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Hard drive copying?

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New2vtgpc

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My ibm ps/1 2133 has the original 129mb hard drive. I decided to get a cf card to act as a hard drive. I got dos installed, but when i tried to copy the ps/1 software files (os has a feature to copy the ps/1 software to floppies for a refresh/reinstall) but the computer is asking for 2mb unformated 3.5in floppies, something I dont have and finding them isn't a challenge but want something more permanent.
My question is...if i was to plug this drive into my modern pc, select and copy all the files then copy them to the cf card. Then use the ibm diagnostic floppy to reinstall the ps/1 software.
Will this work? Or is there another way to archive and copy thr old drive directly for it to work like it does with the spinning plater?
 
2MB unformatted = 1.44MB formatted. Should still be as plentiful as maggots on a piece of rotting meat. :)

Find an old copy of Ghost; it should do the job.
 
Chuck(G) said:
2MB unformatted = 1.44MB formatted. Should still be as plentiful as maggots on a piece of rotting meat. :)

Find an old copy of Ghost; it should do the job.
Click to expand...

Well....thats what I thought too, but I put in a blank 1.44 floppy (both new and reformatted) and it gave an error saying "Please insert blank ibm 2mb floppy into drive a:" no matter what I did.
 
Well, your best bet is to use a third-part disk backup/restore utility such as disk_img or you can back up files using the MSBACKUP utility. Either will work on an old 80386SX system.
 
New2vtgpc said:
Hmm. Might have to look more into it and see why the software states and demands "2mb unformatted" diskette.
Click to expand...

New2vtgpc said:
Well....thats what I thought too, but I put in a blank 1.44 floppy (both new and reformatted) and it gave an error saying "Please insert blank ibm 2mb floppy into drive a:" no matter what I did.
Click to expand...
FWIW reformatted ≠ unformatted.

Are your 'new' disks formatted out of the box? It sure sounds like they are.

If you don't have an unformatted disk you can make one by passing a magnet over it a few times. Test it by putting in the drive and do a DIR on it.
 
It makes no sense to demand an "unformatted" disk. Most 3.5" HD floppies sold were factory-formatted for DOS; even the IBM branded ones.

But who knows who really wrote the software...
 
Are you sure your floppy drive is actually working 100%?

Typically when a program complains about a floppy not being blank or unformatted, it is really saying it sees files on it and it is to lazy to re-format it itself. Try doing an unconditional reformat of the floppy disk.

If it is really looking for an "unformatted" disk, you could degauss the disk. The SuperCard Pro has a media tester/eraser that makes a disk completely unformatted. There should be tools under MS-DOS that can do similar. ImageDisk under DOS has an "Erase Disk" option, but I haven't tried that. You should at least be able to use ImageDisk on DOS to write some non 512-byte sector image so it looks unformatted to any DOS based software.
 
New2vtgpc said:
if i was to plug this drive into my modern pc, select and copy all the files then copy them to the cf card.
Click to expand...
I like this plan myself... Although if it's only 120MB it probably doesn't support LBA and therefore would not work on a USB-IDE adaptor. You'd have to break out a 40-pin IDE cable (it is IDE right?). But that would be the fastest way to backup all your files and copy them to the CF card.

If there is any kind of nonstandard partition/filesystem that wouldn't be preserved by simply copying the files, you could also use a sector editor to dump an image of the whole disk.
 
Well...when i say "new" i mean i opened a sleeve that had an unused 3m 1.44 floppy. It was still sealed in plastic...i tried two different brands same result.
Passing a magnet wont damage the floppy?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Well, your best bet is to use a third-part disk backup/restore utility such as disk_img or you can back up files using the MSBACKUP utility. Either will work on an old 80386SX system.
Click to expand...

Might have to look either up and try. Would it make a difference that this ps/1 is a 486sx? Its the last "ps/1" before they renamed it to aptiva. But logically ....a dos program that functions on a 386 'should' work on a 486 right?
 
SomeGuy said:
Are you sure your floppy drive is actually working 100%?

Typically when a program complains about a floppy not being blank or unformatted, it is really saying it sees files on it and it is to lazy to re-format it itself. Try doing an unconditional reformat of the floppy disk.

If it is really looking for an "unformatted" disk, you could degauss the disk. The SuperCard Pro has a media tester/eraser that makes a disk completely unformatted. There should be tools under MS-DOS that can do similar. ImageDisk under DOS has an "Erase Disk" option, but I haven't tried that. You should at least be able to use ImageDisk on DOS to write some non 512-byte sector image so it looks unformatted to any DOS based software.
Click to expand...

I wonder that at first too. I cleaned and relubed the sliders (i did not mess with heads other than an cleaning swap) and it made the diag, and setup floppies jist fine, and read them perfectly...even formatted and did it again several times to be sure, filling floppies to max at times.
And its weird....my xp, win95 and win98 pc's all say "please insert blank or formatted disk" if the disk unreadable or full if I try writing to it. This ibm says "unformatted 2mb diskette" i thought it maybe meant 2.88mb since thoses drives were around...but bios and sticker on drive says 1.44mb.
 
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