Fdisk

[trekiej]

Hello.
I am working on a 286.
I boot it with MSDos 6.22 in drive A:, which is a 1.44 MB drive.
I set the CHS of the drive and then reboot to A:\
I fdisk the hdd and use fdisk to partition it and reboot again.
When I go to format it, it acts as though it does not exist.
I tried diff. ps, controller card, and hdd , etc.
I also pulled the board and used a diff. ps.
The drive works in a 486.
size: 0 < X < 125 MB
Thanks.

[mrknight]

So what happens after reboot and you type "format c:"? Because I assume that is what you are doing?
Have you also tried to just create one small primary partition (<20MiB) on the HDD and tried to format that one?

[Gulliver]

I suggest you try a DOS bootdisk from http://www.bootdisk.com
...and see if that does the trick.

[trekiej]

When I do a format c: /s /u it gives me an "invalid drive specification".
When I do an fdisk again, it acts as though I have not fdisked it.
I have used a new boot disk.

[paul1981]

Hello.
I am working on a 286.
I boot it with MSDos 6.22 in drive A:, which is a 1.44 MB drive.
I set the CHS of the drive and then reboot to A:\
I fdisk the hdd and use fdisk to partition it and reboot again.
When I go to format it, it acts as though it does not exist.
I tried diff. ps, controller card, and hdd , etc.
I also pulled the board and used a diff. ps.
The drive works in a 486.
size: 0 < X < 125 MB
Thanks.

What happens if you prep the drive on the 486...can your 286 read it?

[trekiej]

It is fine on a 486.

[fishy_fiz]

As Paul1981 suggested, try preparing/formating the disk on the 486. If this works and then the same disk doesnt work on the 286 then it could be the ide controller.

Using a drive prepared on a 64bit system (even using 32bit) wont often work on a 32bit system though, so the above may not be foolproof if the same applies to 32/16bit.

Have you tried a system and or quick format, or just unconditional? Mightnt hurt to experiment.

[trekiej]

We put the board to the side for now.
Using the 486 crossed my mind but was pressed for time.
Thanks.
Also is there a 16 bit isa card that can tell me what Interrupts are being used.
I do not have the docs. for these cards and I do not have immediate access to the Internet.

[lost_loven]

been along time but do you have to set a active partition after deleting and setting up a partition in fdisk? Then save and exit and restart?

lost

[trekiej]

Fdisk asks if you want to use the full amount and make active.
You will have to if you do not the automatic method.