Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site think.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!think!ejb From: ejb@think.ARPA (Erik Bailey) Newsgroups: net.micro.pc Subject: Re: hard disk monitor Message-ID: <2943@think.ARPA> Date: Wed, 2-Oct-85 18:33:41 EDT Article-I.D.: think.2943 Posted: Wed Oct 2 18:33:41 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 4-Oct-85 03:06:44 EDT References: <5141@allegra.UUCP> <1816@gondor.UUCP> <2892@think.ARPA> Reply-To: ejb@think.UUCP (Erik Bailey) Distribution: net.micro.pc Organization: Thinking Machines, Cambridge, MA Lines: 58 Summary: In article <2892@think.ARPA> ejb@think.UUCP (Erik Bailey) writes: >In article <1816@gondor.UUCP> schuler@gondor.UUCP (David W. Schuler) writes: >>> when ms-dos has a problem reading a sector from a floppy or from >>> the hard disk, it retries up to 5 times. trouble is, it does not >>> warn you when it recovers after, say, 3 or 4 attempts. one would >>> like to know when this is going on, since it is an early warning >>> of disk problems. >>> >>> one of the pc magazines published a short article with code to patch >>> ms-dos so that it would report as it retried disk operations. >>> can anyone provide a pointer to the article? has anyone actually >>> implemented this? experience? thanks, -ron gordon (allegra!rdg) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >The article you are talking about (I think) is that in Volume 4, No. 12 >(June 11, 1985) of PC Magazine. It is in the PROGRAMMING column on p. >263. The program is called DSKWATCH, and attaches itself to DOS, >intercepting all disk errors, even those that don't make it to the >Abort, Retry... thing (that is after 5 errors). The article gives an >extensive description of the program, and disk errors in general. I have >been using the program ever since I got the magazine in the mail, and it >works beuatifully! I really don't known what I did without it! It tells >you the following errors (w/ brief blurb by me): > >NO RESPONSE - no signals recieved from drive (ie door open) >FAILED SEEK - something interfered w/ locating data on disk >NEC ERROR - PC has recieved bad data from NEC disk controller. bad. >BAD CRC SEEN - Bad CRC found >DMA OVERRUN - PC was so busy that it denied NEC chip access to data >IMPOS SECTOR - Tried to read/write sector that ain't there >NO ADDR MARK - NEC lost its place >W. PROTECTED - Write protected disk >ERR UNKNOWN - Bad news. No-one knows what the heck is going on. Start > looking for your service contract... > >Well, hope this helps... --ERIK. > >PS - if you need source, I will post it. Ok, looks like I'll have to eat my words here... response has been rather greater than I anticipated, so it looks like I'll have to get my act together, and find the source. HOWEVER - this may take awhile. I REFUSE to type in the listing in PC magazine, so the way I'd get it is through PC MAg's RBBS (PC-IRS [Interactive Reader Service]). IF you can get it from there, great. But it might take me a while to grab it, as I call BBS's VERY rarely. BUT - I *WILL* do it. Don't flame at me! BTW - the number to the BBS is (212) 696-0360. It runs standard RBBS-PC, although the msg section is disabled. Hope this helps all you disk-error-prone-and-or-paranoid-and-or-anything-else-having-to-do-with-disks people! And remember - I WILL post the source...eventually. Good luck. --Erik Bailey PS - I have no connection with PC Magazine; just a happy subscriber.