eh1b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Eric David Hornchek) (04/27/91)
Help!
I've replaced the 286-10 motherboard in my AT clone with a 386DX motherboard
running at 16/20 Mhz, with AMI bios w/setup & xsetup in rom (APR 9, 1990).
^floppy
The problem is that all three drives refuse to format floppys.They all report
sector 0 bad and refuse to continue. They're set correctly in setup, they
can read and write on pre-formated disks, and all other system functions are
working ok. Two are on a standard MFM hard/floppy card, the other (720k)
is on it's own drive card w/bios. Ive tried removing the 720k, changing
wait states, other dos versions, pulling all cards out to no avail.
Can anyone help with this problem, or at least provide a phone# for AMI?chaz@chinet.chi.il.us (Charlie Kestner) (04/29/91)
In article <4c6EBgS00Uh700iaAW@andrew.cmu.edu> eh1b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Eric David Hornchek) writes: >Help! > >I've replaced the 286-10 motherboard in my AT clone with a 386DX motherboard >running at 16/20 Mhz, with AMI bios w/setup & xsetup in rom (APR 9, 1990). > > ^floppy >The problem is that all three drives refuse to format floppys.They all report >sector 0 bad and refuse to continue. They're set correctly in setup, they >can read and write on pre-formated disks, and all other system functions are >working ok. Two are on a standard MFM hard/floppy card, the other (720k) >is on it's own drive card w/bios. Ive tried removing the 720k, changing >wait states, other dos versions, pulling all cards out to no avail. > >Can anyone help with this problem, or at least provide a phone# for AMI? Ignore the bogus "sector blah bad", answer "yes" to the "format another" question, do NOT change disks, and just hit "enter" when it queries you. Apparently it's some kind of brain-death regarding AMI's BIOS and HD drives. They'll format okay, it's just that they'll give you that stupid message on every un-formatted disk.
smsmith@hpuxa.acs.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) (04/29/91)
chaz@chinet.chi.il.us (Charlie Kestner) writes: >eh1b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Eric David Hornchek) writes: >>The problem is that all three drives refuse to format floppys.They all report >>sector 0 bad and refuse to continue... > Ignore the bogus "sector blah bad", answer "yes" to the "format another" >question, do NOT change disks, and just hit "enter" when it queries you. > Apparently it's some kind of brain-death regarding AMI's BIOS and HD >drives. They'll format okay, it's just that they'll give you that stupid >message on every un-formatted disk. I've noticed that this happens on the NEC 286 machines at school. I don't know what BIOS they are using, but you have to try them a couple times when you format unformatted 3.5" disks. When they finish formatting the first disk and ask "format another?", you have to put the next disk in FIRST before answering yes or it will come up with the same error message--even though you are prompted to put the second disk in before it starts formatting it. Strange.