Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!yale!umich!sharkey!clmqt!strike From: strike@clmqt.marquette.Mi.US (Tim Bowser) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: fooling the AT drive table. Message-ID: <1671@clmqt.marquette.Mi.US> Date: 3 Mar 90 07:27:52 GMT References: <99wXe2w160w@scona> Organization: Enterprise Information System, Marquette, MI Lines: 44 root@scona (sysop) writes: > Is there a way to modify the AT drive just after it > is copied from ROM to RAM? I've got a CDC 94155-87 HD > that I want to add and the drive specs don't match > closely enough to any entry in the AT drive table. > I'm not a big fan of ROM upgrades, or reburning ROM > chips, so anything that can be done via a device driver > or something would be perfect. > Thanks. >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >"This, of course, is impossible..." - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy > root@scona.UUCP ...!edm!scona!root cwirun@uncanet.BITNET > cwirun@ucnet.ucalgary.ca >---------------------------------------------------------------------- I just demonstrated to myself that the ROM BIOS on the Western Digital AT-compatible controller will do the job you asked. I run RLL drives almost exclusively, and the generic AMI BIOS doesn't support the 26 sector drive tables for RLL. Since the following is dangerous to your data, please have a current backup before attempting this. If you have a Western Digital controller in the 1003V-1006V range, there is a good chance it has the onboard ROM BIOS for drive installation. Using your fave version of DEBUG, type g=cc00:5 at the prompt. You should get a menu of options, such as low-level format, surface analyses (sic) and interleave settings. The BIOS also contains 46 drive tables plus a user-configurable 47th for those odd ducks out there. Again, DO NOT TRY it unless you have current backups of the drive! One slip, and the partition table is blown away. I know, I did it... Hope this helps someone... -- Tim Bowser ("Strikemaster") | Standard | mailrus!sharkey!clmqt!strike Enterprise Information System | Disclaimer | strike@clmqt.marquette.Mi.US Marquette, Mi. USA | Here | Voice:(906)-346-6735 => UNIX: The Adventure Begins... To vi, or not to vi, that is the question. <=