🚀 go-pugleaf

doug@cc.ysu.edu (Doug Sewell) writes:

>If we do this, then the machine will boot completely from a floppy disk.
>But we can't access the hard drive to fix it.  If the HD is configured
>in, then the machine will NOT complete a floppy-disk boot.

I sent a reply by mail, but maybe it didn't make it. If you can boot from a 
floppy, then by using BIOS calls (specifically int26, Absolute disk write)
you should be able to write either 0s or E5s (which I believe is the format
data string) onto the first track of the hard disk. This of course will
destroy any data on the hard disk, but I assume you don't care. Haveing done
that, you should be able to enable the hard drive in the CMOS ram and 
partition and format the disk manually.
	If there is data you want on the disk, then you might try reading
the first few sectors (with int25) to get the partition table and then
write a valid partition table from another drive on a working machine onto
the broken drive again using int26.

Peter Van Epp / Operations and Technical Support 
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada