Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!unmvax!uokmax!servalan!epmooch!ben From: ben@epmooch.UUCP (Rev. Ben A. Mesander) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: Finally: how to install an AdIDE (IMPORTANT CORRECTION!) Message-ID: Date: 10 Apr 91 23:25:32 GMT References: <1991Apr9.025044.25725@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <1991Apr9.223729.7215@unlv.edu> Distribution: world Lines: 35 >In article <1991Apr9.223729.7215@unlv.edu> maniac@reed.cs.unlv.edu (Eric J. Schwertfeger) writes: >In article <1991Apr9.025044.25725@sbcs.sunysb.edu>, dtiberio@eeserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio) writes: > >[thourough explanation and VERY USEFULL static control info] > >) Do a low-level format of the drive, then do an FFS format for 1.3 kickstart >WRONG! IDE drives are factory formatted, and include bad-sector mapping already done for you. If you low-level format, YOU DESTROY THE BAD-SECTOR MAPPING!!! May not sound like a major issue, but at work (I work for a VAR that does IBM Clone work), we had to send back a drive for factory refurbishing due to low-level formatting. We learned our lesson, and I want to pass it on. [line wrapped for clarity. Yes, Virginia, the above was a SINGLE LINE. If you didn't know, many newsreaders, mine included, don't like that very much. The return key is located on the right side of your keyboard. You should hit it every 80 or so characters :-) :-)] One of the reasons I don't like IDE drives is that they cannot be formatted. We had a virus install itself in the drive partition table on one of the PC's at work, and we had a heck of a time figuring out how to remove it. I formerly worked for a company that produced disk drives, and from what I know about defect growth and other factors, I'd like to be able to low-level format a drive. Of course my bias is that I wrote drive firmware for SCSI drives. (Wren 5,6,7, and Swift). >Eric J. Schwertfeger, maniac@jimi.cs.unlv.edu -- | ben@epmooch.UUCP (Ben Mesander) | "Cash is more important than | | ben%servalan.UUCP@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu | your mother." - Al Shugart, | | !chinet!uokmax!servalan!epmooch!ben | CEO, Seagate Technologies |