pruss@ria.ccs.uwo.ca (Alex Pruss) (11/07/90)
Hi there. I have recently purchased a Miniscribe 3085 drive. (I bought it used) I had it installed at a local computer store, and they happily did a low-level format leaving me with partitions of 33 and 50 megabytes (approx). I didn't think that this was legal under dos 3.3, so i used their dm.exe utility to reformat it. Unfortunately, it now only lets me format the first 1024 cyls (the drive has 1170) because it is missing some file swbios.com. Is this commonly available? (or is there a different way to format the drive) All I want is to be able to use fdisk and format to chop up the drive into 3 logical drives (c: d: e: say), and still have the full capacity of the drive available. I've been told that I don't even need the dmdrvr.bin driver in config.sys under dos 3.3 - is this true??? Any help (esp. the swbios.com file) would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance, pat surry patrick@engrg.uwo.ca mayhem@uwovax.uwo.ca pruss@uwo.ca
ESR@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (Ed Russell) (11/07/90)
In response to: >From: pruss@ria.ccs.uwo.ca (Alex Pruss) >Subject: formatting a miniscribe 3085 >Date: 6 Nov 90 21:03:32 GMT > >I have recently purchased a Miniscribe 3085 drive. (I bought it >used) I had it installed at a local computer store, and they >happily did a low-level format leaving me with partitions of >33 and 50 megabytes (approx). I didn't think that this was legal >under dos 3.3, so i used their dm.exe utility to reformat it. >Unfortunately, it now only lets me format the first 1024 cyls (the >drive has 1170) because it is missing some file swbios.com. Is this >commonly available? (or is there a different way to format the drive) >All I want is to be able to use fdisk and format to chop up the drive >into 3 logical drives (c: d: e: say), and still have the full capacity >of the drive available. I've been told that I don't even need the >dmdrvr.bin driver in config.sys under dos 3.3 - is this true??? > >Any help (esp. the swbios.com file) would be greatly appreciated. DM.EXE is part of Disk Manager by Ontrack Software. So is the DMDRVR.BIN. Disk Manager is often bundled with a disk when purchased new, usually with a version specifically tailored for the brand of disk you have purchased. There is also a generic version which one can purchase commercially. There are several versions of Disk Manager. Some versions come with a SWBIOS.COM and some don't. If you have DM.EXE and it calls for SWBIOS.COM then you only have part of the package. Had you bought the disk new, you probably would have received a copy of the Disk Manager package. Since you didn't, it sounds like your local computer store only gave you part of the package and probably a purloined copy at that. I suggest you contact the computer store that installed it or the place/person from whom you purchased the disk to see if you can get the entire thing. I believe that the basic difference between a version of Disk Manager made for a specific brand of disk and a generic version is simply the table of disk models it knows about when specifying the drive parameters (number of cylinders, etc.) which you apparently already know. This allows one to specify the disk configuration by brand and model rather than by number of cylinders, tracks, etc. However, all of the versions of DM I have dealt with allow the specification of the disk configuration specifically without having to go through the table of disk models. In short, you can probably use a version of DM for another brand of disk if your computer dealer doesn't have one for yours. You probably don't want to use Disk Manager in the automatic mode. When you start it, type DM /M which invokes it in manual mode. This allows you to select various options on configuring it, formatting it, etc. There is also help available if you have the full package but if SWBIOS is missing the help files may be missing too. I believe that the SWBIOS.COM file is to set the disk configuration in the BIOS. You may be able to do that using other utilities. A program named SETUP or SYSSETUP or similar name may have been included with your machine or with DOS. Or you may have the option of changing what's in the BIOS at boot time. My current machine allows that as part of the power-up sequence. If not, there are other utilities which can be used to set the CMOS configuration. There are probably ways to do that using DEBUG too although I have never had to do that. DMDRVR.BIN is a driver that allows you to partition your disk and run with earlier versions of DOS (e.g. 3.1). If you are running 3.3 and intend to use FDISK, you probably do not need this driver. However, you may find that you need it instead of FDISK if the disk configuration is not one that your BIOS knows about. That would be the case for an early AT or clone and maybe some others.
town@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Brian R. Town) (11/09/90)
>DMDRVR.BIN is a driver that allows you to partition your disk and run with >earlier versions of DOS (e.g. 3.1). If you are running 3.3 and intend to >use FDISK, you probably do not need this driver. However, you may find >that you need it instead of FDISK if the disk configuration is not one that >your BIOS knows about. That would be the case for an early AT or clone and >maybe some others. >---------- I have a 3085 myself and have to use DMDRVR.BIN in order to see any partitions that cross the 1024 cylinder mark. I am running DOS 4.01, but the problem lies in the BIOS. Evidently the BIOS cannot handle cylinders greater than 1024. BTW, this is a 71Meg drive (not 80Meg). Also, I partitioned mine such that the 9 Meg that exists on the cylinders beyond 1024 is a separate drive. This allows me to boot without DMDRVR.BIN at the loss of seeing the last partition. I did this because Windows 3.0 does not like the DMDRVR.BIN unless you put a special entry in the system.ini file (which slows things down. ie. about doubled my windows load time). Hope this helps. Brian (didn't know about the 1024 cylinder problem before I bought mine) Town
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (11/10/90)
Brian writes: >I have a 3085 myself and have to use DMDRVR.BIN in order to see any partitions >that cross the 1024 cylinder mark. I am running DOS 4.01, but the problem >lies in the BIOS. Evidently the BIOS cannot handle cylinders greater than >1024. BTW, this is a 71Meg drive (not 80Meg). The 3085 is an 85mb drive (unformatted), about 71mb (DOS formatted). __________ ___ / \ / / /_/ / /\/ _/ / / / __/. /__ / / / / / / / / "Happy Computing ..." / / Internet: Johnny.J.Chin@andrew.cmu.edu / ------- / 4730 Centre Ave. #412 BITnet: jc58@andrew \__________/ Pittsburgh, PA 15213 UUCP: ...!uunet!andrew.cmu.edu!jc58 Computer Dr. Carnegie Mellon University "If you don't like having backups ... try driving without your spare tire." ______________________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.
town@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Brian R. Town) (11/10/90)
Johnny (more acurately) writes: >The 3085 is an 85mb drive (unformatted), about 71mb (DOS formatted). In making my statement I was referencing Pat's original post. I knew that someone had made a reference to two partitions which added up to more than 71 Megabytes, but was relying on my memory. The following is Pat's original post: >I have recently purchased a Miniscribe 3085 drive. (I bought it >used) I had it installed at a local computer store, and they >happily did a low-level format leaving me with partitions of >33 and 50 megabytes (approx). I didn't think that this was legal Brian (someday I'm gonna make one of those fancy signatures) Town