Jose:

Go to the DOS directory and run MSD.exe.  Be aware that although it's a
good reference, the drive parameters it reports can be off.  I had one
recent case where MSD reported twice the number of cylinders and half
the numbers if heads (of course resulting in the same size drive).  The
drive geometry circuits obviously have an effect on what MSD reports.

Email me privately for more info, but I may no be able to answer until
Monday.
Eric

Jose E. Dominguez wrote:
>
> Good evening:
>
> I hope someone out there can help me. I have a friend that has an old
> Digital 386 running mail sorting software on a mail sorting system. His
> hard drive is beginning to show signs of wear and tear and he would like
> back up the contents and transfer them to a new PC.
>
> One of the problems is that the floppy drive is not working. I've taken
> the drive out of the Digital and installed it in another PC, used Auto
> Detect to setup the drive but I can't read it. This could very well be
> because the parameters used on the drive are not the ones that the drive
> was originally setup with. The thing is we can't get into the setup of
> the Digital PC to see the actual parameters, or check to see if the
> floppy is even setup. He was told that the problem is that the Digital
> PCs used a different format than the rest, he was also told that if he
> can find a Tandy 386 he will be able to see the drive contents because
> they use the same format. Is this true? How can we get into the setup of
> the Digital?
>
> Tomorrow I'll go take another look at the Digital and get the model
> number and any pertinent information that might be needed to solve this
> problem. Meanwhile if anyone has any ideas/suggestions to backup this
> drive I'll appreciate it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jose

--
Eric R. Outten 773-978-3478 "typit ergo sum"
[log in to unmask] - Oh! Electronic Solutions, Inc.
8835 S. Clyde Avenue - Chicago, IL 60617-2904