look what they've done to my program, look what they've done to my code; They stuck it all on this floppy disk, and I think they got it wrong, ma..."
polo@hagar.Solbourne.COM (Dave Polakowski) (12/05/90)
In article <113@beep.UUCP> kris@beep.UUCP (Port'naybl) writes: > > Here is what I have on my XT clone's 3.5 inch floppy (720K). > > device=driver.sys /d:1 /c /f:2 /h:2 /s:9 /t:80. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ Can someone tell me what these parameters do? I figured out that /s: is the sectors and /t: is the number of tracks, but what about the rest? Are there any others? Thanks loads. -- _-^-_ | Dave Polakowski (303)678-4700 / O O \ | Solbourne Computer, Inc. ---((((---'---U---`---))))--- | Longmont, Colorado DAVE WAS HERE! | [polo@Solbourne.COM]
kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley ) (12/05/90)
In article <1990Dec4.183016.13226@Solbourne.COM> polo@hagar.Solbourne.COM (Dave Polakowski) writes: >In article <113@beep.UUCP> kris@beep.UUCP (Port'naybl) writes: >> >> Here is what I have on my XT clone's 3.5 inch floppy (720K). >> >> device=driver.sys /d:1 /c /f:2 /h:2 /s:9 /t:80. > ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ >Can someone tell me what these parameters do? I figured out that >/s: is the sectors and /t: is the number of tracks, but what about >the rest? Are there any others? Thanks loads. If you RTFM that came with DOS (you did buy it, didn't you?) switch function /d: Physical drive number, ranging from 0 to 127. The first physical floppy disk drive is number 0... /c Indicates that the physical drive reference ahs change-line support in the hardware. This means that the physical disk drive can sense that the drive door has been opened. /f: 0 = 160/180K or 320/360K 1 = 1.2M 2 = 720k 7 = 1.44M /h: Maximum number of heads, defaults to 2. -- Kaleb Keithley Jet Propulsion Labs kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov Good girls get to go to heaven, but bad girls get to go everywhere!
kris@beep.UUCP (Huh?) (12/06/90)
In article <1990Dec4.183016.13226@Solbourne.COM>, polo@hagar.Solbourne.COM (Dave Polakowski) writes: >In article <113@beep.UUCP> kris@beep.UUCP (Port'naybl) writes: >> Here is what I have on my XT clone's 3.5 inch floppy (720K). >> device=driver.sys /d:1 /c /f:2 /h:2 /s:9 /t:80. > ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ >Can someone tell me what these parameters do? I figured out that >/s: is the sectors and /t: is the number of tracks, but what about >the rest? Are there any others? Thanks loads. /d: physical drive number-- floppy disks start at 00H fixed disks start at 80H /h: is number of heads /n: means "non-removable media" [like a hard disk, I guess] /s: is number of sectors /t: is number of tracks /c "change-line (door-lock) supported" /f: "form-factor index"-- "f" means 0 320/360Kbytes 1 1.2Mbytes 2 720Kbytes 3 8-inch single desnity 4 8-inch double density 5 Hard disk 6 Tape drive 7 other The manual says "/h:" is the "highest head number". By experimentation I determined that "/h:" is actually "number of heads". I havn't been able to get "/c" to work here on beep. This is from my MS-DOS 3.2 manual Appendix C pages 263-264. Also, my 3.5-inch floppy is accessed in 720K mode as drive e: and in 360K mode as drive b: -- Kris key!beep!kris -OR- woodowl!beep!kris "For men without women are like fish without water to swim in; Was (Not Was) their eyes bugging out, they flop on the beach "Shadow & Jimmy" and stare up at the girls who are just out of reach."