zielke@romeo.cs.duke.edu (David Zielke c/o hsg) (06/28/90)
I have just purchased a Seagate ST4096 hard disk (9head,1023 cyl, MFM) and have spent a significant amount of time trying to format the disk. The Seagate Diag program performs the seek test without a problem but I cannot get the drive to low level format with either DM from seagate or the IBM diagnostics disk. (I even tried formatting to a smaller drive with no avail). The error is this: Write Fault. I have called Seagate and they checked the position of all of the jumpers on the board (on the disk) and they check out. Including the Write Fault jumper. The controller works fine with the Rodime 20meg drive which came with the system. I even tried formatting a track to see if there was some problem and it worked fine. Seagate suggests replacing the controller. Is there a reason for this, a simple answer (please not `42'). Is the 'Write Fault' line interpreted in the drive or on the controller? is it possible to do a minor hardware mod to get this beast to work or will I have to put out $$ for a new controller? Thanks for your time and attention! David Zielke zielke@cs.duke.edu zielke@phy.duke.edu ________________________________________________________________________ | Name: David M. Zielke | | Internet: zielke@physics.phy.duke.edu | | zielke@cs.duke.edu |
grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert) (06/29/90)
In article <20539@duke.cs.duke.edu> zielke@romeo.cs.duke.edu (David Zielke c/o hsg) writes: > > > Is the 'Write Fault' line interpreted in the drive or on the controller? >is it possible to do a minor hardware mod to get this beast to work or will >I have to put out $$ for a new controller? > It comes from the drive, indicating an attempt to write under unsafe conditions, usually an illegal head address or incorrect spindle speed. It's not difficult to write a low-level format routine. The trick is to find the technical information. I refer to the 'CP342 Product Specification' from Conner Peripherals, which has everything you need to know about AT hard disk controllers. Although I would love to provide copies of the spec for anyone who asked for it, I don't relish the possibility of being thrown in jail for copyright violation. If there are enough interested parties, I'll post the gory details of how to talk directly to the controller. I'm working on a way to pop it into my S-100 system. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #include <stdflame.ibm-pc> #ifdef FLAME An now for a flame. I am really angry at the way the PC industry is run by TECHO-MORONS. Gone are the days when you bought a computer and got all the schematics, programming details, data sheets, etc. I've been a hardware nut for 12 years, and I wouldn't trade my 2.5 Mhz Z80 for a 486 if my life depended upon it. #endif