Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!sdrc!thor!scjones From: scjones@thor.UUCP (Larry Jones) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: IDE drive physical format Summary: LLF on IDE - some yes, some no Keywords: IDE, format, question Message-ID: <148@thor.UUCP> Date: 31 Aug 90 14:00:08 GMT References: <32531@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <8960@uudell.dell.com> <33052@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Distribution: usa Organization: SDRC, Cincinnati Lines: 32 In article <33052@unix.cis.pitt.edu>, mjlst3@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Mikes Magik Shoppe) writes: > In article <8960@uudell.dell.com> stecz@hotwheel.dell.com (John Steczkowski) writes: > > > >You can't do a low level of an IDE drive, but to remove the non-dos > >partition, try this debug routine... > > Funny, about a month ago I did a low level format of a dell 386 sx, I think > it was their 320s model. BE CAREFUL about the advice you give, especially > since your are in customer support!!!!! The correct answer is that some IDE drives can be low level formatted in the field and some can't. To my knowledge, >ALL< IDE manufacturers recommend against it. Of the drives that can be reformatted, some manufacturers recommed against it simply because they are afraid of confusing end users. Others do it because they have bad sector info recorded on the drive that gets lost when you redo the LLF. Of the drives that can't be reformatted, sometimes it's simply for one of the above reasons and the manufacturer has chosen to enforce the recommendation. Other times it's because the format is non- standard and requires a special piece of equipment. For example, some IDE drives use a format that has more sectors on the outer tracks than on the inner tracks -- this is a fairly cheap way of increasing the capacity of the drive. ---- Larry Jones UUCP: uunet!sdrc!thor!scjones SDRC scjones@thor.UUCP 2000 Eastman Dr. BIX: ltl Milford, OH 45150-2789 AT&T: (513) 576-2070 Nobody knows how to pamper like a Mom. -- Calvin