18 Jan
2005
18 Jan
'05
7:28 p.m.
On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:35:01 -0800 (PST), Dwight K. Elvey
<dwight.elvey(a)amd.com> wrote:
Hi
DOS has an irritating feature when asked to format
a disk. If track 0 is partially readable it will
fail to format, even if you use the /u option.
I've been moving data from one machine to another
and the source machine has a flaky drive. It sometimes
trashes track 0.
...
Any OS / file system has problems if track 0 is really bad, especially if
sector 0 is bad.
I have been able to "fix" old IBM 10MB drives by adjusting the physical
end stop by a fraction of a trackwidth.
On these drives, there is a small bumper on the outside that the external
part of the actuator bumps against when you send the drive a command to
recalibrate or locate to cylinder zero. Adding a very thin sliver of metal
will move the calibration point by a fraction of a track. If you try this,
you may be able to find a spot where you can successfully format the first
cylinder.
--
Bj?rn