hklee@milton.u.washington.edu (Hyeon Kyu Lee) (11/22/90)
Hi Netters: I have an occasional problem with my harddisk, in FAT area. So I'm thinking about low level formatting. Due to my neglect, I didn't keep the manual that came with HD. As far as I remember, it starts with "DEBUG... something" My hd is Seagate ST-238 RLL and controller is Western Digital 8-bit for XT. If you know how to do or have information, please send e-mail to me or post. Thank you in advance. H. K. Lee hklee@milton.u.washington.edu
jih@ox.com (John Hritz) (11/22/90)
Over the past years a number of Non-Destructive Low Level Formatters have been marketed. The most popular are SpinRite, Disk Technician Pro and the programs associated with the Norton and Mace utilities. These programs run a number of tests on each sector of your harddrive moving the data out of harms way as they test. A backup is generally suggested for safeties sack. Disk Technician keeps a database of the repairs it does and if there is a chronic problem with a particular sector, it will mark it bad based on it's records. One important thing to remember whether you use a destructive or non-destructive utility is to make sure the drive is warm prior to beginning your task. Wait for several hours at least to allow for expansion of parts and such.
bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) (11/22/90)
hklee@milton.u.washington.edu (Hyeon Kyu Lee) <11519@milton.u.washington.edu> : | I didn't keep the manual that came with HD. As far as I remember, | it starts with "DEBUG... something" | | My hd is Seagate ST-238 RLL and controller is Western Digital | 8-bit for XT. Many or most controllers include a software ROM that starts at c800 which performs low-level formatting and testing. Your manual probably said something about using DEBUG and doing "G=c800" to start execution. The starting address may not be exactly c800. For example, my Adaptec controller begins with some ASCII text so that the first executable instruction is actually at c800:0ccc. You could find the exact starting point by using "dump" and "disassemble" functions of DEBUG to get past copyright statements and the like. Hope this helps.
freewill@nstar.UUCP (Bill Williston) (11/26/90)
hklee@milton.u.washington.edu (Hyeon Kyu Lee) writes: > Hi Netters: > > I have an occasional problem with my harddisk, in FAT area. > So I'm thinking about low level formatting. Due to my neglect, > I didn't keep the manual that came with HD. As far as I remember, > it starts with "DEBUG... something" > > My hd is Seagate ST-238 RLL and controller is Western Digital > 8-bit for XT. Try a shareware program called HDPREP. or HDPREP34. an executable for low level formatting. >