Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpcuhb!hpcilzb!hpcea!hpbsla!hpdml93!rodger
From: rodger@hpdml93.HP.COM (Rodger Anderson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Format & FFS problems?
Message-ID: <380007@hpdml93.HP.COM>
Date: 30 Nov 88 09:54:20 GMT
Organization: HP Disk Memory Division - Boise, ID
Lines: 46

Well, after having 1.3 laying around for two weeks, I though it was time to
install it on my hard drive.  The problems I had, let me tell you!  (Thats
what we are here for, isn't it? :-)  Here is my setup:

	2000B Amiga with 1.2 roms
	2090 hard disk controller (with the latest hddisk, as far as I know)
	3650 40 Meg miniscribe

To make a long story a little shorter, I had two problems with format, not
counting the times it gurued.

The first problem:  Format would print out the line "formating cyl 2, 400
remaining" and then stop, without formatting anything.  By using the QUICK
option, format would do a few things, and then I could use the partition, as
least to some extent.  This wasn't too safe, as I kept getting "key out of
range" and the validator would sometimes get stuck.

The second problem:  Format would say "handler not found."  I think this
was only with partitions that I was trying to use the fast file system on.
The funny thing was that format would always format a RAD:, wheather RAD:
was a fast file system or not.  In fact, this is how I finally got my
partition formatted.  I mounted a fast file system RAD: (I called it FAD:),
then did a Dir on it, then tried formating my hard disk partition.  I
suspect that for some reason, format couldn't find FastFileSystem in memory
when it was trying to format my hard disk, by I don't know why it should
work find for RAD:.

I always booted from a copy of the 1.3 workbench disk.  I have plenty of
memory, (an 8-Up with 6 Meg), and spent about 24 hours playing with various
mountlist entries, various partitions, and repreping my disk.  I never
before had format act so strangly, and I even tried 1.2 format for the
first problem.  It did the same thing.  I first encountered the first
problem when I tried to switch from a old file system partition to a fast
file system partition by just adding the three lines to my mountlist entry,
as suggested in the enhancer manual and then mounting it, without repreping
it.  The enhancer manual said one could do this, as long as one didn't
change the size of the partition.  I would think that the only partition
one needs to reprep for would be the first one, since is the only one
mounted by binddrivers.  Speaking of binddrivers, is it possible to mount
ones hard drive without using binddrivers?

Anyway, I hope someone can tell me what's going on with format.

-- 
Rodger Anderson (rodger@hpdml93)
              or(rodger%hpdml93@hplabs.hp.com)