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Sydex
FORMATQM
A Quick Mass Diskette Formatter
Sydex
P.O. Box 5700
Eugene, OR 97405
Voice: (503) 683-6033
FAX: (503) 683-1622
Data: (503) 683-1385
FORMATQM
A Quick Multiple Diskette Format/Verify
Copyright 1988-91, Sydex
All Rights Reserved
Version 1.7 February, 1991
Sydex
P.O. Box 5700
Eugene, OR 97405
Voice: (503) 683-6033
FAX: (503) 683-1622
Data: (503) 683-1385
All Rights Reserved
NOTICE
THIS IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE! If you paid a "public domain" vendor
for this program, you paid for the service of copying the
program, and not for the program itself. Rest assured that noth-
ing ever gets to the originators of this product from such a
sale. You may evaluate this product, but if you make use of it,
you must register your copy.
We offer several inducements to you for registering. First of
all, you receive the most up-to-date copy of the program that we
have -- and we do update the product on a regular basis. You
also receive support for FormatQM -- which can be quite valuable
at times. And finally, we have a few utilities not included in
the evaluation package. Make no mistake, however - this is a
fully functional version of FormatQM and not "crippled" in any
way.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
The non-commercial single-user registration fee for FormatQM is
$10.00 US. The commercial and multisystem site fee for FormatQM
is $50.00.
Send a check or company P.O. for the appropriate amount to:
Sydex
P.O. Box 5700
Eugene, OR 97405
Please indicate what product you are ordering and if you have a
requirement for 3.5" media. We normally ship 5.25" 360K dis-
kettes, but will furnish 3.5" 720K media upon request. Shipping
charges within the United States and Canada are $3.00. Customers
outside of the United States and Canada should add $5.00 for air-
mail shipping.
If you are a registered user of this product and desire an up-
date, please send $5.00 for handling and we will ship you an up-
to-date copy. Please add $3.00 for printed documentation to
cover duplication costs.
DISTRIBUTION NOTICE
This is "user-supported" software. You are hereby granted a
license by Sydex to distribute this evaluation copy of FormatQM
and its documentation, subject to the following conditions:
1. FormatQM may be distributed freely without charge in
evaluation form only.
2. FormatQM may not be sold, licensed, or a fee charged
for its use. If a fee is charged in connection with
FormatQM, it must cover the cost of copying or dissemi-
nation only. Such charges must be clearly identified
as such by the originating party. Under no cir-
cumstances may the purchaser be given the impression
that he is buying FormatQM itself.
3. FormatQM must be presented as a complete unit, includ-
ing this documentation. Neither FormatQM nor its
documentation may be amended or altered in any way.
4. By granting you the right to distribute the evaluation
form of FormatQM, you do not become the owner of For-
matQM in any form.
Any other use, distribution or representation of For-
matQM is expressly forbidden without the written consent
of Sydex.
Table of Contents
What Is FormatQM?............................................1
Installing FormatQM..........................................2
How To Use FormatQM..........................................3
Operating FormatQM...........................................4
What's New...................................................5
The Sydex Product Line.......................................6
i
What Is FormatQM?
FormatQM is a utility written to allow you to format a large num-
ber of diskettes in a single session with no keyboard interac-
tion. FormatQM will make use of more than one disk drive and
produces formatted and verified diskettes in any of the standard
DOS formats.
FormatQM requires a PC XT, AT or IBM PS/2-compatible computer.
FormatQM will not operate on the IBM PC Jr., or the low-end
models of the Tandy 1000 series, such as the 1000 HX because they
are relatively PC-incompatible. Your display may be monochrome,
CGA, EGA or VGA, and your diskette drives may be internal or ex-
ternal to your computer.
FormatQM can produce the following formats, given the correspond-
ing media and drive:
1. 180K single-sided, 9 sector, 40 track, 5.25". This is
the standard single-sided DOS diskette.
2. 360K double-sided, 9 sector, 40 track, 5.25". This is
the standard double-sided DOS diskette.
3. 1,200K double-sided, 15 sector, 80 track, 5.25". This
is the high- density PC-AT format.
4. 720K double-sided, 9 sector, 80 track, 3.5". This is
used by PS/2 machines as the standard interchange for-
mat. PC-AT or -XT compatibles with 3.5" drives can also
use this format.
5. 1,440K double-sided, 18 sector, 80 track, 3.5". This is
used by the PS/2 Model 50 and 80 as high-density media.
The PC-AT with the proper BIOS and 3.5" drive can also
use this format.
The diskettes produced are non-system diskettes. That is, they do
not contain a copy of DOS as part of the format data. If a dis-
kette is "booted", a message will be displayed requesting a sys-
tem diskette and the boot process will be repeated, just as with
a standard non-system diskette. The first (or "boot" sector) of
the diskette is compatible with all versions of DOS from 2.0
through 4.0 (the latest as of this writing) and includes a DOS
4.0 serial number.
Page 1
A diskette produced by FormatQM has had each track written and
verified, with any flawed tracks recorded in the diskette's File
Allocation Table (FAT). Entire tracks, rather than sectors are
marked as flawed for maximum reliability.
Installing FormatQM
The operating part of FormatQM is contained entirely in the file
FORMATQM.COM. In most cases, copying this file to an appropriate
subdirectory or disk drive is all that needs to be done.
FormatQM can be run "as is" without first being configured on
most systems, but needs to be explicitly configured by the FQCON-
FIG program in the following cases:
1. More than one diskette adapter is present on the host
computer.
2. More than two diskette drives are present on an AT- or
386-class computer.
3. A MicroSolutions CompatiCard(tm) is being used as a dis-
kette adapter.
4. High-density diskette drives are present on an XT-class
computer.
The FormatQM configuration program is started by entering the fol-
lowing at a DOS prompt:
FQCONFIG
You'll be guided through a series of displays which will con-
figure FormatQM for your system, and place the configured file
FORMATQM.COM on the disk or subdirectory of your choice.
During the configuration process, you will have an opportunity to
specify what type of diskette drives and controllers your com-
puter supports. If you have a single diskette adapter, all
drives are connected to the primary adapter. If you have an addi-
tional adapter, such as the SYSGEN Omni-Bridge or MicroSolutions'
CompatiCard, this is the secondary adapter. In all cases, if
your computer supports high-density diskette formats, you must
specify that it is an "AT" type of computer, regardless of its
actual model.
Page 2
As part of the configuration process you may specify that For-
matQM use a different "boot" sector image. To do this, you'll
need a copy of a diskette having the boot sector to be used by
FormatQM.
How To Use FormatQM
FormatQM is started by typing a command of the following general
form at the DOS prompt:
FormatQM drive: format N S P
Drive: specifies the diskette drive to be used; at least one is
required. If more than one drive is specified, FormatQM will
"rotate" or "ping-pong" drives with each copy. Usually, drive:
is either A: or B:; on three or four-drive computers, other
drives may also be used. If more than one drive is specified,
all drives should be of the same type; that is, two or more 360K
drives, or two or more 1.2M drives and so on...
PC-AT-type computers are normally limited to a maximum of two dis-
kette drives by BIOS convention. However, FormatQM can access
any four possible diskette drives on a system, even if some are
connected to a different diskette adapter.
Format refers to the type of diskette format desired, and may be
one of the following:
180K 360K 720K 1200K 1440K
If you do not wish to verify each track as it is formatted,
specifying an "N" at the end of the FormatQM command will disable
the read-back check after a track is formatted. This results in
faster, but does not test the usability of the media.
For registered copies of FormatQM, specifying "S" on the command
line will omit the opening logo display and proceed directly to
the formatting display.
Specifying a "P" on the FormatQM command line directs FormatQM to
consider only "perfect" diskettes with no flawed areas as being
"good"; flawed diskettes are flagged as "bad" or unusable.
The correct drive and media must be present for a format to be
performed. On PC-AT type machines, FormatQM will check for com-
patibility between the specified format and the drive type
specified when FormatQM was installed.
Page 3
The following are examples of FormatQM command lines:
FormatQM B: 160K Drive is B:, DOS 1.X 160K format.
FormatQM A: B: 360K Use drives A: and B:, 360K format.
FormatQM A: 720K N S Use drive A:, 720K, no verify, no
logo.
Operating FormatQM
During the operation of FormatQM, you will be directed to insert
blank diskettes in the specified drives. When you have formatted
as many diskettes as you require, simply press the ESCape key.
You may press ESCape at any time to cause FormatQM to terminate
execution after a diskette has been formatted.
FormatQM works by periodically examining the specified drives; it
attempts to determine when a diskette has been inserted or
removed. You do not need to touch the keyboard except to ter-
minate FormatQM; just insert and remove diskettes as directed.
Observe that FormatQM is sensitive to changes in diskette drive
status. When you start FormatQM, you will need to insert your
first blank diskette in the indicated drive, even though you may
have already placed a blank in the correct drive before typing
the FormatQM command. Simply "popping" the diskette out and then
in again will do.
If a diskette contains flaws (unwritable areas), FormatQM will
issue an error message showing the number of bad tracks after the
entire diskette has been formatted. These bad tracks are
processed in the same manner as they would be by DOS FORMAT; that
is, they are marked as flawed in the File Allocation Table (FAT)
contained on the diskette. If, however, the first track on the
diskette contains flaws, it will be rejected as unusable by For-
matQM.
How much storage a bad track represents varies according to the
type of formatting performed:
Page 4
On 180K, 360K and 720K diskettes, each track is 4,608 bytes.
On a 1.2M diskette, each track is 7,680 bytes.
On a 1.44M diskette, each track is 9,216 bytes.
If you run FormatQM on a diskette-only system, be sure to write-
protect the diskette containing FormatQM. Thus, even if you mis-
takenly insert the FormatQM program diskette or "pop" the drive
door, you will avoid destroying your copy of FormatQM.
24K of memory should be sufficient for execution of FormatQM.
What's New
In Version 1.62, many changes were made to FormatQM to support a
secondary diskette adapter.
The default boot sector used for formatting was changed to
provide a clean-looking display explaining the difference between
a system and a non-system diskette. In addition, the user may
now specify an alternate boot sector. The "P" (for "perfect" dis-
kettes) option was added.
Version 1.7 eliminates the requirement that FormatQM be con-
figured prior to its operation. FormatQM will now run "as is" on
most systems. Several obsolete formats were dropped, par-
ticularly those related to DOS 1.
Page 5
The Sydex Product Line
AnaDisk -- The compleat diskette utility. Nothing like it
anywhere else; scan, edit, repair and copy just about any kind of
diskette. $25.00 ($150.00 site) registration fee.
Con>Format -- Concurrent "background" diskette formatter. Fea-
tures "pop-up" operation and "hot key" activation. You've got to
see it to believe. Supports all current DOS formats. $15.00
($50.00 site) registration fee.
22DISK -- Transfer files, format, examine and erase files on
"foreign" CP/M diskettes on your PC. Includes tips on supporting
8" and 5.25" single-density diskettes. Contains definitions for
over 200 different formats. $25.00 ($100.00 site) registration
fee.
22NICE -- A CP/M 2.2 emulation package. Supports the NEC
V-series chips or performs emulation by software for both the
8080 and Z80 processors. Includes terminal emulation and dis-
kette handling for common CP/M systems. Includes 22DISK. $40.00
($150.00 site) registration fee.
TeleDisk -- Turn any diskette into a compressed data file and
vice-versa. Allows you to send and receive entire diskettes via
modem. Even works with some "copy-protected" diskettes. $20.00
($150.00 site) registration fee.
COPYQM -- Mass diskette duplicator. Format, copy and verify mul-
tiple diskettes from a single master. Implements "no keyboard"
interaction mode and drive "round robin" servicing. Supports all
standard DOS formats. $15.00 ($50.00 site) registration fee.
FormatQM -- Mass diskette formatter - format a box of diskettes
at a single sitting. Implements "no keyboard" interaction mode
and drive "round robin" servicing. Supports all standard DOS for-
mats. $10.00 ($50.00 site) registration fee.
Information on any of these products can be obtained from Sydex
by calling or writing:
Sydex
P.O. Box 5700
Eugene, OR 97405
Voice: (503) 683-6033
FAX: (503) 683-1622
Data: (503) 683-1385
Page 6