AOH :: IDE_Q&A.TXT
Ontrack IDE Questions & Answers
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Questions and Answers on IDE drives from the Ontrack BBS - 8/14/90
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QUESTION:
I NEED TO KNOW IF A PERSON CAN GET THE DMPARMS DRIVERS FOR THE CONNERS
CP-3184 80MEG HARD DRIVE OR IF THE MOST CURRENT DISK MANAGER WILL HAVE
THEM
ANSWER:
The most current version of Disk Manager (v4.20) directly supports the
Conner CP-3184. Versions of Disk Manager prior to v4.20 didn't know how
to handle the translation of a IDE drive, so while you COULD install one,
you had to jump though a lot of hoops along the way. As of v4.20, this
has become an automatic process.
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QUESTION:
I am having trouble installing a minscribe 8051a with IDE controller.
The system seems not to see the drive - I get "drive fails recal or test
drive ready" error when running DM. I have a floppy controller in the
AT also, and am wondering if there is cointention between the two
controllers (Floppy controller has C: drive port also.) Any help
appreciated.
ANSWER:
You are right. There will be a conflict between the two HD
controllers if they are set to the same address. If you have a way to
set the HD portion of the floppy controller to a different address, you
may be able to get rid of the conflict.
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QUESTION:
I downloaded your AT-inter.bbs file and in this file it made reference
tothe file DMPARMS.OCS ! I am not sure as to where this file lives or
how to create it. Any help would be greatly appricated.
DM-ver-4.02 s/n IMP04952742 drive cp-3204 !!
Thanks
ANSWER:
The Impremis version of Disk Manager is for Impremis drives only,
and therefore does not have the file DMPARMS.OCS. You will not be able
to install a Conner drive with this Impremis only version of Disk
Manager. You should contact our sales department at (800)752-1333 and
purchase the generic version of Disk Manager that can install any drive.
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QUESTION:
I have recently purchased an IMPRIMIS 143MB drive model# 94354-160
3.5" hard drive and Miniscribe AT Disk Controller (WD37C65B-PL
controller chip) for my Fujikama 20Mhz 386. The drive came with a
version of Disk Manager for IMPRIMIS drives. I can
format the drive under DOS to have a 33MB and 109MB partition and it
works just great however OS/2 seems to see the drive a a 76MB drive not
143MB. Is there either a version of SWBIOS, device driver, or BIOS patch
that I can use to get OS/2 to see all 143MB of this drive. I would even
settle for for 4 33MB partitions and 1 11 MB partition if this would
work. Any help would be appreciated.
ANSWER:
At this time there is not a version of Disk Manager that supports
OS/2. Under OS/2, you will be limited to the standard portion of this
drive (whatever CMOS says the parameters are). If you have a user
definable CMOS drive type, you could try using that, but Disk Manager
can't help you in this situation.
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QUESTION:
I have Disk Manager 4.03 and have gotten rather dependent on it.
Recently we purchase 9 machines with Quauntum DE drives and found that
OnTrack didn't support these. Is there a newer version or plans for a
newer version which will include Quauntum support?
ANSWER:
I don't have any information on the Quantun ID42. Your message
said it was a DE drive, did you mean IDE? If so, you should take a look
at bulletin number 8 concerning installation of IDE drives. If you know
the parameters of the drive, the same procedure should work with this
drive. Remember that you don't want to initialize an IDE drive, just
configure and partition it. If you could leave me more info on this
drive, I would stand a better chance of helping you with it. The drive
information that goes into Disk Manager is directly from the drive
manufacturers. So far Quantum has not provided us with any information
on this drive.
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QUESTION:
Hi there... I'm with a VAR in the Washington, DC area. I'm
the software guy, but sometimes get pressed into service
installing systems. A few days ago was having a LOT of trouble
installing a Conner 3204 HD in an AST/P286 to its full capacity
(205 megs), which probably comes as no great surprise. What was a
PLEASANT surprise though, was how well things went with DM
after reading the "AT-INTER" doc from this BBS, and the
DM help screens. SWBIOS is quite a gem...
.
We are seeing a lot of interest, suddenly, in the Conner/IDE
drives. Please continue to post messages and files with
details on DM and IDE drives. Specifically, I would
appreciate more information on SWBIOS.COM.
.
So we will certainly be bundling DM with our systems.
.
In the meantime, one thing concerns me... I read a msg you
sent to someone in which you stated one "should never
attempt to low level format (initialize) a IDE drive through
any current version of DM"....
.
Unfortunately, I read this AFTER doing just that. YIKES.
What danger lurks? Seriously, what are the consequences of
initializing IDE drive in DM? And what if anything should I
do now?
.
Thanks for the info. Keep it coming.
ANSWER:
My statement about not ever low-level initializing an IDE drive
was probably a little on the conservative side. It's true that all IDE
drives are low-level formatted at the factory and do not require
low-leveling by Disk Manager. If you DO low-level format an IDE drive
for some reason, the ramifications of that are dependant on whose drive
it is. The Conner drives protect themselves from this well since they
are embedded servo drives. There are really no known ill effects of
performing a low-level format on a Conner drive. On the other hand,
there are some drives out there that will lose their internal defect
list if you low-level format them. There are also some drives that the
jury is still out on what will happen in this situation. The IDE style
drive is new enough that we are all still learning (even the
manufacturers sometimes) about what really goes on inside the little
black box. As I find out more infomation about specific IDE drives, I
will attempt to get that information in some form onto the BBS and try
to share the knowledge.
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QUESTION:
I am trying to install a Conner CP3204 drive in a real IBM
AT. The ROM dayes in the AT are 1981 1985. I am using a floppy hard
controller that comes with the drive Model NCL 530. Using IBM DOS 4.01.
I am using Disk Manger Ver. 4.03. This drive is not
listed under the Conner drives on the disk. I try to format the drive in
manual mode one paration 2 MEGS. The next paration 209 MEGS. The drive
is 1366 cylinders, 8 Heads, by 38 sectors per track. Everything seems to
go fine until I have to re-boot the computer. Then the drive says
missing operating system. I try to format/s from the A: drive but I
get write errors on drive C:. If I take the DMDRVR.Bin from the
config.sys the the drive boots fine. But I lose my partions. And I will
only have a drive of 2 MEGS. Can you give me any info about what I
should do? Thanks........
ANSWER:
I suggest you either read bulletin number 8, or download the
file AT-INTER.TXT and read about the IDE interface in general. Above
and beyond that, the Conner 3204 has a couple of restictions. According
to our information, it can only translate to a 17 sectors per track
geometry, and is limited to translating to 15 heads or less. The most
common way to setup this drive is selecting a 15 hd x 17 spt CMOS drive
type entry, then install it with non-standard parameters of 1607 cyls x
15 hds x 17 spt. Whatever drive type you end up selecting, it is
imperative that the heads and sectors per track remain the same between
the CMOS drive type you select, and the non-standard parameters that you
install with Disk Manager. You can't change them on the fly like you
used to be able to with a standard ST506 style drive, (you'll get a
"Missing Operating System" or similar error).
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QUESTION:
Two problems using Disk Manager - N version 3.10 occurred while
trying to install a Conner Peripherals CP-3104 today 5-01-90
on an 12MHz AT class computer to replace the current 40 MB drive.
.
The computer: Achieve Microsystems mother board using an AMI Bios
and VLSI chip set; 1664K RAM; SMC PC-130e arcnet card; EGA; 360K and
1.44M floppy drives. This computer has been running ELS I fine for 9
months with a Seagate ST-251-1.
.
The procedure: Configure CMOS.
Boot with MS-DOS 3.3: no config.sys, autoexec.bat,
etc.
DMN executed in manual mode.
F3 option to install drive.
F6 option to netware partition.
F7 option to prepare drive (compsurf equiv.)
Novell prepare (never got this far)
.
Problem One: The DMN prepare function always gives time out errors
with the CP-3104 configured non-standard type 1 or DMN's choice type
37. No difference if configured standard with Bios user-definable
type 47 at 776 cyl., 8 heads, and 33 sectors per track.
.
Problem Two: Upon exiting DMN EVERY TIME (4 times) got the error
"Memory allocation error."
"Cannot load Command.com"
.
So after rebooting tried Novell's ELS I prepare.exe command and
always got "Abend: Improper ROM parameter table for AT hard disk
controller. Couldn't be that easy, could it?
ANSWER:
In reading your message, I noticed a couple of things that are
pointing to hardware related problems. If DMN is giving you a time-out
error during preparation of the NetWare partition, you probably actually
have a hard disk problem. Also, getting a "Memory allocation error" is
pointing to an actual memory problem. You will need to get these
hardware issues straightened out before we can proceed with DMN. When
you got the "Improper ROM parameter table" message, that was because you
had evidently attempted to set this drive up as a non-standard drive in
DMN, but failed to run MODUTILS to patch your ELS level 1 to accept a
non-standard drive prior to running PREPARE. The basic procedure for
this drive should be as follows:
1. Get rid of your user defined entry in CMOS by entering 0's for number
of cyls,hds, and spt.
2. Run DMN and select the Conner 3104
3. Let DMN partition & prepare the drive as non-standard, 775 x 8 x 33
4. Run MODUTILS to patch your NetWare for a non-standard drive
5. Run DMN/I just for good measure
6. Run PREPARE to setup your hotfix area
7. Run DMN/I again (VERY IMPORTANT)
8. Run Install and select menu option #1 to initially set up a disk for
NetWare, and when asked if you wish to initialize the drive answer Y.
9. Complete the NetWare installation as normal.
10.Create a boot diskette that has an autoexec file that calls DMN/I,
then NET$OS.
If you still have problems after following this procedure, then they are
evidently hardware related, and will have to be rectified before going
any further.
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QUESTION:
I HAVE PURCHASED DISK MANAGER-N V 3.04 TO USE A CONNER
PERIPHERAL 3104 100MB DRIVE WITH A COMPAQ 386 DESKPRO. THE COMPUTERS
BIOS TABLE DOES NOT HAVE THIS PARTICULAR TYPE LISTED, AND I WAS TOLD
THAT D-M COULD RUN NOVELL BY UPDATING THE BIOS. APPARENTLY THAT IS NOT
QUITE THE WAY IT WORKS. THERE IS NOT ANY REFERENCE IN THE MANUAL TO
V2.12 FOR LEVEL 1, SO I RAN DMN TO SET UP THE NETWARE PARTITION AND THEN
RAN NOVELLS INSTALL PROGRAM, WHICH WENT ALONG FINE UNTIL IT WAS WRITING
TO THE DISK AND I GOT AN "ABEND: IMPROPER ROM PARAMETER TABLE FOR DISK
CONTROLLER". I DID NOT TURN OFF OR RESET MY MACHINE AFTER RUNNING DMN.
ANSWER:
DMN v3.04 will not support ELS level 1 v2.12. You will have to
contact our sales department and upgrade to DMN v3.10 for this install
to work. Once you have acquired v3.10, you must then contact this BBS
and download the appropriate NetWare patches for ELS level 1 v2.12.
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QUESTION:
I RECENTLY PURCHASED A 'AST PREMIUM 386/16' COMPUTER WITH AN 'CONNER'
80 MEG HARD DRIVE. THE DRIVE USES AN "IDE" INTERFACE I BELIEVE.
THE DRIVE PART NUMBER IS 'CP-3184'.
ON MY PREVIOUS XT CLONES; I HAVE USED BOTH 'SPINRITE' & 'DISK TECHNICIAN
ADVANCED' TO MAINTAIN AND CORRECT MEDIA ERRORS.
SPINRITE DOCUMENTATION STATES THAT CONNER DRIVES CANNOT BE "LOW LEVEL
FORMATTED" AND THEREFORE SPINRITE WILL NOT WORK WITH THEM!
DISK TECHNICIAN ADVANCED WILL NOT RECOGNIZE MY CONTROLLER AND NOT
OPERATE AT ALL.
MY QUESTION IS:
DO YOU HAVE A PRODUCT THAT WILL SUIT MY NEEDS ? A PROGRAM THAT WILL
TEST AND REPAIR MEDIA FLAWS (WRITE TO AND READ FROM MEDIA, NOT READ ONLY
AS IN PC TOOLS SURFACE ANALYSIS). IT MUST WORK WITH MY H/W CONFIGURATION
AND DOS 3.3; OR DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ?
ANSWER:
Our product DOSUTILS has the ability to perform a write/read
scan on a IDE drive. If it finds any bad spots, it will ask if you want
to map them out to prevent any further use. If there is a file sitting
on the bad spot, it will attempt to move it (very often successfully).
What do you mean by "repairing" media defects? Any program that does
not simply map out the defect to prevent further use, or purports to
"repair" a known defective area and make it available for data storage
is extremely dangerous to your data. When the manufacturer of the drive
tells you that a certain area of the disk is defective, you'd better
listen to him. They have multi-thousand dollar pieces of equipment that
perform an analog based test on the surface of the drive. These
machines can spot a marginal track; a track that stands a very good
chance of going bad in the future. You should make absolutly sure that
no program tries to re-allocate one of these known defective areas. No
piece of software can do anywhere near as good of job of testing the
disk surface than the manufacturers testing equipment.
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QUESTION:
We maintain our own PCs here and have purchased Disk Manager 4.02 for
all drives. We like it and use it for low level formatting a lot.
However, we have been getting in some Miniscibe 7080 AT IDE drives lately.
They do not appear on the menu for configuration in DM.
What we want to know is how many cylinders, heads,
sectors, WPcomp, and Lzone, for this drive. We also know that the IDE
will allow us to configure the cmos as any drive which has the
equivalent amount of space or less. But we would like to get as much as
possible out of our drives. We are using AMI BIOS which allows us to
custom configure a drive, and we have done that for a Conner CP-3184 and
found out that we get about 7 megs more space doing that. If you can
help we would appreciate it.
ANSWER:
The Miniscribe 7080 IDE drive is not a universal translation
drive. This is to say that it can't translate to just any combination
of parameters like some other IDE drives can. It has 4 basic modes of
translation that it can do. These are as follows:
10 heads by 17 sectors per track, with cyls in BIOS less than or = 981
6 heads by 33 sectors per track, with cyls in BIOS less than or = 832
9 heads by 17 sectors per track, with cyls in BIOS less than or = 1023
8 heads by 39 sectors per track, with cyls in BIOS less than or = 520
You will either have to have a drive type with one of these geometries,
or create one as a user defined drive type. The selection of 981x10x17
will be the one that will give you the largest capacity.
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QUESTION:
I will have literally thousands of small files (ie, less than 1k) on my
drive. What would be the best way to format/partition the drive so that
there is as little wasted space as possible? I am willing to trade some
performance for some capacity.
ANSWER:
A partition greater than 32 Meg will have a larger cluster size. A
cluster is your minimum allocation unit of space on the drive. So for
example, if you have a 30 Meg partition on the drive, your cluster size
is 2k. Therefore, any file on the drive takes up at least 2k. If it's
a 3k file, it would take up 4k of space. If, on the other hand, you
have a 150 Meg partition on the drive, you would end up with a 16k
cluster size. This could leave you with alot of slack space on the
drive. (Each file would take up at least 16k of space.) If you wish to
keep your cluster size down to 2k (that's the minimum), then keep your
partition sizes between 17 and 32 Meg. (If you go below 17 Meg in size,
you'll get a 4k partition.) The break points are as follows (under DOS
3.x):
1 - 16 Meg = 4k cluster size
16 - 32 Meg = 2k cluster size
32 - 64 Meg = 4k cluster size
64 -128 Meg = 8k cluster size
128-256 Meg = 16k cluster size
256-512 Meg = 32k cluster size
Disk Manager also has a /V switch available that gives you some manual
controller over your cluster sizes. (You can make them smaller than the
defaults shown above.) But if you do, beware that there are some
programs that won't deal with a nonstandard cluster size; starting with
CHKDSK.
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QUESTION:
I need to configure CMOS to recognize my Conner CP3184
Ontracks Version # 4.02 is the on S/N like printing on my disk label.
I have a Compaq Deskpro 386 - 16, I am using the original
controller.
DM manual mode tells me that it is defaulting to the WRONG drive
configuration, but I can not reach the menu which allows me to select
the CP3184 directly. Diagnostics lets me select this model, but it does
not write to the CMOS configuration.
Note: CP3184 is an IDE drive.
I have good data on this disk, the CMOS config. got trashed
somehow.
My Compaq "setup" program does not provide a "type" entry for the
CP3184 since they are 3 years appart in vintage.
If I tell DM that I have two drives (although I phusically have on
only one, DM gives me the menu to cursor select the CP3184, but it will
not do this for drive 1.
I even ran my Compaq "setup", told it that I have 0 hard drives.
DM asks me if I want to change the CMOS config due to test failure, I
answer yes, DM responds by writting the default drive's config, NOT the
CP3184. DM fails to allow me to access the menu to select CP3184
regardless of what I try.
ANSWER:
No generic version of Disk Manager (prior to v4.20) had the Conner 3184
in the drive selection menu. Are you using the generic/universal version
of DM, or an OEM version? Does it have various manufacturers to choose
from in the configuration menu, or just several model numbers? Setting
up an IDE drive correctly with a version of Disk Manager prior to v4.20
was not a automatic procedure, and you would be better off calling us on
the tech support voice line so we could work thru this together in real
time.
QUESTION:
At this time, after a day of trying to track this one down, I hopefully
have this situation under control. It turns out that a drive type 31
is correct for the CP3184. I took my disk to a 386SX we have in house
that has an IDE interface and a Phoenix BIOS. Using a ROM-based setup,
I configured to drive type 31 and it booted without a hitch. So at this
point, I knew the disk was fine. I backed up all three logical drives
at this point since I had access to the disk. Now I have gone back and
repartitioned and reformatted my disk and it boots fine. Is it possible
that you have a problem with the IDE version that modifies the boot
block such that the Compaq BIOS does not recognize the Operating System
on the hard drive??? By the way, Version 4.20 (it is not generic nor an
OEM version... Restated, I do not know the difference, we do not OEM
Ontrack Disk Manager, it was provided with my Conner CP3184. This
version does provide a manufacture's menu for a number of Conner drives,
although, I talked to Hard Drives International, Tempe, AZ where I
purchased the drive, and all I had to do was write (option W) back to
CMOS config. HD Internation was a lot of help, I will recommend them in
the future! Please provide me with an answer to my question regarding
the Compaq Boot Disk problem. I prefer to use the Ontrack DM as I can
use 20 Mbytes more of my disk than with FDISK, but I can not have this
problem occuring every month! Additionally, previous to the purchase of
my Conner disk, I was using SUPER PCK with my CDC 40 Meg (type 17) with
great success. The DM driver anversion 2.03 of PCK do not cooperate!
I read that you do not recommed disk Caches. I do, but only if they
cooperate! You also said that the developers of PCK had contacted you.
Do you know if the latest and greatest version of PCK will cooperate
with the IDE version of the DM driver? Thank you for your time.
ANSWER:
I don't think you understand how an IDE drive operates. An IDE
drive will remap it's self to appear as though it has whatever geometry
that you tell it that it has, either thru your CMOS drive type
selection, or thru the nonstandard parameters that you write to the
drive when using Disk Manager, (read the bulletin concerning IDE/AT
interface drives for more info). The problem that you were experiencing
was due to a mismatch between the number of heads and/or sectors per
track of the CMOS drive type you had selected and the nonstandard
parameters that you selected thru DM. When you have a mismatch on
either of these parameters, you will experience a "missing operating
system" or similar message because you are telling the IDE drive to
remap it's self to a different number of heads and/or sectors per track
after it has already mounted the DOS partition, therefore it can't read
that partition any more. If you keep the heads and spt consistent
between what CMOS says and the nonstandard parms that DM uses, you
won't have this problem. The only parameter that can change between
what CMOS says the drive is and what Disk Manager says the drive is, is
the number of cylinders.
It seems that you are also a little confused about what the W option in
the config menu does. It in no way writes to CMOS. The W option
writes the nonstandard parameters that you have selected with DM to
sector 8 of track 0 on the hard disk. This information is then read by
DMDRVR.BIN at boot time and the drive parameters in low memory are
replaced with the new ones. The two machines that you were using
evidently had different entries in their drive tables, therefore if you
couldn't find a selection that was the same between the two machines,
you would have to reconfigure and repartition the drive when you moved
it from one machine to another.
What I meant by an OEM version of Disk Manager was this: If you
purchase DM directly thru our sales department, or from a computer
dealer as a stand alone package, and it has ALL manufacturers drives
listed (over 250 different drives in total) and has a file on the
diskette that is named DMPARMS.OCS (the drive parameter file), it is
the GENERIC version of DM. Any other version only supports a limited
number of drives and is called an OEM version. With an OEM version,
the parameters of the drives that are supported by that version are
hard coded into the program, (not in the outboard file DMPARMS.OCS),
and you are not allowed to manually change the number of cylinders or
heads of any drive that you select.
Also, remember that if you are using Compaq DOS v3.31 you must use the
/4 parameter when entering DM to tell it that this DOS is going to try
and pass it's self off as a 3.x DOS, but not to believe it, it's
actually using a DOS 4.x type format structure. All kinds of problems
can result from preparing a write/read partition under DM and this DOS
if you don't use the /4 switch.
As for Super PC Qwik, I don't think they were DM compatible prior to
their version 3.21. I know they are now up to at least version 3.5.
You should call them directly for current version information.
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QUESTION:
Hi, I am having major problems...i am trying to install a imprimis 94244
-383 in a GCH 286 useing Awardware Bios v 3.03. I am useing the disk
manager that came with the drive [v4.02 i think]. The problem i am
having is this, i set the type of drive in the beginning, and it tells
me i will lose 64meg, which i accept because of the type of bios, i then
run the autoconfig, and i get a syntax file control error when it tries
to partition. i tried manually, and it accepts the partitioning, til i
try to write it, then it says there is no partition after i try to
write it. not sure what the problem is...can you help?
ANSWER:
The errors that you are receiving are due to the fact that you
don't have a CMOS drive type in your ROM BIOS that will support this
drive without going over 2047 cyls. It looks like the only version of
Disk Manager that will install this drive correctly would be Disk
Manager generic v4.20. It was just released on 5-31-90 and has the new
XBIOS overlay, (the new replacement for SWBIOS). XBIOS allows you for
the first time to go over 2048 cyls. With XBIOS, you would be able to
configure this drive as 2587 cyls x 15 hds x 17 spt and would be able
to use the full capacity of the drive. Otherwise, you'll have to set
this drive up as a standard drive. To do this, you would pick the CMOS
drive type in your drive table in ROM that is closest to 310 Meg,
without going over, and either use Disk Manager or FDISK to partition
the drive. You would only get the capacity of the drive type that you
selected.
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QUESTION:
I am installing a Microscience 7100-00 drive, which is 110.4 MB
(formatted), with 855 cylinders and 7 heads. My machine is a HIMS
'386 with an AMI BIOS (dated 12/14/89). The closest I can get to a
drive type is 31 (98MB). There are also types 9 (112MB) and 45 (114MB)
that are "close," but a little bit over the 110MB the manufacturer
states. The controller (if that's what you want to call this thing with
almost nothing on it) is a JZ-I-001 (???) made by God-Knows-Who!
Anyway, the little controller manual states that they "utilize the
industry standard controller chip, guaranteeing command level
compatibility with the IBM PC/AT standard and provides floppy disk and
'AT bus' hard disk interface." Two questions:
1. Should I worry about the Drive Type in the CMOS, or will Disk
Manager's device driver handle that?
2. One of the drive types in the BIOS is Type 47 ("roll your
own"). Should I choose that one?
3. (OK, three questions ...) Can I purchase a printed manual from
you nice folks? The on-line help is fabulous, but takes a little doing
to print it out, and it has no index.
Have been using Storage Dimensions' SpeedStor for years, but
attended a Seagate seminar in Silicon Valley the other night and they
alluded to the fact that Disk Manager Is the Future! Congratulations!
I've just received your brand-new version, and it looks real good!
ANSWER:
The 7100 presents a problem. You would be best off entering the
parameters yourself as a user defined drive type 47 and partition it as
a standard drive. The problem is, Microscience originally gave us the
wrong sector per track value for the drive, and said, "Just put it in.
It'll work.", without giving us the chance to test it. It didn't work.
Besides the wrong spt value, it turned out that it used a nonstandard
defect handling technique and if you attempted to initialize the drive
thru DM, you would wipe out the defect list and would have to send it
back to the factory for re-initialization. As of version 4.05 of Disk
Manager for Microscience, the 7100 has been removed from the drive
selection menu completely. The 7100 also does not appear in the
current generic version of DM for the same reason. You can still
partition the drive thru DM as a standard drive, just don't attempt to
initialize it.
As for your question about a printed manual, there is none for Disk
Manager. The HELP.EXE program on the diskette is the manual. Our
future versions of DM will print page numbers and will have an index.
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QUESTION:
Does Disk Manager currently, or will it in the near future, have the
ability to do a low level format on IDE hard drives?
ANSWER:
Disk Manager (generic/universal) v4.20 which was released on
5/31/90 knows more about IDE drives than any earlier version. It will
allow you to initialize (low-level format) some IDE drives (for
whatever reason). But not all IDE drives are the same. Some IDE
drives are "embedded servo" drives that you can re-initialize with no
problems because they protect their sector headers from being zeroed
out, thus protecting their defect list. Others don't have this
protection and allow a real initialization, and use a standard method
of defect handling but don't come with a defect list for entering the
bad tracks. Some others don't use a standard method of defect
handling, so you don't have any way to enter the bad tracks, even if
you had the list. There are even some drives that will be logically
destroyed if you initialize them, and will need to be sent back to the
factory for re-initialization. The safest solution is to NOT
initialize an IDE drive. All IDE drives are initialized at the
factory, and shouldn't need to be re-initialized in the field.
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QUESTION:
First thanks for the BBS for info..... I would like to know if the
Fujitsu drive M-2612T Info is in your BBS system.... Also if you have
had success running this drive, IDE with your software and Netware ELS
2.15, if so maybe some hints that might help in install.... I am
familiar with Network O/S and am now going to try Netware for a
client...
ANSWER:
You will need to add the parameters for the M2612T to your
DMPARMS.OCS file on the DMN diskette before it will support this drive.
The line that you will need to add is as follows:
M2612T 1334,4,0,65535,11,5,12,180,40,0,33
You can edit the DMPARMS.OCS file with any straight ASCII text editor,
(EDLIN if nothing else). Once you start editing the file, the
structure of that file should be obvious. Add the above line to the
Fujitsu section of the file. After you do that, your DMN will offer
this drive as a selection from within the Fujitsu drives menu. Since
this will be a non-standard drive installation, you will have to run
MODELSII to patch your ELS level 2 v2.15 to accept a non-standard
drive. (You run MODELSII prior to running ELSGEN). Follow the section
in the manual about installing non-standard drives with greater than
1024 cylinders under ELS level 2. If you have any other questions,
feel free to ask.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I am installing a Connor CP-3184 drive in a clone 12MHZ AT. The Company
I purchased the drive from (Microtex) said to use the same settings as
the Seagate ST-4096 (1024cyl, 9 heads). However, the recording at
Connor Corporation says this drive has 832 cyl, 6 heads and 33 sectors.
When I set it up as an ST-4096, it formats and boots under DOS 3.3.
I haven't used DiskManager-N yet until I find out if I have set it up
right. Please tell me how to set up this drive since I must have the
system back up prior to Monday morning.
ANSWER:
If you are willing to take a 4 Meg reduction in capacity, then
setting up the drive as 1024x9x17 will work just fine under both DOS
and NetWare. If you use DMN, by default it will set the drive up with
it's true geometry of 832x6x33, and you would get the full capacity.
The considerations for installing an IDE drive under DOS are different
than those for a NetWare install. Under DOS, you must make sure that
the number of heads and sectors per track for the CMOS drive type that
you are set to match the nonstandard parameters that Disk manager is
using. (See bulletin number 8 for more info on how IDE drives
operate). Under NetWare and DMN, these considerations go away and you
can set the drive up as 832x6x33 with no problems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I have a Compaq 42Mb drive (CDC 94208-51) which was inadvertantly
subjected to a low level initialization attempt: the drive appears to be
unusable at this point. Does Disk Manager support initialization of
this drive? Controller is a CMS IDE controller, running in a clone AT.
ANSWER:
I am not familiar with the 94208-51. If this is actually the
model number, then it may be a Compaq only model, in which case I would
have no information about it. In general, if you low-level an Imprimis
IDE drive, you'll lose the defect list, and probably will flatten the
skewing of the drive. (Skewing is a special formatting technique used
to speed up the disk). What the net effect will be is you will have a
slow drive with defects that have not been mapped out, but the drive
will not be completely dead. (Other brands and types of IDE drives
could be effected differently than an Imprimis drive). Disk Manager
v4.20 has a /K switch that would allow you to enter the skewing
information at format time, but that information would have to come
from the drive manufacturer, not Ontrack. The Imprimis drive uses a
traditional defect handling method, but no defect list is sent with the
drive, so you don't know where the defects are. Overall, low-level
formatting an Imprimis drive is not a good idea, but it won't
absolutely kill the drive.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
The imprimis has max capacity of 279,270 sectors per drive and a native
mode of 9 heads and 29 sectors per track. Since it is an IDE trnslatable
drive I chose a drive type in the ALR bios that gave me 1023 cyl, 15
heads and 17 spt to maximize the capacity. I want to prep the drive for
Novell with exactly the same paramaters but while the above mentioned
parameters show up as the "standard" I can't get the initialization
menus to register this. Even choosing the imprimis 94354-160 drive from
the menu and modifying the parameters to 1023x15x17 , and then seeingly
write them, DMN shows 1150x15x17. The verification part of DMN shows no
problem but I can't take a chance since the 1150x15x17 multiplied out
exceed the limit of 279,270 that seagate warns not to exceed. Any ideas
as to what is going on?
Also snce this is an IDE drive and should never be low levelled, is it
fatal/not reccomended/required in choosing the hard drive initialization
part of the proceedure?
Lastly, is the reason for never field low levelling the ide drives never
knowing what the physical drive looks like due to the translation mode.
If this is so and you knew what the physical mode and formatted to that
would it work, in theory?
Incidentally western digital drives (40 mb ide type) can be low levelled
in the field with a utility from WD called ISPFMT.
ANSWER:
In general, unlike DOS, under NetWare you can forget about the translation
questions on an IDE drive.
Install it as a nonstandard drive with it's physical parameters. What
drive type you are set to makes no difference, as long as it's not 0
(zero), and the capacity for that selection is not above the total
capacity of the disk. Version 3.04 of DMN directly supports the 94354-
160, just pick it and go. There are more concerns about low-level
formatting an IDE drive than just the parameters. Even the "physical"
parameters listed by the factory are seldom just that. They usually
represent a default translation mode. An IDE drive usually has only
one or two physical platters and often has a greater number of sectors
per track on the outer cylinders than on the inner ones. Some IDE
drives also have a nontraditional method of defect handling, and the
ones that don't often don't come with a defect list. In general, don't
mess around attempting to low-level format one. 1. It's not necessary.
2. You could mess it up. It's understandable for WD to have a program
to low-level format their own drives. But on the other hand you
wouldn't want to use that program on an Imprimis drive.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
Help! I have a Fujitsu 120MB IDE Drive that I am trying to install with
ELS Netware V2.15 (Level II) and cannot get it to initialize using DMN/I
I use the automatic routine to format it and I put it in the DMPARMS.OCS
file. When I go to use DMN/I I get an error message that reads:
.
INVALID MBR DATA, PARAMETER TABLES NOT INSTALLED.
ANSWER:
You didn't tell me the model number of your hard disk, so I'm
only going to be able to be of limited help. In general, if you are
getting the message "INVALID MBR DATA" when you run DMN/I, it means
that you didn't get the parameters of the drive written to the disk at
configuration time for some reason. You should choose F3 from the main
menu of DMN and select the drive that you added to DMPARMS.OCS. At
that point DMN will ask you if you wish to write that configuration to
the disk. You must answer Yes to this question. If you have already
done this, and it still doesn't work, then evidently we aren't able to
talk to the disk for some reason.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I have a Toshiba T5200 Laptop. This is a 386 machine with 6 Megs of
RAM. I recently installed a Connor CP3204 212 Meg. drive and tried to
use Disk Manager to setup the new drive. I ran the dm/c option
and everything seemed to go ok although when I finished the process
the computer would not boot from the hard disk. If I booted from a
floppy with the appropriate driver in the config.sys file I could access
the hard drive and use it--but I could not boot from it! This is
problem #1. The second problem is that I transfered about 35Megabytes
of data onto the drive and it used nearly 50 Megabytes of space on the
drive. What have I done wrong, and how can I correct it?
Note: The Toshiba T5200 has no setup information for this drive, the
only drive options it has are for a 40 Meg, 100 Meg, and No Drive.
ANSWER:
Regarding your first question, what version of Disk Manager are you
using? No version of Disk Manager prior to v4.20 was meant for IDE
drives. Some versions had the default drive geometry for several IDE
drives, but if you didn't have these specific drive type entries in
your computer's drive table, Disk Manager wouldn't be able to handle
the translation of the drive correctly. As of v4.20 of DM, it now
handles IDE drive translations correctly. If you don't have version
4.20 of DM, getting it should solve your problem. If you DO have v4.20
of DM, then try a SYS C: to manually transfer the system files to the
hard disk, or a FORMAT C:/S if the SYS C: doesn't fix it.
As for your second question, it sounds like you have a large partition
(>32Meg) under DOS 3.x. When you have a partition greater than 32
Megabytes under DOS 3.x, your cluster size increases along with the
partition size. A cluster is your minimum allocation unit on the
drive. For example, if you have a 200 Meg partition, you would have a
16k cluster size. This means that even a 1 byte file would take up 16k
of disk space. A 17k file would take up 32k of disk space. The
increased cluster size is a tradeoff for having a large partition under
a version of DOS that didn't directly support it. If you make your
partitions smaller, that would decrease the cluster size.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I am not a techie, but have heard horror stories re Ontrack Diskmanager
and Windows 3.0. I am running an IBM clone 386 16/25 Turbo CPU with DOS
3.3 currently loaded. I have a 70 meg IMPRIMUS Model 9424 half height
hard drive with a newfangled controller with a name I cannot recall. The
controller is not an RLL or an MFM. I am using DiskManager v. 3.2. The
hard drive is split in 2 partitions. I have read Bul #12, but am still
uncertain of how the info actually impacts on my beast.
ANSWER:
I see that you have read bulletin number 12. This should explain the
current situation between Windows and Disk Manager. There are two
cases of not being able to do something that are explained in that
bulletin, neither of which has anything to do with data corruption.
The horror stories that you have heard are being spread by hysterical
people who don't know what they are talking about. There have been
absolutely no confirmed cases of data corruption being caused by Disk
Manager. On the other hand, SMARTDRV.SYS, (the "caching" program that
comes with Windows), may cause problems if you have a nonstandard
drive, or a drive with greater than 1024 cylinders. If this is the
case, (I don't know for sure since you only gave me part of your
Imprimis model number), then you should remove SMARTDRV.SYS from your
system. This has always been the case with SMARTDRV.SYS, even before
Windows 3 came out.
QUESTION:
I sent msg #407 Thurs 6/29 re Ontrack Disk Manager vs Windows 3.0. I
mistated my hard drive model number as #9424. The correct model number
is #94204. To restate: I am not techie enough to be sure of what Bul 12
is telling me. I use an IBM clone 386 16/25 turbo CPU, use DOS 3.3, have
an IMPRIMUS 70 meg 1/2 height hard drive-model 94204. The controller is
not an RLL or FMF but I can't recall the name - it's a new type. My
concern was the stories I've heard from supposedly "smart" folks that if
Ontrack (v 3.2 is mine) and Windows 3.0 are used together, the disk WILL
eventually crash and require reformatting - a hassle I wish to avoid. I
run DESQVIEW/QEMM386 a lot but wish to run Windows in all of its glory
to see if it really has any virtue. Now that you have my disk's model
number, am I in trouble running Disk Manager and Windows 3.0 (including
smartdrive). I have 8 meg RAM and might as well use it.
ANSWER:
There are at least three different drives with model numbers that start
with the number 94204.
The 94204-65 is 941 cylinders by 8 heads by 17 sectors per track.
The 94204-71 is 1024 cylinders by 8 heads by 17 sectors per track.
The 94204-74 is 941 cylinders by 8 heads by 17 sectors per track.
None of these drives have more than 1024 physical cylinders. But if
you don't have a drive type in your drive table in ROM with 8 heads,
(IBM standard drive type 4 is 940x8x17, but not all computers use the
IBM standard drive table), then because it's an IDE drive, it may be
translating to a fewer number of heads but more logical cylinders,
(effectively putting you over 1024 cylinders apparent to the system).
One way to find out for sure is to perform the following procedure:
1. Run Disk Manager in manual mode; (DM/M).
2. Once in the main menu, press C and hit return for the configuration
menu.
3. Write down what it says between the two horizontal lines on the
screen. For example:
Disk parameters (cylinders by heads by sectors) are now REPLACED.
Drive 1 is setup as 939 x 8 x 17 and is actually 1023 x 8 x 17
or,
Disk parameters (cylinders by heads by sectors) are now STANDARD.
Drive 1 is actually 1023 x 8 x 17
4. Press ESC twice. When asked if you wish to return to DOS, answer Y.
If any of the number of cylinders shown on the screen is over 1024,
then you will need to place the VIRTUALHDIRQ=OFF line in your
SYSTEM.INI file, and you must stay away from SMARTDRV.SYS.
If none of the numbers shown are over 1024, but the numbers show up as
in the first example, (parameters are REPLACED), and the number of
heads or sectors are ACTUALLY different than they are SETUP as, then
you don't need the VIRTUALHDIRQ=OFF line in your SYSTEM.INI file, but
you must stay away from SMARTDRV.SYS if you are using DOS 3.3 or higher.
In any event, if you are using DMDRVR.BIN, Windows will not allow you
to set up a permanent swap file, but temporary swap files will work
fine.
In general, SMARTDRV.SYS is a rather rudimentary cache, as caches go
nowadays. If you are interested in using a cache that actually makes
your system run faster, and would not have the possibility of
malfunctioning in the above scenarios, I would suggest Super PC-Kwik
from Multisoft as one to try.
QUESTION:
One more go around on my windows 3.0/Disk Manager situation. My hard
drive is an Imprimus 94204-71. DM/M reports setup as 1023 x 8 x 17 and
actual config as the same. It also reports "parameters replaced." Where
does this leave me with Windows 3.0. I gather that Smartdv.sys is a
loser and Qemm386 can't coexist with Windows - or can it? Is Smartdv
the problem using QEMM with Windows?
ANSWER:
Once again... If your drive does not exceed 1024 cylinders, (yours
doesn't), and does not have a head or sector per track mismatch between
what it is "setup as" and what it "actually is", (yours doesn't), then
there should be no problem with SMARTDRV.SYS. The drive you are using
does not have more than 1024 cylinders, so you don't need the
VIRTUALHDIRQ line in your SYSTEM.INI file. You WILL have DMDRVR.BIN in
your CONFIG.SYS file though, and because of this Windows won't allow you
to create a permanent swap file. Temporary swap files work fine.
We are currently working with MicroSoft and hope that they will modify
their swapfile program to allow a permanent swapfile on a nonstandard
hard disk soon. I am not able to answer your questions about QEMM.
MicroSoft or the makers of QEMM would be a better source of information
on that matter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I am trying to attach a Conner 3104, 102 MB H/D to an AT compatible PC
that does not have the correct drive type in it's CMOS drive table. I
am looking for a BIOS that has "user defineable" hard drive parameters
so that I can use this drive. I have not yet looked at the files that I
downloaded, but do you have a BIOS that is compatible with Award S/W
Inc's ver 3.03 BIOS? I would greatly appreciate your reply. Thanks.
ANSWER:
Version 4.20 of Disk Manager will install the 3104 at full capacity in
any AT style machine, without the use of Superproms or a user definable
drive type. Superproms are not a BIOS as such, but a set of add-on
ROMS that will give you about 150 more drive types to choose from.
They do not at this point have an entry for the Conner 3104, but have
several that will come close to the full capacity of the drive. If you
are using DOS, I would recommend Disk Manager v4.20 over Superproms.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I've got an Imprimis IDE drive, 94354-160. It's 160M unformatted, 143
formatted. Using Disk Manager it partitions just fine, with my setup
being 136M on C: and 6M on D:. That all seems to work fine. The
DMDRVR.BIN file is out in the config.sys and invokes without any
apparent problems. So I should, and can, go to drive D: and there is in
fact 6 M out there. Patching the CHKDSK program in DOS 4.01 gives me
the disk information as it should. I can copy a file to the disk and
copy it back -- intact. Now for the rub; If I copy a group of files to
the D: drive using a wildcard copy it takes off as if to copy and then
aborts with an error message. I don't remember now what the message
was, because it has been several months since I did it. The effect was
a complete trashing of the partition table. The solution was to
repartition, reformat and restore. Not a process I enjoy doing on a
regular basis!!!!! I managed to trash the thing 3 times in one day on
my machine and gave up. Then trying it on another machine, same
specifications as the first it produced the same results. So, it's not
the hardware! The net result is that the 6M drive at D: is useless. In
fact it's dangerous because of what can happen if a user were to copy
files to the thing.
ANSWER:
I need a little more information about your install before I can
attempt to figure out what is happening on your drive D:. How is it
set up? The information that I would need can be found in the
configuration menu of DM. If you run DM/M and then press C for the
configuration menu, the screen will say something to the effect of:
Drive 1 is set up as xxxx by xx by xx and is actually xxxx by xx by xx
I need to know what the x's are. I also need to know about your
partition structure (starting and ending cylinders for each partition),
as well as the version of Disk Manager you are using and what other
things are in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. It sound like
you are seeing a 1024 cylinder "wrap" situation occur. This is where a
program will attempt to bypass DOS function calls and go directly to an
interrupt 13 for disk access (for speed reasons) and doesn't know how
to get along with SWBIOS. Are you using a software cache program of
any kind? A cache that doesn't know how to get along with SWBIOS is
the most common reason for a 1024 cylinder "wrap" like this. If you
are using a cache program, try taking it out and try your test again.
If this turns out to be the cause of the problem, I can recommend a
cache that does know how to get along with SWBIOS. The makers of Super
PC Kwik have been in contact with us and have learned how to function
correctly on a drive with greater than 1024 cylinders. (Current
versions of Super PC Kwik only).
QUESTION:
I'll check the info from the configuration. My disk is 1072 cylinders,
by 9 heads by 29 sectors. I am partitioned for 136 & 6 Megs partitions.
I am running a cache, which might be the problem. I'll have to try it
without the cache.
Have you got any idea of how much memory the PC Kwik program takes from
base memory? The one I am using is EVCACHE.SYS and uses only 11K of
base memory. Running under 4.01 DOS I don't have much system memory to
spare right now. I am considering trying 386 to the Max, do you have
any experiences with that?
The SWBIOS doesn't need to be in the config.sys or autoexec.bat does it?
Ok, here's the specifics you requested:
Drive is actually 1071 by 9 by 29
Imprimis version 4.02
Start End Type Bootable System
0 1022 DOS Y MS-DOS 4.0
1023 1070 Write/Read N Nosystem
I understand that SWBIOS has to be present to use the DM/M properly with
this IDE interfaced drive, otherwise I get a SCSI on the screen and
can't do anything. But, do I have to have the SWBIOS active all the
time? I am using DMDRVR.BIN in the config.sys to allow me to get to D:,
this was all I thought that I needed. Please clarify this for me.
As I said in my earlier message, I AM running EVCACHE.SYS in the
config.sys file -- which could be the root of the problem. I am more
than a little reluctant to test the thing since if it doesn't work it
will trash the partition table and I will have to reformat and restore
the system.
Also, I was under the impression that I can't make one large partition
with DM because of some sort of ROM BIOS limitation that a drive be no
more than 1024 cylinders per partition. Is this correct thinking?
ANSWER:
If, as you said, the parameters of this drive in the configuration menu
show as being STANDARD and ACTUALLY 1071x9x29, then you must be using a
user-defined drive type. You should change the parameters of your user
defined drive type to show no more than 1024 cylinders. This is
because if DMDRVR sees the parameters as being STANDARD and over 1024
cylinders, it assumes that the BIOS and operating system must know how
to actually access the area beyond cylinder 1024 (since it's appearing
as a standard drive). This, unfortunately, is very rarely the case.
Once you change the user defined drive type to show only 1024
cylinders, you will need to run SWBIOS, go into Disk Manager in manual
mode (DM/M), go to the configuration menu, press N for nonstandard
parameters, select the 94354-160, answer N when asked if you want to
change the parameters of the drive, then press W to write the
parameters to the disk. At this point the parameters should be
appearing as shown below:
Disk parameters (cylinders by heads by sectors) are now REPLACED
Drive 1 is setup as 1023 x 9 x 29 and is actually 1072 x 9 x 29
This will ensure that the SWBIOS portion of DMDRVR.BIN is invoked at
boot time. You do not have to have SWBIOS.COM in your CONFIG.SYS or
AUTOEXEC.BAT, (or even on your hard drive at all). DMDRVR.BIN has the
SWBIOS code within itself, and when it sees the parameters as being
"replaced" and over 1024 cylinders, it kicks in it's own internal
version of the SWBIOS code to support that portion of the drive. You
can double check that SWBIOS is being loaded by watching the Disk
Manager sign-on banner at boot time. There should be a line that says
"Software BIOS enhancement installed" right above the banner.
As far as the cache goes, my recommendation still stands. Multisoft's
Super PC-Kwik is the ONLY cache that I know of that works properly with
a drive that has greater than 1024 cylinders. I don't know it's memory
requirements.
As for your last question; All DOS partitions are limited to the first
1024 cylinders. No exceptions. No version of DOS produced to date,
(that's right, not even 4.01), can see anything above 1024 cylinders.
What SWBIOS and DMDRVR.BIN are allowing you to do is to place a
"write/read" DOS compatible partition above the 1024th cylinder so this
area of your drive is not wasted. As long as you allow SWBIOS to load
at boot time by not trying to fool it with a user-defined drive type,
and don't use caches that aren't designed to function on a drive with
greater than 1024 cylinders, it is a safe partition.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I have been trying to install a WD 95044-a 41 MB IDE drive with
WDAT240 controller in a clone 286 and keep recieving the following error
message from the Novell Installation Utility when I try to execute the
Installation utility ;
"ABEND: Invalid process ID passed by interrupt procedure to Kernel."
This error occurrs right after install is selected. The screen gives
the usual NetWare "Analyzing your system to determine number of drives
and types..." message and then displays the above error.
I have tried the DMN autoinstall with drive type 2 (recommended by
DMN after install) and with drive type 47 (User defined with 781 cyls, 4
heads, and 27 sectors per track) all after running MODELSII on the 3
Netware disks requested.
Any ideas?
P.S. The OEM I recieved the clone from CompTech (Toronto, Ontario) says
that this configuration is viable and has been done by them on the same
hardware.
The system has a Hercules monochrome adapter and another WD 95044-a
hard drive installed as a DOS drive and will have an AST RamPage
installed with 2.0 Meg on board ( I have tried the install with and
without the RamPage and do not believe it to be a problem same error
results.)
Thank-you in advance.
ANSWER:
The most common causes of the message "Invalid process ID passed to
interrupt procedure to kernal" are:
1. Selecting ISADISK twice during the configure portion of NETGEN.
Once as channel 0, and again as channel 1, when you actually only
have one controller (therefore only one channel) in the machine.
You may have two disks attached to the controller, but that is still
only one channel.
2. Not running DMN/I prior to running NETGEN to install NetWare.
If neither of these seem to be the case, then one other thing you could
try is to run DMN/M and then exit immediately, (instead of DMN/I), then
run NETGEN and see if it makes a difference. This was a known problem
with version 3.04 of DMN manufactured for Calabco, (DMN/I didn't do all
it was supposed to do in that version), but v3.10 didn't have the same
problem. If you find that this does make a difference, (I don't think
it will), please let me know!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
Installed Conner 104 meg drive with Disk Manager. Couldn't tell from
doc what brand of controller (IDE 16-bit, from Hard Disks
International). Runs fine. When DMDRVR.BIN is Installed in my
CONFIG.SYS I can't get a cursor in Lotus 1-2-3. Could you please let me
know what the problem is? Thanks.
ANSWER:
There are no known problems between Lotus 1-2-3 and DMDRVR.BIN. Please
fill me in a little more on what you mean by "can't get a cursor". Do
you mean that the system "hangs" when you try to run Lotus, or do you
mean that everything works fine in Lotus but there is no cursor
displayed on the screen? For a test, try making a clean system by
renaming both your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to something else,
then create a CONFIG.SYS that only has the line DEVICE=DMDRVR.BIN in
it. Then reboot and try running Lotus. Let me know what you find out.
QUESTION:
To follow up: I follow you suggestion, and the problem is definitely
related to the presence of DMDRVR.BIN. When it is defined in CONFIG.SYS
Lotus operates functions correctly except for the loss of the cursor.
Normally, the cursor appears as a dark underline against the reverse
video that designates the current cell. In edit mode, the cursor
appears as a white underline on the line which displays the cell
contents. When DMDRVR.BIN is loaded, Lotus boots with a white underline
in the far upper left corner of the screen (directly under the current
cell indicator (example:A1). You can move around the speadsheet
normally, but the cursor remains fixed. In edit mode, there is no
change, you can edit the cell but have to guess about cursor position.
When DMDRVR.BIN is removed, everything goes back to normal. Help!!
Lotus use is critical to my company, but I also need access to all that
space (104 megs) that we just bought. Thanks!
ANSWER:
I'm at a loss to come up with a solution (or reason) as to why the
cursor fouls up when you run lotus... The areas of the system that DM
works in have nothing to do with screen functions.. most of our admin
and accounting department are running LOTUS on hard drives that were of
course prepared with DM and are loading the DMDRVR.BIN with no side
effects as you describe.....we were unable to reproduce the problem
in our lab.. suggest you call our tech support staff by voice for more
assistance (be at the computer if possible)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
HI... I HOPE YOU CAN HELP... I'VE JUST COMPLETED A 386-25MHz CACHE
INSTALLATION AND HAD A PROBLEM INSTALLING WINDOWS 3.0...
THE HARD DRIVE IS A SEAGATE ST-1162A 143MB/15ms IDE AND THE ADAPTER
IS A MAGITRONIC B237 SUPER IDE ADAPTER w/FDC & I/O...
THE DRIVE WAS FORMATTED USING SWBIOS & DM 4.0 [IMPRIMIS] AND THE
BIOS IS AMI... I USED DRIVE TYPE 47 [USER DEFINED: 1073 CYL & 9 HD]...
I HAD TO DISABLE SWBIOS IN ORDER FOR WINDOWS 3.0 TO INSTALL PROPERLY...
WITH SWBIOS I GOT AN ERROR MESSAGE ABOUT BEING UNABLE TO FIND A FILE
CALLED KRNL386.EXE... AFTER DISABLING SWBIOS, WINDOWS 3.0 INSTALLED
AND FUNCTIONED FINE... BUT, NOW WE CAN ONLY ACCESS 136MB/1024 CYL...
IS THERE A SOLUTION FOR THIS NOW OR ONE ON THE WAY SOON?...
THANK YOU FOR ANY ANSWERS TO THIS PROBLEM...
Also, after downloading and reading the AT-INTER.TXT file,
I realized I had another problem besides the original one with SWBIOS &
Windows 3.0: I re-initialized a WD95044-A0MB IDE drive... YIPES!!!...
Can you tell me if this drive is the "embedded servo" type that protects
it's defect list when it is re-initialized?... If it is not, what should
I do if it seems to be working properly at the customer site?...
Also, I had the "missing command interpreter" problem after setting up
a Toshiba MK234-FC IDE drive... I must have changed my setup drive
type?... Anyway, to get it to work I may have used SYS C: and then
copied command.com to the boot partition... Is there a potential
problem with this; and, should I re-partition and prepare the drive
over again... This one seems to be working fine at the customer site
also... I worry when I've possibly done something funky...
ANSWER:
Bulletin number 12 on this BBS explains the conflict between Windows
and SWBIOS. If you are using SWBIOS on a 386 based machine, then you
must place the line VIRTUALHDIRQ=OFF in your SYSTEM.INI file, or the
system will hang when you try to run Windows. But... here's a better
solution: Since you've got a user defined drive type available, and
are using an IDE universal translation drive, why not take full
advantage of the capabilities of both? Let me explain... This
particular IDE drive is of the universal translation type. This means
it has the ability to "reconfigure" itself to appear as though it is
whatever you tell it that it is. Using this capability of the drive in
conjunction with the user defined drive type, you could set this drive
up to have full capacity in a configuration having less than 1024
cylinders so you wouldn't need to use SWBIOS. This drive is 1072x9x29
for a total of 279792 sectors on the drive. Now all you need to do is
work backwards and arrive at a geometry that equates to 279792 sectors,
but is less than 1024 cylinders. For example: 277x16x63, or
717x15x26, or 643x15x29, etc... Set your user defined drive type up
with one of these sets of values, repartition the drive with either DM
or FDISK (if you're using DOS 4.01 you can have the whole thing as
drive C:), and you've then got a drive that appears to the system as a
standard drive with less than 1024 cylinders. In the process, you've
gotten rid of the need for SWBIOS, thus no more conflict with Windows.
As for your questions about the WD95044-A, Western Digital would really
be a better source of information about the internal workings of their
drives. My limited information on WD drives says they are stepper
motor drives, and therefore would lose their defect list when inited.
But, my information also says that they use a traditional defect
handling method and come with a published defect list, so you can re-
enter the defects with Disk Manager and init the drive again to re-map
them out. A better solution may be to use WD's FMT program since it is
designed to support their drives directly.
Your problems with the Toshiba MK234-FC may indeed have been caused by
changing the CMOS drive type after partitioning the drive. This would
cause the "missing command interpreter" situation that you spoke of.
Simply running SYS C: and copying over COMMAND.COM would not solve this
problem, since you have actually changed the geometry of the drive
after partitioning it. I would recommend re-running Disk Manager
(v4.20) on the drive to make sure it's setup correctly.
By the way, if you don't already have Disk Manager v4.20 generic, I
would recommend getting it. DM v4.20 is the first generic (universal)
version that directly supports IDE style translations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
Can Disk Manager for Novell be used to install Novell ELS II on a
Conner 3204 200 MB IDE drive? The drives physical parameters are
1366 cylinders, 8 heads, 38 sectors per track. These drives have
a translation mode which allows a user to substitute a standard MFM
drive type. However the largest MFM drive in the computer is
1024 cylinders, 15 heads, 17 sectors per track. This is equivalent
to 133 MB. I would like to get at least a 150MB or more. I don't need
the full 200 MB if I can't get it all.
ANSWER:
Yes. Disk Manager-N v3.10 directly supports both the Conner CP3204 and
ELS II v2.15. With v3.10 of DMN, you will be able to install this drive
under ELS II v2.15 at it's full capacity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
After modifying ELS files, I run dmn. I have set cylinders and heads
using user definable drive type 49 in set up. Disk manager insists I
have 902 cylinders and 8 heads. Even when I go in and select the conner
drive from the non standard drive types, It insists on 902 cylinders.
When I am selecting the conner 3104, it lists the standard values I
input in drive type 49. The values are ok for the conner, too. Yet
when I go back to the menu after pressing enter, the damn thing still
insists I have 902 cylinders and the partitioning routine craps out
after 776 cylinders (the correct number).
ANSWER:
The version of Phoenix BIOS that ALR has been using as of late,
produces a phantom SCSI drive for some bizarre reason. More than
likely this is what you are experiencing. If you were using Disk
Manager for a DOS installation (DM), you could use the /o switch to
strip out SCSI support and this would solve the problem.
Unfortunately, DM-N doesn't have this same switch, so you have no way
of telling DM-N to ignore the screwy parameters that the ALR Phoenix
BIOS is responding with when we do a "getparms" command. Since
ALR/Phoenix don't seem to be overly interested in solving this problem,
(we have attempted to discuss the problem with them), the only solution
that we know of at this time is to use a different BIOS.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
Hello! I am having some difficulty with Disk Manager, V3.40.
I am using disk manager because the application I am
installing requires at least one LARGE (over 33 meg.) partition on the
hard disk for its data directory - all of the data files must remain in
the same directory ( and therefore, in the same partition.) Further, the
folks who designed the application are recommending I NOT use DOS 4.0.
Enter disk manager. The machine I am working with is the Packard-Bell
Force 386sxh-10, the hardrive installed is the ST-1162.
I'm using MS-DOS 3.30. I wanted to use the automated mode of DM,
because I'm pretty much illiterate when it comes to Hard Drives. I tried
this, and the process appeared to work fine, with the following
exceptions: A:) DM reported the drive to have 1023 cylinders, the drive
says it has 1024; (We're using a version of DM configured for SEAGATE
drives.) B:) There was no defect list to be found. We looked both on
and around the computer, and on and around the drive itself. C.) The
folks the computer was purchased from said that the drive was 100 meg.
DM reported (and initialized) a little over 140 (!) D.) Finally, I
noticed when I was asked to to enter return if it was a standard drive
that my specific model number (ST-1162) was NOT listed in the table.
As I mentioned, the process appeared to work correctly, the machine
did boot correctly when finished, and I did end up with a D: partition
that was, lo and behold, 140 meg. I even wrote out a file that was 140
meg large, with no errors. So I was happy. For a time.
Shortly after we began using the application which I had installed, I
began receiving DATA ERROR READING (and WRITING) DRIVE D:. It didn't
happen constantly, but enough to indicate a definate problem (Say, a few
times a day). Also, the application is running quite slowly (two to
three times longer) when ever it is reading from or writing to the D
drive, as if it's getting quite a few retries. Is it because I didn't
enter a defect list? If so, how do I determine where the defects are, so
I can enter them? Am I using the right version of DM? HELP!!!
ANSWER:
Version 3.40 of Disk Manager for Seagate was not designed to operate
with IDE/AT interface drives, (v3.40 was released way back in 1988,
before the advent of IDE drives). This being the case, it was not
aware that this drive was anything different than a normal ST506 type
drive and allowed you to low-level initialize the ST1162A.
Unfortunately, this process wiped out the defect list on the ST1162A.
Even worse, the ST1162A doesn't come with a defect list, so you have no
way of entering them back in. The process of initializing the ST1162A
also may have flattened out the "skewing" of the drive, making it slow
in performance. If you want to keep using this particular drive, you
should run a write/read/compare type bad sector scanning program on it
such as Dosutils, in order to get the actual hard errors mapped out.
Even at that, you still may have intermittent errors on sectors that
were originally mapped out as borderline sectors by the manufacturer
crop up every so often because even the best disk scanning utilities
can't find these in all cases. This particular drive was not supported
until v4.20 of Disk Manager generic, and version 4.03 of Disk Manager
for Seagate. Even with these newer version of Disk Manager, you still
never should low-level initialize an IDE drive. For more information
on IDE drives, take a look at the file "AT-INTER.TXT" in the files
section of this BBS.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
HI. WE ARE INSTALLING AN ST1239A USING A MANUFACTURER PROVIDED COPY OF
DM(4.0). THE FORMATTED CAPACITY IS RUMORED TO BEE 211MB. I HAVE TRIED
USING THE SWBIOS UTILITY PROVIDED BY ONTRACK, YET THE LARGEST PARTITION
SIZE I SEEM TO BE ABLE TO GET IS 169MB. WE WANT ONE SINGLE PARTITION
WITH MAX SIZE AVAILABLE - 211M.....IS DMDRVR.BIN CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING A
211MB PARTITION ? IF SO, DO YOU SEE ANY FLAWS IN THE INSTALLATION
PROCEDURE WHICH WOULD CAUSE A 169MB CEILING ON PARTITION SIZE?
ANSWER:
First of all, v4.0 of Disk Manager manufactured for Seagate does not
have the ST1239A as a selection from within the configuration menu.
You would need either v4.03 of Disk Manager manufactured for Seagate
drives only, or v4.20 of Disk Manager generic (handles any drive,
available thru our sales department). Our sales department can be
reached at (800)752-1333. Even with a version of Disk Manager that
directly handles your drive, you still probably won't be able to get
the whole drive as one big partition. This is because the DOS
partition, (versus a Disk Manager write/read partition), has to reside
within the "standard portion" of the drive. The "standard portion" is
whatever the CMOS drive type that you are set to says the parameters of
the drive are. Any cylinders over the "standard portion", (or over
1024 cylinders, whichever comes first), is known as the "nonstandard
portion" of the drive. The only thing that can reside in the
"nonstandard portion" of the drive is a Disk Manager write/read
partition. If you create a small drive C: DOS boot partition, (about 1
meg), you can then have the entire rest of the drive as drive D:, all
in one big chunk, as a Disk Manager write/read partition.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I wish to install an IDE type drive (ST157A) along with my Miniscribe
3058 (MFM type I think, but havn't been able to confirm). I would very
much appreciate any suggestions you can offer. Also, If version 4.2 or
whatever is more appropriate than Version 3.3, let me know.
ANSWER:
You are going to have trouble combining a MFM and an IDE controller in
the same machine. You can do it in some scenarios if you jump through a
lot of hoops, but in most cases it's not worth the bother. I would
suggest either adding another MFM drive to the existing MFM controller
and 3085, or removing the MFM controller and the 3085 and going with two
IDE drives. If you decide to go with two IDE drives, I would suggest
you purchase Disk Manager v4.20 generic, since it is the first version
of Disk Manager that knows how to handle IDE drives. If you are going
to add another Miniscribe MFM drive, then you could get by with the
Miniscribe only version of Disk Manager. If you are going to add a MFM
drive from a different manufacturer than Miniscribe, then you should
get Disk manager v4.20 generic that would be able to handle both
manufacturer's drives.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I am using an IDE drive (Conner) with Netware v.2.2 ELS Level I. I am
unable to load Netware because there are no instructions for Level I,
v.2.12 (Level I, v.2.0 and Level II, v.2.1x are in documentation, but
not Level I, v.2.1x). When I try to modify Netware files with Modutils,
Modelsii, etc., I do not have the proper files for modification.
When I continue with the Netware installation, I get the ABEND: Improper
ROM parameters table message.
Also, just out of curiosity, what happens if you do initialize an IDE
drive with the DM-N program?
ANSWER:
There is no documentation on ELS level 1 v2.12 included in the Disk
Manager-N v3.10 manual because ELS level 1 v2.12 was released after
Disk Manager-N v3.10 was released. If you read bulletin #9 on this
BBS, it will explain what you need to do to download the new patch
program for that version of NetWare. After downloading the new patch
program, and reading the document file that comes with it, basically
follow the instructions for ELS level 2 v2.15 as the two versions of
NetWare are similar. Another option would be to upgrade to v3.11 of
Disk Manager-N, to be released in the very near future. Version 3.11
will have documentation addressing ELS level 1 v2.12 installations.
As for your question about initializing an IDE drive, there are many
ifs ands and buts involved. In general, the Conner drives protect
themselves well from this. In light of the fact that you have a Conner
drive, you should be safe. On the other hand, if you haven't already
done so, (inited the drive), then don't. More information on IDE
drives can be found in bulletin #8 and in the file IDE_Q&A.EXE both on
this BBS.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
IDE drives again..... Have aConnor 3104 (104 MB - 776-8-33) ru7nning
on a WD IDE interface board. My AST 286 AMI Bios supports this drive
so I used Fdisk for partitioning and DOS formatting. Worked beautifully
and the drive was seden as 776 cylinders before and after.
My problem is too much curiosity. I decided to then take a look at the
ONTRACK V 4.2 program that came with the disk. I ran DM/m mainly to
look at the drive selection in the Non Standard section. I made no
selection, but in leaving the screen the program changed my HD specs.
to show 775 cylinders (As if DM had partitioned it)>
Went back to Fdisk and repartitioned but now even Fdish could not see
the drive as 776 cyl. Everything works fine, even with the "lost"
cylinder that DM reserves, but is there any safe way to return the
drive to show it's 776 cyl. virgin status under Fdisk?
ANSWER:
If the drive was showing up in FDISK as having 776 cylinders, then it
should still be showing up as 776 cylinders, since FDISK does not pay
any attention to Disk Manager's "nonstandard" parameters. I don't
understand how you could have lost a cylinder within FDISK. Are you
sure you not just seeing your partition going from cyl 0 to cyl 775, (a
total of 776 cylinders)? If not, try this: Go into Disk Manager in
manual mode, (DM/M), go to the config menu, press S for standard
parameters, press W to write those parameters to the disk, exit Disk
Manager, reboot the machine, go back into FDISK and see if you can
allocate a partition from cyl 0 out to cyl 775.
QUESTION:
I still am not getting anywhere.
To reiterate: AST 286, Connor IDE drive 3104, DM V 4.21 (CAL ABCO)
MY AMI bios supports this drive, and I used
FDISK to secment and Dos format. Worked fine!!! Wrote to cly range
0 - 775. Specs in Bios and on Fdisk show 776 cylinders.
At this point I wanted to look at the DM disk that is referenced above
especially to see Non stndard disk information. On DM/m command, it
came on screen listing my standard drive and 776 cylinders. I went
to configure, then non standard, and looked at screen. Did not do a
write, but exited (however on exit i did see a writing file?? msg).
From this point on I show 775 cylinders.
Went back to FDISK to change my partitions, and fdisk came up with a
775 cylinder message. Repartitioning still left me one cylinder short.
Your suggestion did not help. I know that DM does reserve one cylinder
for a park/data area, doesn't it? Somehow this is visible to FDISK
and I lost one cylinder. I can partition from 0 to 774 cylinders under
FDISK, where before I could partition from 0 to 775.
All works OK in the Fdisk environment, but I will be partitioning more
drives, and wonder if there is any way (SAFE) to restore the drive to
it's original FDISK virgin status with 776 cylinders showing.
Thanks for your prompt answer and any more information that you will
be able to give.
ANSWER:
What you are telling me doesn't make sense. If your drive type says
776 cylinders, the BIOS of your computer will cut off one cylinder all
by itself for a CE cylinder/landing zone. This is not a function of
Disk Manager, but your computer's BIOS. This being the case, I don't
think it ever really offered you access to all 776 cylinders, since
this would not be in keeping with IBM compatible BIOS standards. If
your BIOS was in fact nonstandard, and was actually giving you access
to all 776 cylinders, then Disk Manager would give you access to 776
cylinders as well. When Disk Manager polls the system for the
"standard" parameters, it does a standard DOS "getparms" function call.
It is simply asking DOS what drive parameters were put into memory at
powerup time. Disk Manager does not add or subtract from the number of
cylinders that DOS responds with. Even if it did, then booting from a
DOS floppy, or from the hard disk without having the line
"DEVICE=DMDRVR.BIN" in your CONFIG.SYS file, would circumvent all of
Disk Manager's activity.
Disk Manager does not have the capability to write new parameters to
your ROM BIOS drive table. (If you can figure out how to make a program
write to ROM, let us know! We could make a billion.) With the
exception of a BIOS with a user defined drive type, the only thing
stored in CMOS is a pointer to which drive type in ROM you are using.
There is no room in CMOS to store the actual parameters of the drive,
therefore Disk Manager can't store them there either. If you do have a
user defined drive type, then there is room for the actual parameters
of the drive to be stored in CMOS, but Disk Manager could not have
changed those parameters. That functionality has not been written into
Disk Manager. Disk Manager makes no distinction between a "real" drive
type and a user defined drive type, nor does it ever write anything
else to CMOS except the drive type number.
The only thing that could have possibly caused this scenario would be
if you happened to have two drive types that were very close to being
the same. One with the parameters of 776x8x33, and one with 777x8x33.
(Either one of these, or both, could have been user defined drive
types, possibly set up by the in-store technician of the computer
dealer that you bought the computer from.) If you were set to the
entry with 777 cylinders, your computer's BIOS would slice off one
cylinder, and FDISK would indeed give you access to 776 cylinders, (0
thru 775). (Although in this situation, you should have received an
error from the power up self test of your machine, since you would be
setup for a drive type with one more cylinder than your drive
physically has. Also, FORMAT would end up mapping out the entire 776th
cylinder as being bad.) If you then ran Disk Manager, went into the
CMOS config menu and selected the CP3104, it would have changed your
CMOS drive type number to the entry with 776 cylinders, since it knows
that the CP3104 only has 776 cylinders. Subsequent runnings of FDISK
would then only give you access to 775 cylinders, (0 thru 774, which
would be correct in the first place).
QUESTION:
Thanks for the detailed and excellent explanation. Sure appreciate
your patience with a slow learner. Thanks again. Love your product
and the excellent back-up!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
Hi!... You helped me last month with a Seagate ST-1162A IDE hard drive
installation... We used the AMI bios type 47/user defined type with:
717 cyl/15 hd/26 sec [I believe] and the ST-1162A's translation mode...
Everything works fine, but I'm curious if setting the write pre-comp
and landing zone at cyl 717 [I guessed] would cause any problems?...
If so, would simply changing these values in the CMOS setup be okay? or
will I have to re-format the drive with the new values [blank?] ?...
ANSWER:
IDE drives handle write precompensation all by themselves internally,
so your write precomp value in your user defined drive type should be
set to OFF or NO precomp, or the equivalent. Setting the landing zone
to 717 should be fine, as it actually means nothing in this scenario
either. You might want to ask Seagate to make sure, but I believe the
ST1162A is an autoparking drive anyway.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
We are dealers. We just received a Seagate/Imprimis Model ST1239A IDE
hard disk drive from Tech Data. It came with an OEM copy of DM
(Imprimis Ver 4.0). There are no drive types that match this drive on
the DM disk. The drive came with no further documentation. Please
respond. This drive is to be for our own internal use as our Technical
Information Data Base for Novell NetWare & Microsoft Lan Manager.
ANSWER:
You are correct. Seagate did not have us add the ST1239A (old Imprimis
model number 94354-230) to their version of Disk Manager until version
4.03, (the most current version). It IS supported by the current
generic/universal versions of both Disk Manager (v4.20) and Disk
Manager-N (v3.11). If I understood you correctly though, you stated
that you will be installing NetWare on this drive. If this is the
case, then you will need Disk Manager-N (for NetWare installs) anyway,
not just regular Disk Manager (for DOS installations). For further
information about Disk Manager-N, you can contact our sales department
at (800)752-1333.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
I recently purchased the generic version of DM 4.20 to use with my new
Connor CP3204 IDE drive. I've had numerous problems this past week
after setting it up in my ALR Powerflex 386SX machine, but after reading
your messages about IDE drives, I think I may have solved some of my
problems. I run a multi-line BBS system on the computer under DesqView
with QEMM and I needed more disk space than the the 40 meg unit that
came with the computer. My parameters all seem to be correct in my user
configurable bios type setting #49 and the first time around, I set up a
couple of regular 32 meg (even though DM said the default was 33 meg)
drives and one small 7 meg drive with 512 byte clusters for my 4000+
echo messages and one large 72 meg drive for file storage. Well, as
soon as I tried to transfer files over to the 72 meg partition using
Norton Commander, my C drive became totatly scrambled and I had to start
from scratch again. This happened a couple of times and drove me crazy!
I think it's what you refer to as the 1024 wrap problem??? Anyways, I
finally ended up partitioning everything at 32 meg or less. Then I
still had some problems with some directories getting scrambled after
doing some file transfers or even running Norton Disk Doctor. I finally
read your warnings about cache programs! I was using one called Cache86
by The Aldridge Co v3.0 and I took it out. Things seem ok now but I'm
nervous about doing file maintenance!! I was going to ask you about a
recommended cache program but have already read your response to earlier
messages so I will be looking for PC-Kwik right away. Also, I was
loading Dmdrvr.bin after Qemm and loading it into high memory but have
now listed it first in my config.sys file and load it low. Do you have
any knowledge of whether it makes a difference or which way is safest?
One last question, are there any problems that you know of with a setup
like mine with the following software: Norton Utilities, Norton Backup,
Norton Commander, and Optune (optimizer by Gazelle)????
ANSWER:
It sounds like the cache program that you were using was causing most
of the problems, but I do have another question. What version of the
Norton Utilities are you using? Versions with a file date prior to
1/3/89 did NOT work correctly on a nonstandard disk, or a disk with
partitions greater than 32 Meg under DOS 3.x, or a disk with more than
1024 cylinders. If your version of the Norton utilities has file dates
prior to 1/3/89, you will need to contact Mr. Norton and upgrade to the
current version. Optune, according to my information is not compatible
with a disk with more than 1024 cylinders either. (With an IDE drive,
interleave optimization becomes a moot point anyway. You should never
low-level format an IDE drive under any circumstance.) As far as QEMM
and DMDRVR go, I don't think it will make any difference if you use
QEMM to load DMDRVR high.
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