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A functional XT!

DarthKur said:
The two files I mentioned were in the DOS directory. I can access the root. There are a lot of files on there, most of which I have no clue what they are. Here are some pics of all of the files that results from a Dir command on the C drive:
Click to expand...

That stuff is all of your DOS utilities along with random other things.

I noticed that your XT is set to boot up in 40-column text. Once you're in DOS, typing MODE CO80 will switch you to 80-column text. Also, here are the switch settings for the XT so you can set it to start up that way:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~preid/pcxtsw.htm
 
Fallo said:
That stuff is all of your DOS utilities along with random other things.

I noticed that your XT is set to boot up in 40-column text. Once you're in DOS, typing MODE CO80 will switch you to 80-column text. Also, here are the switch settings for the XT so you can set it to start up that way:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~preid/pcxtsw.htm
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. Setting the dip switch for 80 won't effect in any way how a game is booted will it?
 
you're getting closer. Do you have a copy of spinrite or norton version 5 or something from that era that can clean up your hard drive? Each time you use it you could make it worse. Do you have a way to get files from 3.5 to 5 1/4"?
bd
 
Fallo said:
Nope. Games only refuse to run if they detect a monochrome card.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear.

billdeg said:
you're getting closer. Do you have a copy of spinrite or norton version 5 or something from that era that can clean up your hard drive? Each time you use it you could make it worse. Do you have a way to get files from 3.5 to 5 1/4"?
bd
Click to expand...

I don't have either of those programs. I do have an older pc, either a 386 or 486, that has both sized floppy drives so I "should" be able to transfer from one to the other. I'm sure the 5 1/4 is going to be larger than a 360k though. Is there an easy way to format a disk on it at that rate? I might be able to format one on the XT using either of the DOS floppies I have.
Would you happen to have those programs you mentioned or know where I might dl them?
 
you could download spinrite from vintagecomputer.net/ibm/ then copy to 3.5 disk, then copy to 5 1/4" disk. Make sure you format the 5 1/4" disk as a 360K.

Spinrite will evaluate your hard drive and clean up the problems, but it can take 36 hours to complete the process. Make sure you have time to let the program complete, and it's possible that it will recommend that you low level format the disk and re-format. Nothing is easy!

I make no promises or warranty's..anyone have a second opinion?

Boot your PC then run Spinrite from the A drive.
 
I was wrong about being able to format from the floppy disk. It refuses to format any disk I put in no matter if it's using DOS 3.10 or 2.1. I even ran a disk cleaner though it. Is it unusual for a drive to be able to read disks fine but not write at all?
The "older pc" I mentioned before is indeed a 386. I has a 1.2m 5 1/4. Is there a way to format a floppy on it at 360k and if so what are the exact directions in order to do that?
 
Fallo said:
No, don't do that. The /8 switch will make an 8-sector 320k disk. You want this:

format a: /n:9 /t:40 /s
Click to expand...


Thanks. That worked perfect! I'll keep the 320k one as well in case I have call to have to make one of those down the line.
Is it possible the HD problems are causing the format issues even with it attempted from the DOS on floppy? Bill, I know you said that there's a 90% chance the floppy is defective. Can it be fixed or is it something only a professional could repair?
 
DarthKur said:
Thanks. That worked perfect! I'll keep the 320k one as well in case I have call to have to make one of those down the line.
Is it possible the HD problems are causing the format issues even with it attempted from the DOS on floppy? Bill, I know you said that there's a 90% chance the floppy is defective. Can it be fixed or is it something only a professional could repair?
Click to expand...

Since you have gotten the floppy to read and write some files at least, it's not deffect in a non-recoverable state. I would most problably say that you got dirty read/write heads, and they can be cleaned pretty easily (use a q-tip with alcohol on them, you might have to dissassemble the drive to reach the heads too).

If you unplug the hard drive board from the system, then the hard drive shoudn't have any interaction with the system, and if you got a copy of format on a floppy, you can run it from there to do a format (remember to switch disk before hitting "ok", or you'll format your boot disk of DOS!).
 
per said:
Since you have gotten the floppy to read and write some files at least, it's not deffect in a non-recoverable state. I would most problably say that you got dirty read/write heads, and they can be cleaned pretty easily (use a q-tip with alcohol on them, you might have to dissassemble the drive to reach the heads too).

If you unplug the hard drive board from the system, then the hard drive shoudn't have any interaction with the system, and if you got a copy of format on a floppy, you can run it from there to do a format (remember to switch disk before hitting "ok", or you'll format your boot disk of DOS!).
Click to expand...

I'll try to format a disk with the HD disconnected. As it is now it won't write anything at all. I even tried to save a simple program in basic and got an I/O error.
I'll definitely make sure to swap out the floppies. That would be extremely upsetting to ruin my DOS disk.
 
DarthKur said:
I'll try to format a disk with the HD disconnected. As it is now it won't write anything at all. I even tried to save a simple program in basic and got an I/O error.
I'll definitely make sure to swap out the floppies. That would be extremely upsetting to ruin my DOS disk.
Click to expand...

It really sounds like a fatal disk-crash. You can be happy you made your startup-disk before the drive totally dies.

The exact same thing happened to my mothers laptop some years ago.
 
I have successfully transferred Spinrite II to a 5 1/4 floppy and have it currently at work on the XT. At present it's at 1% complete so we'll see how things are in a while. I certainly hope this clears everything up.
 
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Well, I didn't get the results I was hoping for. The last I checked I was up to 24% then a couple hours later I checked only to find this message:
spinriteresult.jpg


So it appears that I need to ditch a few things. I don't need that database program at all so that should clear up a lot of space I would imagine. How would I go about deleting the entire dbase directory?
 
I would low level format the whole thing BUT after that when you try to format you will get an error at what ever cylinder is bad and it'll fail. Write down the bad cylinder.
This is a tough one.

In the case of physical damage I have used the fdisk to clear the partitions and then re partition with a size limit one cylinder less than where the error occurs. Format the partition and it should work. The end result may be that you end up with a smaller but usable space. It is possible to try to isolate the bad spot with multiple partitions. I.e. drive c,d,e where d is the spot on the hard drive with the damage.

Other ideas?
 
No, you're right about the disk being too full. Spinrite works by reading a sector, then writing it out elsewhere, formatting that sector (several times, IIRC), then copying the data back to it's original place. If the sector is unusable, the data gets written to a good sector. If the disk is too full, it cannot accomplish this. Delete whatever you don't need, and run Spinrite again. And don't be too concerned about the time, sometimes it takes a few days for the program to work it's majik.

--T
 
The good news is that the Spinrite program completed successfully and the HD seems to be alright. I deleted the Database program. The computer still tries to boot it at the start but quickly responds with a bad command error and goes to the C:\ prompt. Wish I knew how to alter that so it automatically goes to the C:\ to begin with. The bad news is that I still can't format any floppy's and the entirety of events this weekend spent to change that situation was an extremely frustrating exercise in futility. I cleaned the heads many times on the FDD that came with the XT with no evident change in behavior. Ended up swapping it out with the left hand one in my dysfunctional 5150. Had a hell of a time getting one of the bolts out of it that was holding it the the frame. It was like it was superglued. Part of the head of the bolt broke away making it impossible to remove with a screwdriver. Searched through my tools for a wrench or socket that would fit but of coarse didn't have one. Had to use a pair of vice grips to forcibly wrench the rotten thing out. Then cleaned that FDD as well. That seemed to work alright. It even formatted a couple disks but with a lot of bad sectors and neither one deemed as suitable for a system disk. I figured I'd stick with that on account of the process I had to go through getting it there in the first place. So I closed the case and set the monitor back on top. Immediately after that the damn FDD refused to read nor write! Now, if I was prone to be superstitious I might be inclined to think there was some kind of malevolent entity at work here receiving some sort of twisted satisfaction in creating these things to happen right at the perfect times to cause the utmost amount of irritation. So, had to disassemble everything again and decided to try putting the FDD from my original XT into it. This was an utter waste of time being that with the FDD in place the XT would not even power on. So after all of this fruitless nonsense I ended up just putting the original FDD back in that I started out with. I don't think I've been in a good mood since. :-|
 
make sure you have a terminator on one of the FDD's, and that the cable and drive controller are correctly set up. Did you verify the switch settings (I assume yes).

It's much harder to find a working hard drive than a replacement set of disk drive(s), I would not worry too much, you'll find something. Almost any DD/DS drive will work.

Bill
 
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