From: morro@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.apps
Subject: FDFORMAT/FDREAD - Summary
Date: 10 Jan 93 19:40:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: drycas.1993Jan11.004049.2876
Organization: Carnegie Mellon Computer Club

Hello again Everyone,

Hmm...  in response to my post about FDFORMAT/FDREAD I received the following
replies:

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On Sun, 20 Dec 92 23:00:28 -0800, dad@cats.UCSC.EDU wrote:

> I too used fdformat for nearly all my formatting under DOS.  When 
> I went to OS/2 I found that I could read the disks when they were 
> formatted with an odd number of sectors, but not when they were even.
> for instance 
>
> fdformat a: f148 n17     (will read under os/2)
> fdformat a: f148         (will not read under os/2)
>
> I also found that it depends on your floppy drive.  Some are more
> persnickety than others (Teac is very picky).  I was able to still
> get higher capacity disks, and os/2 didn't even notice!  If this 
> does not work on your system, you might try chaning the oem string
> in the boot sector.  Mail for more details.
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On Mon, 21 Dec 92 12:06:27 EST, tadr@doe.carleton.ca (Tom A. D. Riley) wrote:

> The surprise is that you do not need to use FDREAD with os2. It can read the
> odball formats directly.  If you have any further problems feel free to
> email me for details
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On Mon, 21 Dec 1992 14:37:28, Dave Oliphant <davego@halcyon.halcyon.com>
wrote:

> I don't seem to be having any problems.  I am not able to successfully
> use FDFORMAT in a full-screen or windowed DOS session under OS/2, but I
> can boot my computer from a floppy disk under DOS 5.0 and format the
> higher densities on both 5.25" and 3.5" disks.  Later, under OS/2, I am
> able to use these higher-than-normal capacity disks with no problems.
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On Wed, 23 Dec 92 13:32:00, MCBROOM R C <rm3@stc06.ctd.ornl.gov> wrote:

> You must be snake bit with your hardware.  My experience and that of a
> number of people on the net is that OS/2 reads and writes to FDFORMAT
> disks with no trouble at all.  FDFORMAT runs in a DOS session.  FDREAD
> is unnecessary.  I used it to do a diskcopy of the first OS/2 2.0 beta
> so that I could install from a 5 1/4 A: drive before I dove into my
> hardware and swapped the drive cable connections.  The files I have are
> for version 1.8 and are dated 7/21/91.  Recently I used a 1.77 disk with
> se20boot to get a HPFS boot on a single floppy.  Works like a charm.
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On Sat, 26 Dec 92 12:00:27 EST, jrs@panix.com (Jon Saxton) wrote:

> You didn't say which version of OS/2 you are using.  Since you are having
> difficulty in reading and writing to FDFORMATted diskettes I presume that
> you are running OS/2 1.something.  OS/2 2.0 seems to be able to read and
> write extended-format high-density diskettes without difficulty.

> I have had some trouble with extended format low-density diskettes.  In
> particular I cannot get the 80-cylinder 5.25" formats to work but I suspect
> that is a fault with the version of 2.0 that I am using and I am awaiting
> an upgrade.
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On Fri, 1 Jan 93 18:30:44 EST, hochstae@ALLFIWIB1.WiWi.Uni-Marburg.De wrote:

> I currently don't develop on an OS/2 Version of FDFORMAT. However, if you
> have a non-Microchannel machine, you should be able to read/write 1.64 and
> 1.72 floppies, but not 720/820k floppies. The use of FDREAD is not required
> for doing so. You can also use the DOS-Version of FDFORMAT to format
> diskettes.
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So, unfortunately for me, the consensus of these replies seems to be that
it is a hardware problem.  I am using a Micronics i486 33 MHz EISA mother-
board with a Phonix BIOS and OS/2 2.0 with the Service Pack installed.
Just as someone above has guessed, both floppy drives are TEAC, the 5.25"
being FD-55GFR and the 3.5" being FD-235HF.  As far as I can tell, the
controller (IDE) is a cheapo, noname, Taiwanese board.  Having found all
this out, I am now thinking of upgrading these to something more flexible.
Also, while I'm at it, I am thinking of going all the way to the new 2.88 MB
format.  Could anyone suggest possible alternatives ?  Which controllers,
floppy drives, etc. work best with OS/2 ?  My HD is a 200 MB Maxtor which
thus far (knock on wood) has been working very quietly and reliably.

Before I start dropping major $$$, some sugegstions above included editing
OEM strings in the boot sector.  Could someone please enlighten me what
that does, how to do it and what possible benefits might be reaped from
doing so ?  Many thanks to all of you for your help and suggestions.

John
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.apps