Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!ntvaxb!mouse
From: mouse@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (Dhanapong Saengrussamee, University of North Texas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
Subject: Re: how do you detect a hard drive?
Message-ID: <28237.2688f75d@vaxb.acs.unt.edu>
Date: 27 Jun 90 18:13:48 GMT
References: <90177.114030TOMIII@MTUS5.BITNET>
Lines: 40

In article <90177.114030TOMIII@MTUS5.BITNET>,
TOMIII@MTUS5.BITNET (Thomas Dwyer III) writes:
> Hi there.  I've been programming the PCs for years, and this may be a
> silly question, but what is the best method to determine if a hard
> drive exists on a machine (PC through PS/2 models)?  Examples in ASM
> or C would be appreciated.
> 
> Thomas Dwyer III
-- 

Have you try Intr $21 function $1C yet?  Call with AH = $1C and DL is the drive
number in question (0=default, 1=A, 2=B, ...).  Look at the first byte of the
return at DS:BX, if it is $0F8 then it is harddisk.  It's worked for me... 
Something like:

	MOV	AH,1CH
	MOV	DL,03H		;drive code, 0 default, 1=A, 2=B, ...
	INT	21H
	CMP	BYTE PTR DS:[BX],0F8H
	JE	FIXED
	JMP	FLOPPY
FIXED:	.....

FLOPPY:	.....

should work, methink ;-}.

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