Oops! Low-level formatted my IDE drive...

[ferrellsl]

I've low-level formatted IDE drives on many occasions in the PC world.  It usually doesn't do any lasting harm.  You'll probabaly have to connect the drive to a PC and use software such as Maxtor's MaxBlast or Seagate's Disk Manager to get it functional again.  Then put the drive back in your Amiga and see what happens.

The software above will query the drive for its parameters and allow you to use it again....at least in PCs anyway.

[ferrellsl]

Well, I beg to differ.  As I said earlier I have low-level formatted many drives in the PC world.  It was not a zero-fill operation.  I have done this on old MFM drives and older IDE drives.  I haven't had the need to do this on newer IDE drives or SATA drives.

Maybe the guy who started this thread actually did a zero-fill operation and believes it was a low-level format??!!

[ferrellsl]

You're knowledge is incorrect.

Yes I do have info about those tools.  Seagate Disk Manager v 9.46 will do an IDE low-level format OR a zero-fill operation under the advanced utilties option.  Take your pick.  I'm running the software now and looking at the menu screen.  I have used it successfully many times for both operations.

I can make an image this software and send it to you if you'd like.  Of course it only runs on PCs.  It comes on a boot floppy with a custom OS written by Seagate.

[ferrellsl]

The version of Disk Manager that I use is from 1999 so Seagate has probably removed the option to low-level format drives in their more recent software.  I've hung onto this version over the years because it allows me to low-level format...my work requires it at times...and the software also works with drives from other manufacturers as well.  I've used it on Maxtor, Seagate, Western Digital, Fujitsu, etc....I havent had to use it for about 2 years now so I'm curious how it will operate with newer drives, if at all.

I'm willing to send you a copy if you'd like.  The floppy image that I made using WinImage compresses down to 1 MB.

EDIT
Here's a good link to info and some utilities to do low level formatting on IDE drives, as well as other types.  OnTrack's Disk Manager is also the same as Seagate's Disk Manager.

http://www.ameriwebs.net/groupworks/index.html

[ferrellsl]

The newer IDE drives CAN be low-level formatted in translation mode bu tnot in zoned bit recording mode (ZBR mode).  But you are correct about track 0.   It is preserved and contains the bad track map, and all other information the controller needs to properly communicate with the hard drive.

[ferrellsl]

Yeah, no need for that kind of hardware at my place.  It's cheaper to just buy a new drive!

[ferrellsl]

Now you're misunderstanding me.  Some older, and I suspect newer drives CAN be low-level formatted using Disk Manager and several other tools.

I know for a fact that it works on IDE drives manufactured as late as 2002.  I used it (disk Manager) successfully on several drives that were less than 12 GB in size.

Even the link you provided says it's possible but not recommended.  Disk Manager does both, low-level format and zero fill.  If they were one in the same, then why even have it as an option under the utilities menu?

[ferrellsl]

Well, as I said earlier, why have a low-level format option in your software if all you're going to do is a zero-fill?  Some hard drives will allow low-level formatting, and others will not.  The user will just have to try it on his drive and see what happens.

I know that the drives I used Disk Manager on exhibited the same symptoms mentioned by the guy who started this thread....Disk Manager low-level formattted them for me and then I was able to do a high-level format and re-install my OS (which was Windows by the way).

No one seems to question that the guy who started this thread low-level formatted his IDE drive ,so why is it such a huge stretch to believe that Seagate/OnTrack Disk Manager can also low-level format drives?

But I believe you are correct about newer drives.  Manufacturers don't want end-users to be low-level formatting the drives.  Causes too many problems and too many calls to the tech support line.  The guy who started this thread must have an older drive...around 4 GB, so it wouldn't hurt to try one of the various tools out there to fix it.

[ferrellsl]

I tried fixing the MBRs on the drives in question.  It didn't work so as a last ditch effort I used Disk Manager.  It's saved my bacon more than once. And it never hurts to try.  I am still amazed by the people out there who do a low-level format on their drives thinking it will fix whatever problem they are having.  Those same people will completely re-install their OS just over a minor problem.  It's the brute force method, sometimes effective but not very pretty!

[ferrellsl]

Agreed!  He shouldn't have initiated a low-level format to begin with.  I hope he tries to recover the drive before tossing it out.  Maybe he'll keep us posted.