╬OW YOU CAN FORMAT ANY ═╙-─╧╙ DISKS YOU MAY NEED WITH A 1571 DRIVE AND EITHER A ├=64 OR ├=128.
╘HE PROGRAM ACCOMPANYING THIS ARTICLE LETS YOU FORMAT A NEW ═╙-─╧╙ DISKS AUTOMATICALLY ON YOUR 1571 DRIVE, USING EITHER YOUR ├64 OR ├128. ┘OU CAN THUS PROVIDE YOURSELF WITH A SUPPLY OF ═╙-─╧╙ FORMATTED DISKS TO USE WITH ANY ═╙-─╧╙ FILE TRANSFER PROGRAM FOR 64 OR 128 -- WITHOUT DEPENDING ON THE AVAILIBILITY OF AN ═╙-─╧╙ COMPUTER.
╘HE ├OMMODORE 1571 DISK DRIVE HAS THE CAPABILITY OF FORMATTING DISKS IN THE INDUSTRY-STANDARD ═╞═ RECORDING METHOD. ═╞═ IS USED BY MOST ├╨/═, ═╙-─╧╙, ┴TARI ╙╘ AND EVEN ┴MIGA COMPUTERS. ╘HEFEFORE, WITH A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE AND IMAGINATION, YOU CAN FORMAT VIRTUALLY ANY TYPE OF DISK WITH A 1571 DRIVE. ╒NFORTUNATELY, 3 1/2-INCH DISKS FORMATTED ON A 1581 WILL NOT WORK IN ╔┬═-TYPE MACHINES UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. ╘HIS ARTICLE IS THEREFORE CONCERNED ONLY WITH THE 5 1/4 DISKS FORMATTED IN THE 1571 DRIVE.
╘YPE IN AND SAVE A COPY OF ═╙-─╧╙ ─ISK ╞ORMATTER (LISTING 1), WHICH IS WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN ┬ASIC FOR CLARITY. ┴LL OF THE REQUIRED ═╙-─╧╙ BOOT RECORD MACHINE LANGUAGE IS INCLUDED IN THE ─ATA STATEMENTS AT THE END OF THE LISTING. ╨AY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE VALUES IN THESE ─ATA STATEMENTS, BECAUSE THEY ARE USED BY THE ═╙-─╧╙ OPERATING SYSTEM TO DETERMINE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DISKS. ┴LSO, BE SURE NOT TO MAKE ANY TO THE TEXT CONTAINNED IN LINES 130-150 OF THE PROGRAM, SINCE THIS TEXT IS ALSO USED IN THE "BOOT BLOCK" OF THE ═╙-─╧╙ DISK.
╬OTE THAT THE ═╙-─╧╙ DISK CREATED WITH THIS PROGRAM IS A "NON-SYSTEM" DISK; THEREFORE, IT WILL NOT BE "BOOTABLE" UNDER ═╙-─╧╙. ╚OWEVER, YOU CAN EASILY MAKE IT INTO A BOOT DISK BY USING THE ═╙-─╧╙ PROGRAM ╙┘╙.├╧═ TO TRANSFER THE REQUIRED SYSTEM PROGRAMS TO IT.
╒SING THE PROGRAM
═╙-─╧╙ ─ISK ╞ORMATTER CAN CREATE ═╙-─╧╙ DISKS IN ANY OF FOUR STANDARD TYPES: SINGLE-SIDED, WITH EITHER 8 OR 9 SECTORS PER TRACK, OR DOUBLE-SIDED WITH 8 OR 9 SECTORS PER TRACK. ╘HE PROGRAM ASSUMES THAT YOU WILL CREATE YOU DISKS ON DEVICE 8. ╔F YOU WISH TO USE ANOTHER DRIVE, SUCH AS DEVICE 9, CHANGE THE VALUE OF THE VARIABLE ─╓ IN LINE 100 TO THE APPROPRIATE VALUE.
═╙-─╧╙ DISK FORMATTER PRESENTS PROMPT AND STATUS MESSAGES TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. ╫HEN YOU RUN THE PROGRAM, YOU FIRST GET A BRIEF SIGNON STATUS MESSAGE, ASKING YOU TO WAIT WHILE THE ─ATA STATEMENTS ARE BEING READ AND TABLES INITIALIZED. ╞OR ├-128 USERS IN 80-├OLUMN MODE, YOU CAN SPEED THINGS UP BY ENTERING THE ╞┴╙╘ COMMAND BEFOREHAND.
├OMMODORE 64 USERS MUST ADD THE FOLLOWING LINE TO MAKE SURE THE 1571 DISK DRIVE IS IN THE 1571 MODE, NOT THE 1541-┼MULATION MODE, WHICH IS THE POWER-UP DEFAULT FOR THE ├=64.
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╫HEN THE MAIN MENU APPEARS, YOU CAN SELECT THE TYPE OF DISK TO FORMAT. ╘HE "9 SECTOR, DOUBLE-SIDED" FORMAT (SELECTION 2) IS BY FAR THE MOST COMMON ═╙-─╧╙ DISK FORMAT. ╚OWEVER, ALL FOUR DISK TYPES ARE FULLY SUPPORTED BY ═╙-─╧╙ 2.0 OR LATER VERSION THEROF. ╘HEY ARE ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE ├-128 VERSION OF THE ═╙-─╧╙ ├ONNECTION FILE-TRANSFER PROGRAN AND THE ├-64 VERSION THEROF, WHICH WE PLAN TO PUBLISH IN THE THIRD AND FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THIS SERIES.
┴FTER SELECTING THE TYPE OF DISK TO FORMAT, YOU ARE PROMPTED TO INSERT A NEW DISK INTO THE DRIVE AND THEN TO PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE. ┴S WITH ANY FORMATTING PROCESS, ALL EXISTING INFORMATION ON THE DISK WILL BE DESTROYED. ╔F YOU DECIDE TO ABORT THE FORMATTING PROCESS, JUST PRESS THE RUN-STOP KEY. ╔F YOU THEN DECIDE TO CONTINUE, PRESS ANY OTHER KEY AND THE FORMATTING PROCESS WILL RESUME.
╘HROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, MESSAGES ARE DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN TO INFORM YOU OF THE STEP CURRENTLY BEING PERFORMED. ╘HE FIRST IS THE ACTUAL FORMATTING OF THE DISK. ╘HIS WILL TAKE ABOUT 20 SECONDS FOR A SINGLE-SIDED DISK OR 40 SECONDS FOR A DOUBLE-SIDED ONE. ╘HE NEXT STEP IS TO WRITE THE BOOT BLOCK AND THE FILE ALLOCATION TABLE (╞┴╘) SECTORS TO THE DISK. ╘HE ═╙-─╧╙ ╞┴╘ IS SIMILAR TO THE ├OMMODORE ─╧╙'S BIT ALLOCATION MAP (┬┴═), WHICH KEEPS TRACK OF THE STATUS OF SECTORS ON THE DISK.
╙INCE THE PROGRAM USES THE NORMAL SERIAL BUS AND NOT ┬URST MODE FOR SENDING DATA TO THE DISK DRIVE, THE SECTOR WRITING PROCESS MAY TAKE A MOMENT OR TWO. ┴FTER THE PROCESS IS COMPLETE, YOU ARE RETURNED TO THE OPENING MENU. ╔F YOU DON'T WISH TO FORMAT ANY MORE DISKS, SIMPLY SELECT OPTION 5 TO QUIT.
