dosformat works on one PC but not on another

[bcummings]

Has anyone had a problem using dosformat with SCO UNIX System V, 3.2 Version 5.0.4?

Most of our PCs run this command without a problems, but some consistently fail to format a floppy using 'dosformat' (although they all consistently format a floppy using 'format').

 

[pcunix]

Try being specific:

dosformat /dev/fd0135ds18

If that works but a: does not, it's because a: is pointing at /dev/install.
Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[bcummings]

Thanks Tony,

We are using dosformat /dev/fd0135ds18. The real puzzle is that it works on some PCs but not on others. The PCs are 'nearly identical' (same manufacturer, same model number, but cards and devices can change).

On a PC showing the problem, the floopy drive light comes on for a couple of minutes, and it sounds like all is going well. Formatting completes with the following message:

Formatting ... Format complete
write: I/O error.
Error writing FAT to disk

We have tried BIOS updates, formatted and unformatted disks, switching diskette drives, etc.

Barry

 

[bcummings]

Turns out it was caused by subtle differences in BIOS settings (no details available , sorry). Thanks for the reply!

Barry