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Text File | 1991-05-18 | 16.0 KB | 474 lines

Western Digital is a registered trademark of Western Digital Corporation; IBM PC, AT and XT are registered trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation; MS DOS, OS2 and PC DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. WDXT-GEN Simplified Formatting Instructions The format instructions that you follow are simple procedures to tell the computer that you have either one or two Winchester disk drives installed. Formatting is done in three steps: 1. Low level format...Using DEBUG utility; 2. FDISK (partitioning)...using FDISK utility; 3. High level format...using Format utility *These utilities are normally supplied for DOS. Refer to your DOS manual for indepth instructions on these utilities. CAUTION THE FOLLOWING LOW-LEVEL FORMAT PROCEDURE WILL DESTROY ALL DATA ON YOUR HARD DRIVE BACK-UP THE DATA ON YOUR DRIVE BEFORE CONTINUING WITH LOW LEVEL FORMAT ROUTINE. DEBUG Utility 1. At the A> prompt, load and run the DOS DEBUG Utility by typing DEBUG followed by a RETURN. "CR" denotes a carriage return or ENTER. 2. FOR IBM SYSTEMS ONLY: At the DEBUG prompt, which is a hyphen (-) verify that the system BIOS is 10-27-82 or later by typing in the following command line: -d f000:fff5 fffc 3. At the DEBUG prompt, start the low level format program by typing the following command line: -g = c800:5 CR The controller format program displays the following message: XT-GEN Dynamic Formatter Rev. 1.0 Copyright Western Digital Corp. 1987 Current Drive is C: Select new Drive or RETURN for current 4. Enter your choice of drives at this point. The program continues. Current Interleave is 3 Select new Interleave or RETURN for current. Enter your choice of interleave at this point. The recommended interleave is 3. Are you dynamically configuring the drive - answer Y/N Answer: No Are you virtually configuring the drive? - answer Y/N Answer: No PROGRAM DISPLAYS INITIATE FORMAT MESSAGE Press "Y" to begin formatting drive (C or D) with interleave of 03 (or value you entered above) If any key other than "Y" is typed, the program displays the following message and returns the operator to DOS: Nothing done exit - returning to system ... A> If an error occurs while formatting, the program immediately terminates, displays the following error message, and returns the operator to DOS. Refer to Table 1 (Error Codes). Error---completion code XX If "Y" is typed, the Super BIOS program initiates the low level format. The following message indicates the Super BIOS is formatting the drive: Formatting. . . The Super BIOS displays the following message if there are no resulting errors: Do you want to format bad tracks? Answer Y/N Answer: No If no errors occurred, the Super BIOS ends execution of the low level format with the following message: Format Successful System will now restart Insert DOS diskette in drive A: Press any key when ready. 5. If you have a second hard drive. Repeat step 4. 6. Load and execute the DOS FDISK utility for both drives (follow instructions in DOS manual). 7. Load and execute the DOS FORMAT utility for both drives (follow instructions in DOS manual). DYNAMIC LOW LEVEL FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS CAUTION THE FOLLOWING LOW LEVEL FORMAT PROCEDURE WILL DESTROY ALL DATA ON YOUR HARD DRIVE BACK-UP THE DATA ON YOUR DRIVE BEFORE CONTINUING WITH LOW LEVEL FORMAT ROUTINE. The format instructions that you follow are simple procedures to tell the computer that you have either one or two Winchester disk drives installed. Formatting is done in three steps: 1. Low level format...Using DEBUG utility; 2. FDISK (partitioning)...using FDISK utility; 3. High level format...using Format utility *These utilities are normally supplied for DOS. Refer to your DOS manual for indepth instructions on these utilities. DEBUG Utility 1. At the A>prompt, load and run the DOS DEBUG Utility by typing DEBUG followed by a RETURN. "CR" denotes a carriage return or ENTER. 2. FOR IBM SYSTEMS ONLY: At the DEBUG prompt, which is a hyphen (-) verify that the system BIOS is 10-27-82 or later by typing in the following command line: -d f000:fff5 fffc 3. At the debug prompt, start the low level format program by typing the following command line: -g = c800:5 CR The controller format program displays the following message: XT-GEN Dynamic Formatter Rev. 1.0 Copyright Western Digital Corp. 1987 Current Drive is C: Select new Drive or RETURN for current 4. Enter your choice of drives at this point. The program continues. Current Interleave is 3 Select new Interleave or RETURN for current. Enter your choice of interleave at this point. The recommended interleave is 3. Are you dynamically configuring the drive? Answer Y/N Answer: Yes In order to continue, you will need to know the parameters of your drive. For your convenience, we have prepared a list of common hard disk drives and their parameters. By returning to the Storage Controller menu, you may access the drive list. If your drive is not listed, you will need to refer to your drive manual or contact your drive manufacturer for this information. You will need to know the following: Number of heads, number of cylinders, starting reduced write current cylinder, write precompensation cylinder, maximum correctable error burst length, step rate code. The Super BIOS program displays the initiate dynamic configuration message: Key in disk characteristics as follows: ccc h rrr ppp ee o where ccc = total number of cylinders (1-4 digits) h = number of heads (1-2 digits) rrr = starting reduced write current cylinder (1-4 digits) ppp = write precomp cylinder (1-4 digits) ee = max correctable error burst length (1-2 digits) range = 5 to 11 bits, default = 11 bits o = CBB option byte, step rate select (1 hex digit) range = 0 to 7, default = 5 refer to controller and drive specification for step rates. Enter each value separated by a space and follow the complete entry with a RETURN. Enter physical cylinder values. Example for ST 225: 615 4 616 616 11 5 (CR) Program Displays: Are you virtually configuring the drive - Answer Y/N Explanation: Current versions of DOS allow you to format no more than 32 megabytes per drive. Therefore, a 40 megabyte drive may be divided into two virtual drives using the virtual option. Therefore, if you have a hard disk drive larger than 32 megabytes, you will want to answer Yes to the above question in order to fully utilize your drive's capacity. For example: If your drive has a 40 megabyte formatted capacity you may chose to virtually split the drive into either two 20 megabyte drives or a 30 megabyte drive and a 10 megabyte drive. NOTE: WITH DOS VERSION 3.30 OR LATER, SAY "NO" TO VIRTUAL CONFIGURATION AND DO PARTITION UNDER FDISK UTILITY. If you answer Yes to virtual configuration, you may not attach another physical drive to the controller or add another Winchester controller to the system. Also, do NOT repeat this low level format procedure for logical drive D. The program continues with the following display: Key in cylinder number for drive split as vvv ... where vvv = number of cylinders for drive C: (1-4 digits) Enter the ending cylinder number for drive C:. Drive D: uses the remaining cylinders. The program continues with the following display: Press "Y" to begin formatting drive (C or D) with interleave of (03 or value entered above). If any key other than "Y" is typed, the program displays the following message and returns the operator to DOS: Nothing done exit - returning to system... If an error occurs while formatting, the program immediately terminates, displays error code and returns operator to DOS. See Table 3 for error codes. If "Y" is typed and there are no errors, the following message appears: Formatting.... Super BIOS now displays the following message: Do you want to format bad tracks - answer Y/N Note: Typically, a list of bad tracks is found attached to your drive. If "Y" is typed, you will be prompted to enter the bad tracks (see example below). However, because of the logical addressing used by DOS, marking an entire track bad will result in more than one logical address being marked bad. As DOS can only accept a limited number of defects, a drive with excessive media defects may cause the FORMAT program to terminate with an error. The displayed error is typically, "TRACK 00 BAD - DRIVE UNUSABLE." If you do choose to format bad tracks by pressing "Y", the program will display the following: Key in bad track list as follows: ccc h... where ccc = bad track cylinder number (1-4 digits) h = bad track head number (1-2 digits) Type in the cylinder and head numbers for the bad tracks separated by a space and press RETURN. EXAMPLE: 160 1 161 2 304 3 223 4 223 2 CR The program continues: More? Y/N Enter extra bad tracks as above or terminate bad track formatting by typing: N CR The program continues: BAD TRACK MAP TRACK ADDR PROBLEM ccc H USER-SUPPLIED If no errors occurred, Super BIOS message reads: Format Successful System will now restart Insert DOS diskette in drive A: Press any key when ready. 5. Repeat Step 4 if a second physical drive is to be formatted. Do NOT virtually configure the second physical drive. Do NOT run the low level format on the second logical drive if drive C: was virtually configured. 6. Load and execute FDISK utility for both drives regardless of virtual or physical configuration. FDISK partition data should indicate proper split of cylinders for both drives. Follow DOS instructions for using this utility. 7. Load and execute DOS FORMAT utility for both drives, regardless of virtual or physical configurations. Follow DOS instructions for using this utility. Table 1 - Error Codes Code Completion Code Summary 01 Bad Command 02 Address Mark Not Found 04 Sector Not Found 05 Reset Failed 07 Set Parameters Failed 09 Attempt to DMA across 64K boundary 0B Bad Track 10 Correctable Data Error 11 ECC Error Corrected 20 Controller Failure 40 Seek Failure 80 Time-out BB Undefined Error FF Read Status Failed Troubleshooting Eliminate obvious fault causing problems, i.e., reversed cables, overloaded system power supply, improper drive selection, etc. Problem: Winchester activity LED is always lit. Solution: Cables may be reversed Problem: "Nothing done exit" appears when starting the low level format program. Solution: "Y" was not pressed. Start at Step 1 of the format instructions. Problem: System hangs with controller installed. Solution: System BIOS may not handle Winchester disk. Update system BIOS. Problem: "Error Reading Fixed Disk" when booting system. Solution: DOS partition not active. See FDISK instructions in your DOS manual. Problem: Slow and inefficient operation. Solution: Normally due to incorrect interleave factor which may require some experimentation (see Format instructions). Interleave factors are dependent on drive access time, controller operation, host operating speed and system, as well as application program. Problem: "Hard Disk Drive Not Ready" or "01" Error Code. Solution: System BIOS does not support Winchester controller and drive. Overloaded power supply. Update system BIOS. Problem: Error Code "80" when formatting through DEBUG. Solution: Wrong drive select jumped on hard disk; cables reversed, bad cables, no power to drive, bad drive. Problem: Error code "40" or "20" appears on screen. Solution: Cables reversed, bad cables, or drive malfunction. Problem: After you do a high level format (Format C:/S), the message "Insert disk drive and press ENTER" appears. The system thinks drive C is a floppy disk drive. Solution: Motherboard switches are set for the incorrect number of floppy disk drives. Check to see if RAM disk drivers are present. Problem: "Bad Track 0" using DOS 3.1. Solution: Make a config.sys file with BUFFERS = 99. Reboot to load the configuration. Problem: "Bad Track 0" using DOS 2.1 (DOS 2.1 cannot support bad tracks above 16.7 megabyte). Solution: Upgrade system to DOS 3.1 or later.