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- Operating Instructions For The P.T. AT Hard Disk Low-Level Formatter
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- 1. Running The Program
- -------------------
- To run the program, insert the diskette into drive A and type
- HDFORM.
- The program will then ask which drive is to be formatted. When the
- drive letter (C or D) is entered, the characteristics of the drive - drive
- letter, drive type, number of heads, number of cylinders, and number of
- sectors - are displayed. The drive type is entered by the user when the SETUP
- program is run.
- The program will then ask whether the drive characteristics are
- correct for the chosen drive. If they are incorrect, type 'n'. The program
- will then terminate as described in section 3. The SETUP program may now be
- run to enter the correct drive type. The formatter program may then be re-run.
- If the drive characteristics are correct, type 'y'. The user will now
- be given the opportunity to abort the program as described in section 3. If the
- user chooses to proceed the program will then require that one of two
- formatting options is chosen.
-
- 2. Formatting Options
- ------------------
- The first option gives the user the opportunity to enter any known
- bad track numbers before the drive is formatted. The drive will have a sticker
- on which the cylinder and head numbers of any known bad tracks are printed. If
- this information is present it should be entered during this option.
- In the second option, the program will search the entire drive and will
- display the numbers of all of the bad tracks that have been flagged as bad the
- last time that the drive had been formatted. It will then give the user the
- opportunity to enter any additional bad track information before the drive is
- formatted.
-
- 2.1 Option 1
- --------
- If a '1' is typed, the program will now ask the user if any information
- about bad tracks is to be entered. If a 'y' is typed the user will be allowed
- to enter up to 34 sets of bad cylinder and head numbers. After the user has
- entered all the known bad track numbers the 'ESC' should be pressed. The
- program will now allow the user to change any of the bad cylinder and head
- numbers previously entered.
- When this process has been completed, or if no bad track information
- was entered, the user will be given the FINAL opportunity to abort the
- program. If the user chooses to proceed, the program will then go ahead and
- format the drive. The program cannot be aborted during the formatting.
- During the formatting the program will display the previously entered
- bad track numbers as they flagged on the drive. It will also display the
- numbers of any bad tracks that it cannot format.
-
- 2.2 Option 2
- --------
- If a '2' is typed, the program will search the entire drive and will
- display the numbers of all of the bad tracks that have been flagged as bad the
- last time that the drive had been formatted. It will then ask if any additional
- bad track numbers are to be added. If a 'y' is entered the user will be allowed
- to enter up to 34 sets of bad cylinder and head numbers and the program will
- proceed as described in section 2.1. If a 'n' was entered the final warning
- will be given to allow the user to abort the program, and the program will
- proceed as described in section 2.1.
-
- 3. Ending The Program
- ------------------
- When the program has completed the formatting, or if the user has
- chosen to abort the program when given the opportunity to do so, the program
- will prompt the user to prepare the system for a re-boot. At this point the
- program diskette should be removed and the DOS system diskette should be
- inserted. After pressing any key the system will re-boot and return to DOS.
- If the disk has been formatted it must now be partitioned using FDISK.
-