APPENDIX D-PHYSICALLY FORMATTING A HARD DISK. Epson Equity IIe

Appendix D

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk

This appendix describes how to physically format a hard disk.

Sometimes called a low-level format, this procedure should not be confused with the logical format performed by the MS-DOS

FORMAT command. The physical formatting of a hard disk is a separate step that is usually done at the factory by the disk manufacturer.

If your Equity IIe came with a hard disk, that disk has already been physically formatted. You need only follow the instructions in the MS-DOS Installation Guide to prepare your hard disk for use.

You may need to physically format a hard disk, however, if either of the following is true:

Cl Your hard disk is producing numerous read/write errors or you are having other serious problems with the disk.

Sometimes, after a hard disk has been used for a long time, the disk’s data becomes fragmented, causing the disk to frequently produce errors. You may need to reformat the disk in this case.

0 You have installed a hard disk in your computer that has never received the low-level format.

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk

D-1

In addition to destroying all the data on the hard disk, formatting removes any partitions defined on the disk by

SELECT or FDISK and the logical formatting performed by

SELECT or FORMAT. After you physically format a new or used hard disk (using option 1 or 2 of the Hard Disk Format

Menu), you need to install MS-DOS. Follow the instructions in your MS-DOS Installation Guide. The installation process automatically partitions and formats the hard disk to prepare it for use.

Choosing the Type of Format

Follow these steps to display the formatting options:

1. Insert the Reference diskette in drive A.

2. Turn on or reset the computer. The computer automatically loads MS-DOS and displays the Operation Menu.

3. Press 2 to highlight

Format hard disk

and press

Enter.

The Hard Disk Format Menu appears on the screen:

HARD DISK FORMAT MENU

2 - Destructive surface analysis

D-Z Physically Formatting a Hard Disk

The formatting options work as follows:

Format

first scans the disk (if it has no defective track table) for defective (bad) tracks and lets you decide which tracks to mark as bad. Then the program formats the disk and marks those bad tracks so they are never used to store data.

Destructive surface analysis

tests the entire disk for read/write errors or unflagged bad tracks and updates the defective track table. Because this option writes and reads data on the disk, it destroys all data on any track that produces an error. You cannot run the Destructive surface analysis on a disk that has never been formatted.

Non-destructive surface analysis checks

the disk for unflagged bad tracks without destroying data.

You cannot run the Non-destructive surface analysis on a disk that has never been formatted.

The type of format you choose depends on whether you are reformatting a disk that has been used or formatting a new disk for the first time. See the recommendations below.

Reformatting a Used Disk

If you are reformatting a disk you have been using that appears to be damaged, follow these steps:

1.

Use the Non-destructive surface analysis test to check for unflagged bad tracks.

2. If errors occur during the Non-destructive analysis, use

BACKUP to back up the data on your disk. (See your

MS-DOS Reference Manual for instructions on how to use

BACKUP.)

3. Run the Destructive surface analysis.

Physically Formatting a Hard

Disk D-3

Formatting a New Disk

Many hard disk drives come with a printed list of bad tracks but without the bad tracks flagged on the disk. Other hard disks

(such as those supplied by Epson) come with the bad tracks already flagged. If you are formatting a new hard disk that has never been formatted, select option 1, Format, to format the disk.

Selecting an Option

When using this program, you often need to select an option from a menu. There are two ways to do this:

Cl You can use the arrow keys (? 1 t +) to move the highlighted cursor block to the option and press

Enter.

0 You can type the number of the option and press

Enter.

You can select almost any option that appears on the screen while you are formatting the disk using either of these two methods. Therefore, when the instructions in this appendix tell you to select an option, you can either use the arrow keys (? 1 t 3) to highlight the option or you can type the number of the option. Then press

Enter.

(You must press

Enter

to start the operation.)

Starting the Formatting Process

If you have more than one hard disk drive, you see this prompt:

Enter

drive number ? (1/2)

Select 1 for the first hard disk or 2 for the second hard disk.

Then see the instructions below for the Hard Disk Format

Menu option you want to use.

D-4 Physically Formatting a Hard Disk

Option 1, Format

If you select 1

-Format

from the Hard Disk Format Menu, you see the following (for a disk that does not have a defective track table):

Format Hard Disk < Drive 1: >

Scan hard disk to get defective track information ? (Y/N)

(If the disk already has a defective track table, you do not see the message because the disk does not need to be scanned for bad tracks.)

Select

Y

to scan the disk or

N

to skip the scanning process.

If you select

Y,

the program scans the disk and displays these messages during the process:

Scanning for flagged bad tracks...

Head

: n n n

Cylinder

: n n n n n

You see the head and cylinder numbers decrease as the program progresses. After scanning the disk, the program displays the results, such as the following:

Scanning finished.

Count of tracks flagged bad

Count of tracks with other errors

Count of good tracks

Next you see the following prompt:

=

=

=

1

0

4884

Accept recommended skewed sectors in format : 1 ? (Y/N)

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk D-5

For the hard disk in the Equity IIe, it is best to accept the recommended skewed sector (also called the interleave factor) of 1. For other hard disk drives, you may need to change this value if the documentation that came with the hard disk recommends a different number.

To accept the default, select

Y.

To enter a new value, select

N.

You see the following prompt:

Enter new skewed sectors in format

( 1 - 1 6 ) :

Enter a number from 1 through 16 which equals the maximum sector number for the drive minus 1. The maximum sector number varies, depending on the drive type. Then press

Enter.

Next you see this prompt:

Accept recommended skewed sectors per head in format : 0 ? (Y/N)

For an Epson hard disk drive, accept the recommended value of 0. For another type of drive, use the value recommended in the documentation for the drive.

To accept the default, select

Y.

To enter a new value, select

N.

You see the following prompt:

Enter new skewed sectors per head in format (0-16):

Enter a number from 0 through 16 which equals the maximum sector number for the drive minus 1. The maximum sector number varies, depending on the drive type. Then press

Enter.

D-6 Physically

Formatting

a Hard Disk

The program now allows you to edit the table of defective tracks:

Cylinder Head Cylinder Head Cylinder Head Cylinder Head Cylinder Head

Defective Track Table:

Modify defective track table ? (Y/N)

At the bottom of the table is this prompt:

Modify defective track table ? (Y/N)

Select

N

to leave the table as it is. Then skip the following section and go on to “Formatting the Disk,” below.

To modify the defective track entries, select

Y.

Modifying the Defective Track Table

If you select

Y

to modify the table, you see the following options at the bottom of the table:

Defective Track Table : Move box cursor to desired track with cursor key

A = Add track.

C = Change track, D = Delete track, F = Finish editing

Enter command :

To add a bad track, follow these steps:

1. Press A. You see this prompt:

Enter cylinder number (1

-nnnn):

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk D-7

2. Type the number of the cylinder containing the bad track and press

Enter.

You see this prompt:

Enter head number (0 - nn):

3. Type the head number for the bad track and press

Enter.

To cancel the operation, press

Enter

without typing a value.

When you complete a valid entry, it appears in the table and you can add the next bad track, if necessary.

If you make a mistake, move the cursor block to the incorrect track and press C to alter the track data or press

D

to remove the track from the table. Change the track data just as you add a track.

The maximum valid cylinder number and head number (nnnn and

nn)

vary according to the capacity of the hard disk. If you enter an invalid cylinder or head number, a reminder of the range of values appears and the program asks you to enter the value again.

When you finish adding all the bad tracks, press

Enter

without typing a value. After you complete editing, check the entries in the defective track table. When you are sure the table is correct, press

F.

The program displays a warning about the consequences of proceeding with formatting.

D-8

Physically Formatting

a Hard Disk

Formatting the Disk

When you are ready to start formatting the disk, you see the following warning:

WARNING?

ALL DATA WILL BE DESTROYED IN

ALL PARTITIONS OF HARD DISK, NOT JUST IN

MS-DOS PARTITION!

Do you want to start formatting ? (Y/N)

If you are not sure you want to format the hard disk, select

N.

If you are sure, select

Y;

the program gives you one more chance to cancel:

DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE BACKUP

DISKETTE COPIES OF ALL YOUR FILES.

Do you want to exit and check your file copies ? (Y/N)

Select

Y

continue.

to cancel formatting (and check your backups) or

N

to

If you continue with formatting, you see:

Format started.

Head

: n n n

Cylinder

: n n n n n

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk D-9

You see the head and cylinder numbers decrease as the program progresses. When formatting is complete, the program flags any bad tracks and you see a series of messages like these:

Format finished.

Flagging bad tracks...

Cylinder is

nnnn,

head is

nn

Format completed.

Press ENTER to return to the menu.

Press

Enter

to return to the Hard Disk Format Menu.

Option 2, Destructive Surface Analysis

You can perform a Destructive surface analysis of your hard disk to accurately locate any bad tracks, and flag any bad tracks that are not flagged.

WARNING

If any errors occur during this check, all data on the track that produces the error is destroyed. For this reason, if you think that an unfflagged bad track is causing trouble, first run option 3, Non-destructive

surface analysis, to

check the

disk

surface.

The Destructive surface analysis operates by a complex process of writing, reading, and verifying information on every track of the hard disk, except for tracks that are already flagged as bad tracks.

D-10 Physically Formatting a Hard Disk

To start this test, select

2-Destructive surface analysis

from the Hard Disk Format Menu. You see these messages:

Analyze Hard Disk <Drive 1:>

Read/Save/Write/Read/Restore/Read check for all tracks...

Current cylinder is

nnnn

As the program checks each track, it counts the cylinder numbers (nnnn) down to zero. When the test is complete, the program displays a report on the status of the disk, including a table of unflagged tracks that produced write, read errors-such as the following:

Analysis finished.


Count of tracks with write, read errors

Count of good tracks

No write, read error was detected.

No data was destroyed.


=

=

= nnnn n n

If the program finds one bad track that is not flagged, the summary would show one track with a write, read error. The report is followed by a table like this: write,

Read Error Tracks

Cylinder Head Cylinder Head Cylinder Head Cylinder Head

237 2

Confirm to register the tracks in the

Write,

Read Error Track Table as bad tracks.

I

DO you want to register the error tracks as bad tracks? (Y/N)

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk D-11

To flag the error tracks as bad, select

Y.

You see a list of the tracks as they are flagged and these messages:

Flagging bad tracks...

Cylinder is 237, head is 2


Press

Enter


Option 3, Non-destructive Surface Analysis

The Non-destructive surface analysis does not destroy any data, and you can use it to safely check the condition of your hard disk drive. However, this test does not flag any bad tracks it detects.

To start the test, select

3-Non-destructive surface analysis

from the Hard Disk Format Menu.

You see these messages:

Analyze Hard Disk <Drive 1:>

Read/Verify check for all tracks...

Current cylinder is

nnnn

As the program checks each track, it counts the cylinder numbers down to zero. When the test is complete, the program displays a report on the status of the disk, such as the following:

Analysis finished.


= n

Count of tracks with read, verify errors =

Count of good tracks n

= nnnn

No read, verify error was detected.

D-12 Physically Formatting

a

Hard Disk

If the program finds errors, the screen displays a table of the tracks that gave errors, similar to the one the Destructive surface analysis displays.

After the status reports, you see this message:


Check the information displayed. Then press

Enter


Exiting the Hard Disk Format Menu

To leave the Hard Disk Format Menu, select 0

-Exit. The

screen displays the Operation Menu. At the Operation Menu, select

O-Exit to DOS for more utilities

If you formatted the hard disk with option 1 or 2, you must now install MS-DOS on the hard disk to prepare it for use. Follow the instructions in your MS-DOS Installation Guide. (The installation process automatically partitions and formats the hard disk.)

Physically Formatting a Hard Disk D-13

D-14 Physically Formatting a Hard Disk

No results