Hi Maarten, > I got an error when trying to format a floppy in Virtualbox (which is > a completely logical error). It was a int 0x13 write error. But after > that the system hangs. It is 'fatal' but I would think fatal for that > piece of software. So can't it go back an try to go to [a prompt...]
> Command used: "Format A:" I used an image (.img) as floppy disk. So > it can't format it. That's why the error exists. It is potentially possible to format a floppy image, but that depends on the abilities of VirtualBox. In particular, you could do a format without low-level formatting. As "FORMAT /?" already suggests, please use the debug option and report the displayed messages. Here is one example from running FORMAT in DOSEMU: > C:\>format /d b: > [DEBUG] FORMAT 0.91v, selected drive B: > [DEBUG] Sector buffer at 2CD2:6770, track buffer at 2CD2:6B70 > [DEBUG] Skipped ASSIGN check for diskette drive. > Insert new diskette for drive B: > Press ENTER when the right disk is in drive... > [DEBUG] Checking whether we need low-level format. > [DEBUG] Test-reading boot sector. > [04]*[04]*[04]*[04]#[DEBUG] Error code: 0xB > Boot sector unreadable, disk not yet formatted > [DEBUG] Current Disk Drive Parameter Table Values at 0070:0119: > [DEBUG] [DDPT] Step Rate: 240 msec Head Unload: 96 msec DMA Flag Bit: 0 > [DEBUG] [DDPT] Head Load: 4 msec Post Rotate: 2035 msec Sector Size: 512 > [DEBUG] [DDPT] SECTORS PER TRACK: 18 (Gap: 27 Data: 255 Format Gap: 108) > [DEBUG] [DDPT] Fill Char: 0xF6 Head Settle: 15 msec Motor Start: 1000 msec > C:\>echo %errorlevel% > 53 In the example, the drive B: does not exist in the simulation. The FreeDOS kernel would do some "DJ mechanism" support, but that would not mean that a physical drive exists. So the following is virtual: > C:\>dir b: > Remove diskette in drive A: > Insert diskette in drive B: > Press any key to continue ... One good way to "format" a disk image of a virtual box disk would be to do "FORMAT /Q /U A:" which means quick (no low level format, just reset FAT and root directory) and un-undoable (no attempt to save data for later UNFORMAT). See also FORMAT /Z:longhelp instead of the usual FORMAT /? for a long list of additional, possibly obscure, options of our FORMAT. Cheers, Eric :-) PS: I have not tried if FORMAT A: would work in DOSEMU because that would mean that I have to restore my virtual A: contents afterwards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
