Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!iuvax!silver!creps
From: creps@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: HD bad sectors
Message-ID: <1199@silver.bacs.indiana.edu>
Date: 17 Mar 88 19:03:59 GMT
References: <494@cunixc.columbia.edu>
Reply-To: creps@silver.UUCP (Steve Creps)
Organization: Indiana University Computer Science Department
Lines: 23

In article <494@cunixc.columbia.edu> nwc@cunixc.columbia.edu (Nick Christopher) writes:
>I need some help with my hard disk, it has one bad sector which at present I
>have a file called BAD.SEC on top of so it is not too big a threat.  However I
>can not optimize (etc.) the disk with the bad sector.   
>Now, I know I could back everything up, low level format, fdisk, format and
>restore, but: a) that is VERY time consuming, b) I do not have a low level
>format for the ibm XT (any body got one they could send along?).

   On my machine, with a Seagate drive, I don't need software to do a low-level
format. The low-level format program is in ROM on the controller card. I would
suspect this is your case also. Try going into debug, then jumping to the
program address by giving a "g=c800:5" command.

   As for what you said about all that procedure of backing up the disk, etc,
being very time consuming, I would recommend doing it anyway. I do just that
procedure every couple of months on my machine. It unfragments the disk, finds
any bad sectors that may have popped up, and also gives an excuse to back up
the hard disk, which I really don't do often enough.

-      -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -	-
Steve Creps on the 8650 runnin' Ultrix at Indiana University.
creps@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (192.12.206.2), ...iuvax!silver!creps,
creps@iubacs.bitnet "Hey fellas, it's a four-legged V-8!"