Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!evax!utacfd!merch!cpe!adaptex!adaptx1!neese
From: neese@adaptx1.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: Formatting SCSI with Adaptec Contro
Message-ID: <283400047@adaptx1>
Date: 5 Feb 91 04:28:13 GMT
References: <21556@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Lines: 28
Nf-ID: #R:ncsuvx.ncsu.edu:21556:adaptx1:283400047:000:1255
Nf-From: adaptx1.UUCP!neese    Feb  4 09:37:00 1991


>/* ---------- "Formatting SCSI with Adaptec Contro" ---------- */
>I need to know (in general) how to format a SCSI disk with an Adaptec
>1542 controller. I really don't even know how low-level formats work for
>SCSI drives...... any helpful information?

Two ways:
1) Use the internal BIOS utilities located at offset 6 (i.e. dc00:6), when
   invoked with debug from MS-DOS.

2) Use an external formatter.  A couple of available.  One off of the Adaptec
   bulletin board in CA.  And the other is available off of adaptex via
   anonymous UUCP.  It is built into SCSICNTL.

As a side note.  Remember all SCSI drives come pre-formatted from the drive
manufacturer.  Some of them, like the Quantum drives, won't format when asked
to.  Although, you can force a Quantum to format by setting the fill data
pattern bit in the unique mode page, via SCSICNTL and then issue a format
command to it and it will then format the disk.  The advantage of this on
a Quantum is it will reorder the error map and increase performance when
switching from a bad block to a good block.

			Roy Neese
			Adaptec Senior SCSI Applications Engineer
			UUCP @  neese@adaptex
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