Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!news.larc.nasa.gov!ipsun.larc.nasa.gov!jcburt
From: jcburt@ipsun.larc.nasa.gov (John Burton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Zapping a partition
Message-ID: <1991Apr1.134345.9575@news.larc.nasa.gov>
Date: 1 Apr 91 13:43:45 GMT
References: <140700040@cdp>
Sender: news@news.larc.nasa.gov (USENET Network News)
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA  USA
Lines: 53

In article <140700040@cdp> crosenberg@cdp.UUCP writes:
>
>An associate overseas posts this request for help:
>____________________________________________________________
>
>Somehow we've gotten a huge non-dos partition on our hard
>drive.  FDISK and Norton refuse to delete it.  I've tried to
>mess up the partition table with DEBUG but am either missing
>it, or there is an extra copy I don't know about...anyway
>FDISK still keeps seeing that non-dos partition.
>
>Is there a program that will zap it?  Does anyone know how
>to totally munge the partition table and all copies so that
>nothing can recognize them? (we are beyond caring about
>the data).
>
>Any help would be most appreciated

If you can't get FDISK to delete the partition, perhaps it was 
installed with a different partitioning software (such as ONTRAC's
Disk Manager, or one of several others that are available, but I can't 
at the moment.). If you have a copy of one of these programs around, 
give it a try. 

The next best bet in most cases (there are some disks that you might not
be able to do this) is to do a low level format on the disk. Before you 
do this you *must* know the basic information about your disk/controller 
combo, i.e.:
 1) Sectors per track (depends on the type of controller, MFM, RLL, ESDI,
    SCSI, etc)
 2) Number of R/W heads
 3) Number of cylinder (usually less than 1024, but not always)
 4) Reduced write current starting cylinder
 5) Write precompensation starting cylinder
 6) R/W head landing zone
 
There are other bits of information that is required depending on the controller
and/or the program used to do the low level format (some controllers have their
own llf rountines built in...

Good luck...

John

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Burton                                                        |
| G & A Technical Software                                           |
| jcburt@gatsibm.larc.nasa.gov                                       |
| jcburt@cs.wm.edu                                                   |
|                                                                    |
| Disclaimer: Hey, what can I say...These are *my* views, not those  |
|             of anyone else, be they employer, school, or government|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+