Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
Hello,
I have just replaced the floppy disk drive on my Epson Equity LT running Dos 3.3 and still it can only read ms-dos preformated disks holding only 720 KB. This new drive is can read 1.4 MB disks but Dos still can only read the 720 KB ones. Could anyone tell me if it is my computer, Dos 3.3, or the floppy disk that is causing me not to be able to read the high density disks and how to fix it. Also, does anyone know the dos command and parameters for formating ms-dos disks.
Can you access your BIOS/CMOS settings? If so it may be a simple matter of changing the drive type if your computer indeed has the setting.
0 
You may modify the parameters of your native floppy drive by inserting the following statement into your Config.sys file:
DrivParm=/D:0 /F:7 /H:2 /S:18 /T:80
The Config.sys is located in the root directory C:\ and to insert the line use a text editor.
To format a floppy:
Format A: to format 1.44M diskette
Format A: /F:720 for a 720Kb floppy
Format A: /S to create a bootable one.I hope this helps.
0
I tried modifying the config.sys with the edit tool from windows and it saved correctly, but I still get a general error when it tries to read the larger disks.
This is what the config.sys looks like:
break=on
FILES=30
buffers=30
device=c:\dos\ansi.sys
DrivParm= /D:0 /F:7 /H:2 /s:18 /T:80
Device=C:\mouse.sysI tried to access the ansi.sys but it is not compatible with edit and I only recieved symbols. Also, I have no clue how to access the bios, does anyone know where to find out what kind of bios a computer is running?
Thanks for your help.
0
If you modified Config.sys with the text editor, not Write, you did the right thing. By the way the Config.sys you posted looks fine. Be sure it is located in the root directory, i.e. C:\ and pay attention it starts to modify the floppy parameters AFTER THE FIRST REBOOT with the new configuration.
ANSI.SYS is a binary file that manages ANSI codes for keyboard and display; it does not deal with your question.
To enter the bios you have to press a key specific to your PC model at the power on, but key combinations are related to brands.
The DrivParm should anyway bypass BIOS settings and constraints. It was planned to solve troubles like those you are getting.
Last: are the 1.44M floppies you are reading fine and formatted?
0
Also ensure that your Autoexec.bat includes c:\dos in it's path statement. (It should.) Alternately, modify the config.sys file indicating the path in the drivparm line;
break=on
FILES=30
buffers=30
device=c:\dos\ansi.sys
c:\dos\DrivParm= /D:0 /F:7 /H:2 /s:18 /T:80
Device=C:\mouse.sys
0
Ignore Dan Penny's suggestion! DrivParm is not a device driver, it is a primitive directive to set the physical parameters of a block device, so it is built in Config.sys and not loaded from a directory. Following that tip you risk to damage the boot sequence that, by the way, is 1) BIOS, 2) Config.sys and, after that is parsed, loading Autoexec.bat.
0
I think the problem might come from me formating the floppy disks. Before I had been using format a: to create the 1.4 disks, but when I tried the format a: /F:720 I ran into problems. My Win XP Dos wouldn't even recognize the command so I went on Win98 on an older computer and it gives the message : Invalid media or Tract 0 bad - disk unusable. The disks I tried formating said formatted for IBM, does this mean you can't format them for msdos. So maybe if it is having trouble with 720, it is not correctly formatting for 1.4 Mb.
Thanks so much IVO.
0
IVO, the only way the config.sys file would try to use the drivparm command as a device driver is if there was a "device=" in front of it. Then it would error anyway as it's not a device driver.
My response dealt entirely with the subject of the ~path~. If it's not outlined in autoexec.bat as it should be, directing config.sys to it (via c:\dos\DrivParm= /D:0 /F:7 /H:2 /s:18 /T:80) will do ~no~ harm at all. Get your facts straight before jumping the gun.
John, enter your bios and see what choices you have for the floppy configuration. If the system is realy old, then you may only have up to 720KB as a choice, in which case the drivparm utility should transgress this. If you can set it up in the bios as a 1.44, then your problems are over. (Also ensure you're using DS/HD floppy disks.)
0
Cover the little window at the top left corner of the disk with some tape. Win98 should do the 720k format then.
0
Well good news and bad news. With the top left taped up I was able to format to 720 kb and my epson was able to read it. However, when it was taped up I could not format it to 1440. I tried formatting it to 1440 and then taping, but the epson would not read it. I looked at some of the disks that came with the computer and they all have no windows open. So I'm not really sure what this means, maybe something to do with dos 3.3? By the way I'm using dos 4.1 to format the disks.
0
John, again I reiterate what Mick C and I have stated. Check your bios for the floppy configuration parameters. Also, check the documentation (if any) that came with your new floppy drive. There may be a jumper on the drive for setting up the capacity type.
0
Lets get down to basics here.
720KB Disks have one hole that is also the Write Protect Shutter.
1.44MB has an extra hole as well.
1.44MB can be formatted to 720KB if the second hole is coved. BUT if you then remove the tape the disk is unusable! You cannot cover the hole on a 1.44MB disk to read it in a 720 drive.
When 1.44MB Diskettes first started to be used. You could buy a jig to drill an extra hole to make it a 1.44MB Disk! Never did try it out, But it is all down to disk quality - So 1.44MB Diskettes were always higher quality than 720KB ones!
It is all very well setting DrvParm in Config.Sys but unless your BIOS is set to read a 1.44MB Drive (Or is indeed able to do so) IT WILL NOT WORK!
0
I had an old 286 in which the bios had floppy parameters of 360K, 720K, and 1.2M only. (The original boot floppy drive was a 5 1/4".) I stuck in a 3 1/2" floppy drive and chose 720K as the parameter in bios. This worked fine with 720K floppies. I then used drivparm in my config.sys to change to 1.44 and it worked just fine. I was able to read/write/format DS/HD floppies with no problems.
0
Thanks Dan, I have had problems in the past with differant makes of 1.44MB Drives. Some seem to work OK as you say, others do not. I guess it down to the individual BIOS!
I know that is what Drvparm is meant to do, but in all things PC it does not always work. If the 1.44MB setting is avialable, in the BIOS, and it must be a very old machine not to be, then that is still the best way to do it.
0
I fully agree Mick. ("If you can set it up in the bios as a 1.44, then your problems are over.") ;>)
0
Unfortunately there is no setting in the bios for the machine. Granted the computer was made in 1987. I checked on the epson reference disk and seem to be able to access the bios through it. It says that 720 kb is configured to the a: and when I tried to change it the only option was to test the drive. I looked but it doesn't look like there are any updates to the Epson Diagnostics so I might be stuck.
Thanks again for all your help guys.
0
Another thing, my cmos battery has died in the computer. This might be causing some problems but unfortunately it is a special AA battery that is 3.6 volts so hopefully they have it at Radio Shack.
0  |
 |
 |
This post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
| Ads by Google |
