From: mhick@BSU-CS.BSU.EDU (Mutahar Hickey)
Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.gis
Subject: Re: DOS operation and data format
Date: 27 Dec 92 19:04:43 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]

M:
M:        (1) Disks formatted on different machines with different
M:        DOS versions can not be used interchangeably. Does anybody know
M:        why and the solution for the problem? According the MS-DOS 5
M:        reference book, "to use a diskette with all versions of MS-DOS,
M:        use /B and /1 switches which format the diskette for any MS-DOS
M:        version and format only one side." I tried it, it does not work.
++++++
                I do not know the answer to this, but I have in the past always
avoided using the MsDos formatter -- it is notoriously unstable.  IF you
have Norton Utilities on your hard disk (or Mace Utilities or any other
general utilities set) and I use their formatter.  It is much easier to
use and more specific.  It also works across more types of hardware.
++++
M:        After I formatted a disk on an IBM ps/2 machine with DOS 4.00,
M:        I tried to use it on a DEC 325c machine with DOS 5.00, I got the
M:        following error message: "General failure reading drive a".
First:  DEC machines are notoriously difficult to work with in this
manner.  There are two possible answers to this problem:
        1.  Because of the difference between DOS 4 and 5 it is possible that
the DEC cannot read the formatted disk.  I have not found these versions
incompatible, though.
        2.  There is a possiblity that your disk is a bad disk.  Make sure
that the original formatter can read the disk before putting it to the
other machine.  There are other possibilities here, DEC requires a
special format for my machine (DEC 3100) and will not accept any MS-DOS
formatted disks unless they have been formatted in a special way.  Try
formatting a disk on the DEC and seeing whether it can be read by the
ps-2 (ps-2's also are notorious for incompatibility).


                Then
M:        I was trying to reformt the disk on the DEC machine, the machine
M:        does not allow me to do so, and keeps giving me the meaasage:
M:        "Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable. Format
M:        terminated." This may be a silly question, but I do need an answer.
M:
If you have used a disk which has been previously formatted, you can get
this error, try a fresh -- new disk.  IF you have Norton Utilities on the
DEC machine, then run Norton Disk Doctgor on the disk after you get the
error message.

M:        (2) Can anybody recommand me some books regarding data formats,
M:        particularly the ones we use frequently in GIS?
M:
Any book authored by Peter Norton is easily read and always contains all
the data you need.  I do not know the title of the one which covers the
data formats, however.

        Please give your email address for returns.

                                Mutahar

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