HDSniff  Version 1.0

Tells you how your AT/XT hard disks were low-level formatted.

Needs no parameters.
example of use:

HdSniff
or
HDSniff | More
or
HDSniff >Temp.Dat

by Roedy Green
   Canadian Mind Products
   1150 Homer Street
   Vancouver BC
   Canada V6B 2X8
   (604) 684-6529

This program is in the public domain.  It may be used for any
purpose except military.

Here is a typical output for an XT with both a C: and D:
hard disk.

HDSniff version 1.0   Public domain.   Non military use only.
Ferrets out the parameters that were used to perform
the last low-level hard disk format.
All numbers are both in decimal and [hex].

Low level formatting parameters for DISK 0   [0=C: 1=D:]
735 [2DF] = Number of cylinders 
5 [5] = Number of heads 
978 [3D2] = XT Starting cylinder for reduced write current 
978 [3D2] = Starting cylinder for write precompensation 
11 [B] = XT Maximum bits of error burst to attempt to correct (usually 8 to 11)
6 [6] = Step control byte
   (bit 7 = disable retries; bit 6 = disable ECC retries)
   (AT bit 3 = more than 8 heads)
   (XT bits 2..0 = STEP PULSE rate, usually faster than STEP rate)
   (0,1,2,6,7 = 3 milliseconds; 4 = 200 microseconds; 5 = 70 microseconds)
   (3 = 12 microseconds - not always available)
209 [D1] = XT Standard timeout value
3 [3] = XT Formatting timeout value
0 [0] = XT Disk check timeout value
0 [0] = AT landing zone (usually the last Cylinder)
0 [0] = AT sectors per track (usually 17 for MFM, 26 for RLL)

Low level formatting parameters for DISK 1   [0=C: 1=D:]
242 [F2] = Number of cylinders 
5 [5] = Number of heads 
978 [3D2] = XT Starting cylinder for reduced write current 
978 [3D2] = Starting cylinder for write precompensation 
11 [B] = XT Maximum bits of error burst to attempt to correct (usually 8 to 11)
6 [6] = Step control byte
   (bit 7 = disable retries; bit 6 = disable ECC retries)
   (AT bit 3 = more than 8 heads)
   (XT bits 2..0 = STEP PULSE rate, usually faster than STEP rate)
   (0,1,2,6,7 = 3 milliseconds; 4 = 200 microseconds; 5 = 70 microseconds)
   (3 = 12 microseconds - not always available)
209 [D1] = XT Standard timeout value
3 [3] = XT Formatting timeout value
0 [0] = XT Disk check timeout value
0 [0] = AT landing zone (usually the last Cylinder)
0 [0] = AT sectors per track (usually 17 for MFM, 26 for RLL)
Love Roedy

Here is the typical output for at AT with a single C: hard drive:

HDSniff version 1.0   Public domain.   Non military use only.
Ferrets out the parameters that were used to perform
the last low-level hard disk format.
All numbers are both in decimal and [hex].

Low level formatting parameters for DISK 0   [0=C: 1=D:]
615 [267] = Number of cylinders 
4 [4] = Number of heads 
0 [0] = XT Starting cylinder for reduced write current 
300 [12C] = Starting cylinder for write precompensation 
0 [0] = XT Maximum bits of error burst to attempt to correct (usually 8 to 11)
0 [0] = Step control byte
   (bit 7 = disable retries; bit 6 = disable ECC retries)
   (AT bit 3 = more than 8 heads)
   (XT bits 2..0 = STEP PULSE rate, usually faster than STEP rate)
   (0,1,2,6,7 = 3 milliseconds; 4 = 200 microseconds; 5 = 70 microseconds)
   (3 = 12 microseconds - not always available)
0 [0] = XT Standard timeout value
0 [0] = XT Formatting timeout value
0 [0] = XT Disk check timeout value
615 [267] = AT landing zone (usually the last Cylinder)
17 [11] = AT sectors per track (usually 17 for MFM, 26 for RLL)
Love Roedy