Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!mmdf
From: burgess%creek.decnet@hsdp1.brooks.af.mil (CREEK::BURGESS)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: RE: Minix and Miniscribe harddrives
Message-ID: <33269@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 12 Oct 90 14:27:39 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 54

In message of (Thu, 11 Oct 90 16:07:51 GMT), "Turbo" Gardiner writes:

>Has anyone had any experience porting Minix 1.3 to a standard XT with a
>Miniscribe 3650 (40Mb) hard disk, and a WX3 Western Digital Controller?
>I have tried both with and without the auto_configure option of the
>xt_wini.c kernel file to no avail. When I do
>mkfs /dev/hd2 <number>
>it fails badly. It claims put_block (or similar) couldn't write, and then
>gives a whole lot of errors to do with device 3/2 (which makes sense).
>This is causing me great headaches, and I would appreciate if someone
>knows of a remedy (not of the headaches, but the disk!)
>- Dave.

  I am responding on the Net, since MilNet cannot talk to your host
directly.  I have virtually the same configuration.  I used the following
steps when I installed mine:

1) Low Level Format.
2) FDISK.			    <- Yes, I did both.  I wanted to ensure
3) Boot Minix			    <- the partition table was OK.     |
4) Minix Version of FDisk.	    <----------------------------------+
5) Boot MS-DOS
6) FORMAT/S Partition 0 (/dev/hd1)
7) FORMAT   Partition 1 (/dev/hd2)  <- Leave this out, and you get errors
				       from put_block, since the partition
				       must be formatted.
8) Install DOS on "Drive C"
9) Boot Minix
10) mkfs /dev/hd2 8092		    <- This number came from my Partitioning
				       software, Minix does always report an
				       accurate (for our purposes) number.
11) Re-Boot Minix                   <- Probably Superfluous, but why not?
12) Mount the beast.
13) GO.

A good diagnostic is the "dd /dev/hd2 /dev/null 1000" command.  If you get
errors from this, then your partition isn't ready to go.  I also had to 
beat up the XT_WINI.C file but (in the final analysis) "auto-configuration" 
took care of most of it.  If your controller is RLL, you may want to make 
sure your NO_SECTORS (sic)is set to 26, not the original (MFM) sector count
of 17.  
     Also, for those who have stayed along who have problems with their RLL
disk drive partition being 2/3 of what it should be: a hint.  The ratio 17/26 
is about the same as 2/3 (I had this problem for a while...)  I had originally
believed the controller documentation when it said it would look just like
an MFM controller for me.....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSgt Dave Burgess
School of Aerospace Medicine
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Programmer Tech School Motto:  
   "We're off to be a Wizard..."
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