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ANADISK - The Ultimate Diskette Utility Charles P. Guzis SYDEX 153 North Murphy Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 739-4866 April 10, 1988 Version 1.3 Copyright 1987, 1988, All Rights Reserved. Charles P. Guzis / SYDEX THIS IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE and may not be sold without the author's express written permission. If you have paid a "public domain" vendor for this program, rest as- sured that not one bit of what you paid ever gets back to the author. If you use this program, YOU MUST REGISTER. Neither SYDEX nor Mr. Guzis will answer tech- nical support inquiries from unregistered users. To register, send $15.00 with your name, company name (if any) and address to - SYDEX 153 North Murphy Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Upon receipt of your registration fee, you will be sent the most current version of ANADISK and its accompanying documentation. ANADISK and this document are protected by copyright. The receipt or possession of this document does not con- vey any rights beyond those enumerated herein to reproduce or distribute its contents. If ANADISK or this document are copied, a fee may be charged for the service of copying only, and not for ANADISK itself. If such a charge is made, it must be clearly identified as a service charge only by the vendor. INTRODUCTION This document is comprised of short excerpts of the full ANADISK reference material. If you wish to get a copy of the complete documentation for ANADISK - you guessed it - you have to REGISTER. See the preceding page for information on registering. SO WHAT IS ANADISK? ANADISK is a general-purpose utility package to analyze, inspect, edit, repair and copy diskettes. It is intended for IBM Personal Computer-compatible machines and makes extensive use of the hardware facilities of this series of machines. ANADISK does not support the "hard" disk, just diskettes. ANADISK contains support for, but is not limited to, DOS- compatible diskettes. Almost any diskette that can successfully be read by the hardware contained in your machine can be processed by ANADISK. Menus, windows and use of color where available are part of ANADISK's implementation and make it easy to use, even by the in- experienced. GETTING STARTED... As distributed, ANADISK consists of this file (usually called READ.ME or ANADISK.DOC) and the file ANADISK.EXE. To begin using ANADISK, just place the ANADISK.EXE file where it can be executed as a program and enter - ANADISK at the DOS prompt. If you have a monochrome display adapter, you're all set to go; displays will be light on a dark background with occasional reverse video or highlighting. If you have a monochrome monitor connected to a color graphics adapter, or you find that you would rather have a light-on-dark display rather than a color display, simply invoke ANADISK with the following line - ANADISK M And all displays will be light on a dark background. Page 1 If all goes well, you get what a friend calls the "elevator" dis- play - a graphic ANADISK floats down to the bottom of your screen, and the registration information appears. After a short pause, the main menu appears. What confronts you now is the Main Menu, which contains a bewil- dering set of choices. Before launching into the discussion of this display, there are two keys that you should be aware of - ESCape will get you out of whatever you're currently doing. If you're at the Main Menu, ESC will exit to the system. If you're in SECTOR EDIT mode, ESC will exit to the MAIN MENU. Generally, ESC will get you back to whatever you were doing before you got where you are now. A very useful key. F1 will get you a help display if one is available. For ex- ample, pressing F1 at the main menu will display a short ex- planation of the choices shown on the menu. Pressing any other key will then bring you back to the Main Menu. Keep these two keys in mind - you won't regret it. Now back to... THE MAIN MENU The Main Menu is used to select the operation, parameters and op- tions used in ANADISK. The current choice is indicated by dis- playing that item in a reverse video field; the current position is indicated by blinking that item. To select a different choice, use the right- and left-arrow cursor keys. To go to the next line in the menu, use the up- or down-arrow cursor keys. When all choices have been made, press the ENTER key and ANADISK will begin operation. To exit to DOS, just press the ESCape key. The operating mode of ANADISK is selected by the first line of choices on the Main Menu. Exactly what ANADISK will do is deter- mined by which one of the following you have selected - SCAN - reads every sector on a diskette, indicates the find- ings, and optionally pauses for examination. This function can be used to determine the type of a diskette, or just to determine its basic readability. Page 2 SECTOR - allows editing of the data on a diskette, sector by sector. Many other operations are possible; the diskette under examination need not be a DOS diskette. Quite often, SECTOR mode is used to repair data errors or to change the structure of data not normally accessible with the normal DOS utilities. FILE - allows editing of the data on a diskette, by file, rather than by physical disk address. Because knowledge of file structure is essential to this mode, it may only be used with a DOS diskette. REPAIR - reconciles the File Allocation Tables, moves bad sectors and scans the diskette for readability. REPAIR can be used to salvage a diskette containing unreadable files. Again, because the REPAIR function works with file struc- ture, it may only be used with a DOS diskette. COPY - copies one diskette to another, regardless of format. While not intended as a method for defeating copy protection schemes, the COPY function will make a true copy of just about any diskette, regardless of format. This operation also verifies the integrity of the copy by performing a read-after-write check of each sector. Where the integrity or format of a diskette is unknown, you should begin with a SCAN operation. If data errors are reported during the progress of a SCAN, it is best to attempt a repair first by using the SECTOR or FILE Edit modes. REPAIR mode can be used as a last resort for correcting DOS diskettes, or to iden- tify a particular file containing erroneous data. The next line on the Main Menu specifies which diskette drive unit will be used for most of ANADISK's operations. Although drives labeled A: through D: are listed, you will find that you may select only those drives which are actually present on your machine as diskette units. The third line on the Main Menu specifies which diskette drive will receive the result of a COPY operation. This drive may be the same as the source drive - you will be prompted to change diskettes as needed. Again, you will find that you can only select what you have on your machine. A discussion of each mode follows. Page 3 SCAN MODE SCAN mode first attempts to determine the characteristics of your diskette drive and controller (independent of your machine type). As the characteristics of the equipment found are determined, they are reported in either the left (General Information) or right (Detailed Information) bottom windows. An attempt is made to determine the following: 1. If the diskette contains any readable information. 2. The data rate (250Kbps, 300Kbps or 500Kbps) used to record the information, if applicable. This is reported in terms of the drive type and the terms "high" or "low" density. 3. The track density or spacing of the diskette versus the normal recording track density of the drive (48 or 96 tracks per inch). If the diskette appears to be blank, this is reported and ANADISK exits to the main menu. If the diskette appears to be recorded with 512 byte sectors, a check is made for a File Allocation Table (FAT) present on the first track at its correct posi- tion. If one is found, the diskette is assumed to be a DOS diskette, and analysis is conducted based on the FAT identification byte located. Note that either of the two FATs may be intact (something that DOS will not look for). 4. If a DOS diskette is detected, all FAT clusters are checked for correct range, and if both copies of the FAT can be read, the two copies are compared for con- sistency. Any differences are reported and may be repaired by means of the REPAIR mode or the SECTOR edit mode. If a DOS diskette cannot be identified, a check is made for a few other common diskette types, such as CP/M-86 system diskettes. Regardless of the type of diskette, the entire diskette is scanned for structure and readability, reporting changes in the overall format of each track as well as any errors detected. At your option, you may elect to have ANADISK produce a printed listing of its findings; such a listing will be written to the first printer (LPT1:) installed on your system. The printed listing option is found on the main menu. Page 4 Another main menu option instructs ANADISK to stop at any error or format change on the current diskette and display a map of the sectors read. Both of these options are applicable only in the SCAN mode of operation; other modes ignore these main menu op- tions. SECTOR EDIT MODE The SECTOR Edit mode allows diskette data to be altered or in- spected on a sector address basis, as contrasted with the FILE edit mode, which allows editing of data within a specified DOS file. Like SCAN mode, SECTOR Edit mode begins operation by determining the diskette type and drive characteristics. After this is done, however, you will be prompted to select the track and side containing the sector(s) you wish to inspect or modify. The right- and left-cursor keys are used to select the track, the up- and down-cursor keys are used to select the head or side con- taining the sector. The "ruler" line will show this position change correspondingly. When the ENTER key is pressed, the track is read up for analysis and a track map is displayed. The desired sector is selected from the displayed track map by use of the up- and down-cursor keys. When the sector to be edited is highlighted, the ENTER key is pressed to display the data for that sector. Note that the sectors are listed in the order in which they occur on the track. The sector data is displayed in hexadecimal and ASCII formats; the current position within the sector data is indicated by a highlighted, reverse video block. Sector data may be changed by simply entering it at the current position or by making use of one of the predefined function keys. If the sector data has been changed, but not re-written to the disk, the word "SAVE" will ap- pear in the editing menu window as a reminder that the data dis- played does not yet reflect the actual data on the disk. The function keys are as follows: F1 - Help key, brings up a help display for editing. F2 - Re-read the current sector and display its data. F3 - Write the currently displayed data back to the dis- kette. F4 - Toggle the deleted data mark indicator. If set, the data in the buffer will be written (when F3 is used) back to the diskette with a Deleted Data Mark. If clear, no deleted data mark will be set. Page 5 F5 - Shift all the currently displayed data left one bit from the current position to the end of the sector. High-order bits shifted out of the current position are discarded; zeroes are shifted into the low-order bits of the last byte of the sector. F6 - Shift all the currently displayed data right one bit from the current position to the end of the sector. High-order zeroes are shifted into the current position, with low order bits being discarded from the last byte of the sector. F7 - Take the ones' complement (logical NOT) of the cur- rently displayed data from the current position to the end of the sector. F8 - Fill the remainder of the currently displayed sec- tor with the value of the byte at the current position. F9 - Read the next sector of the current track; if the last sector has just been read, "wrap" back to the first sector on the track. F10 - Change the display mode and data entry from hexadecimal to ASCII or vice-versa. When in ASCII entry mode, all printable characters (value of a space or above) can be entered. Shift-F2 - Perform a "diagnostic read" of the track. A diagnostic read involves reading the data field of the first sector and continues with all fields until 8192 bytes have been read. ID fields, gap bytes and CRCs are read indiscriminately; no attempt to re-synchronize the data separator is made after the first sector has been read. This function allows viewing of raw data and may be used to determine the value of a data field whose address ID field has been corrupted. Shift-F3 - Performs a read of every sector on the cur- rent track and side; the data is accumulated. The track is then re-formatted and the data rewritten to the track. Before the formatting occurs, you will be asked to approve the formatting - if ESCape is pressed, the operation will not be performed. This function may be used to transfer just one track from one diskette to another by swapping the source and destination after the prompt appears, but before a response is given. Shift-F9 - Read the previous sector on the track; if al- ready at the beginning of the track, "wrap" to the last sector on the track. Page 6 Shift-F10 - Read the next side; equivalent to exiting back to the main display and advancing to the next side. ESCape - Back up to the previous display. ANADISK will attempt to present all data recoverable from the diskette in case of error. Some of the functions just described are intended to assist you in recovering data that has become corrupted. You will probably find the Shift Right, Left and NOT functions especially useful in this respect. If a sector shows up as "missing" in the track map, it cannot be read, nor can it be written. If, however, something comes back when it is read, the sector can be re-written and the error con- dition generally will disappear. FILE EDIT MODE FILE Edit mode is similar to the SECTOR Edit mode of operation, with the exception that DOS file structure is used as the basis for organizing information, rather than the physical organization of sectors on the diskette. The opening display for FILE Edit mode presents a list of file names contained in the root directory of the subject diskette. The cursor up- and down-arrow keys are used to select the file to be edited; the file name display may be "paged" though by means of the Page Up (PgUp) or Page Down (PgDn) cursor keys. To examine the files in a particular subdirectory, position to the subdirectory name and press ENTER. To go back to the parent directory of a subdirectory, position to the ".." entry and press ENTER. To begin editing a file, position to the file name and press ENTER. The editing display is almost identical to that of the SECTOR Edit mode, with the following exceptions: F9 - Reads the next sector in the file, rather than the next sector on the track. Shift-F9 - Reads the previous sector in the file, rather than the previous sector on the track. Note also, that the file name and offset from the beginning of the file appear in the editing menu window, along with a "SAVE" indication if data has been altered. Page 7 REPAIR MODE REPAIR mode can be considered to be two functions. The first is a rudimentary DOS diskette check and verify mode; the second is a bad sector remapping mode. The bad sector remapping operations should be construed as a "last resort" type of repair as the overall structure of the diskette is affected. REPAIR mode performs the following tasks: 1. Checks for the presence and agreement of two File Al- location tables on the diskette. If a disagreement has been found, or one table is absent, a new copy of the FAT may, at your option, be written to the diskette. 2. Scans the entire diskette for unreadable data. If any is found, the file containing the bad data is located, the cluster (a grouping of sectors used by DOS as a "unit" of diskette space) is reassigned to a different area of the diskette and the data (or as much of the data as can be read) is written to the newly assigned cluster at your option. The original cluster contain- ing the data is marked as unavailable for future al- location. The object of REPAIR mode is production of a readable DOS dis- kette. Data missing and in error must still be corrected manually but the structure and size of files is assured to be sound. The DOS utility CHKDSK can also be useful when checking the structural integrity of a diskette and should be used after REPAIR mode has been run. COPY MODE COPY mode allows the contents of one diskette to be copied to another, regardless of format or DOS orientation. While COPY mode will successfully produce copies of many "copy protected" diskettes, the intent of its function is to enable you to copy a diskette which is not copyable using the DOS DISKCOPY function. A two-drive machine is not necessary for this function; that is, the source and target drives may be the same unit. If one of your drives is a high-capacity (PC-AT type) drive and you are copying normal 40 track diskettes, the high-capacity drive should be designated as the source drive and the normal-capacity drive as the destination to ensure an accurate, readable copy. Page 8 If the type of the source drive and diskette is not compatible with the type of the destination drive, an error message will be issued and ANADISK will exit COPY mode. For instance, a 1.2M byte high-density diskette in a high-density drive cannot be copied to a 360K byte normal-density drive. A scan of the diskette is performed as the copy proceeds; errors are noted in exactly the same manner and format as in the SCAN mode. Sectors containing data errors are copied with the er- roneous data written as read. Each track is read back after it is written for verification. The copy process completes when no more data can be found on the source diskette. If the destination and source drives have been selected to be the same unit, ANADISK will prompt for disk changes as needed. ANADISK attempts to read as much data as is possible into memory from the source diskette before writing to the destination dis- kette. With a 640K system under DOS 3.3, about 46 double-sided tracks can be copied before a disk change is necessary. SOME CLOSING WORDS... ANADISK turned out to be more popular than we had originally thought. We are currently planning a major new release (due about 6/88) of ANADISK which completely re-organizes the function and layout and implements the following goodies: * Design your own diskette format. * Search for data over an entire disk. * Save or load data from disk. And a lot more! If you've registered prior to the new release, you'll automatically receive an update. --------------------- Some of the terms used in this document are proprietary trademarks of one or more of the following: International Business Machines - IBM, PS/2, Personal System/2, PC AT. Microsoft - MS-DOS Page 9 OTHER PRODUCTS BY SYDEX SHAREWARE 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 diskette handling for Osborne, Kaypro, Morrow and Actrix. Allows use of CP/M utilities interchangeably with DOS programs. $30.00 Shareware registration fee. TELEDISK - Turn any diskette into a compressed data file and vice-versa. Allows you to send and receive entire diskettes via modem. Great for those bootable game diskettes and for diskettes with subdirectories. Works with most "copy- protected" diskettes. $20.00 Shareware registration fee. COPYQM - Cheap diskette duplicator. Format, copy and verify multiple diskettes from a single master. Implements "smart" drive status determination, freeing the operator's hands from keyboard interaction. Handles all standard DOS formats including 3.5" 1.44M files. $15.00 Shareware registration fee. FORMATQM - Mass diskette formatter - format a box of dis- kettes at a single sitting. Implements "smart" drive status determination, freeing the operator's hands from keyboard interaction. Format a 360K diskette in 41 seconds. Sup- ports all standard DOS formats. $15.00 Shareware registra- tion fee. RETAIL SOFTWARE SIMCGA 4.2 - Color Graphics Adapter simulation on monochrome (Hercules-compatible) graphics-equipped machines. Available from better software retailers and distributed by ABCO and American Software Distributors. Page 10