[Coco] DW3 descriptor info question

[Bob Devries]

Hi Tim,

I'm sure your question about the fly-by-nighters was tongue-in-cheek, but 
hey, even those people can have valuable input into our community.

Sometimes seemingly stoopid questions can raise issues that have been 
overlooked before, and that is valuable.

--
Regards, Bob Devries, Dalby, Queensland, Australia

Isaiah 50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me
the capacity to be his spokesman,
so that I know how to help the weary.

website: http://www.home.gil.com.au/~bdevasl
my blog: http://bdevries.invigorated.org/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Fadden" <t.fadden at cox.net>
To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 9:50 AM
Subject: [Coco] DW3 descriptor info question


> Hi,
>
> I was wondering about  the device descriptor for the /x# devices under 
> Nitros9.
> I am thinking that the only time the device information is used, as 
> reguards to the geometry is when the disk is formatted. And I do know that 
> backup wants the two disks to be the same before it will work. And as to 
> imbedded scsi drives, it is ignored all together except to calculate the 
> total number of sectors, and cluster size, as the numbers are not the 
> actual geometry of the disk any way, and the disk formats itself.
>
> Sample:
>
>        dmode /h0
>
>         nam=h0 mgr=RBF ddr=SCSISYS
>         hpn=07 hpa=FF5B drv=00 stp=00 typ=80 dns=90 cyl=040C sid=0C
>         vfy=01 sct=0021 t0s=0021 ilv=01 sas=10 wpc= ofs= rwc=
>
> When using os9.exe from the toolshed, only the total number of sectors is 
> provided, so geometry is not used there.
>
> Now to the question!  When using format with the /X# disks, just which 
> values does it look at?
> I would think only cyl, sid, sct, and t0s, in order to calculate the 
> number of sectors.
>
> Any questions, or input is welcome.
>
> Tim
>
> P.S. How long must a person be on the list before they are not considered 
> fly-by-night, and are eligible to answer posts in an attempt to help 
> otheres?  ;-)
>
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