Operating instructions

HARD DISK SUPPLEMENT

SPECIAL 21 - SHOW HARD DISK ERROR LOCATION

This function pinpoints where an error has occurred on the Hard Disk.

1. To locate where an error has occurred, after formatting is complete load each Bank from

the Hard Disk into the Emulator II memory. As soon as a problem occurs when loading a

Bank, select SPECIAL 21 (Show HDErrLoc) to pinpoint the source of the error. SPECIAL

21 must be initiated immediately after the problem occurs, or you will get an “Invalid

ErrData” message instead.

2. After keying in 22, the display will show three sets of numbers: A three-digit “cylinder”

number, followed by a one-digit “head” number, followed by a five-digit “byte” number.

These identify where the error is located on the Hard Disk. The ENTER light will be

flashing, and the display says:

Save to Hard Disk

Error List Y/N

We haven’t figured out why you would ever want to press NO, so press YES. This saves

the error data to the Hard Disk. You are then asked...

Log Error on

FloppyDisk? Y/N

At this point, your Hard Disk software floppy should still be in Drive 1. If the floppy has

been formatted with the Hard Disk software, it will contain an error log and pressing YES

will update this log with the new error. If the floppy is not formatted for this function, a log

will be created on the disk with just this one error.

3. After an error has been detected, the Hard Disk can still be used although you will not be

able to access the Bank containing the error. To access all Banks, you will need to re-

format the disk and re-load the Banks. After re-formatting, the bad section will be marked

as “off limits” and the Hard Disk will operate normally.

Note: People sometimes wonder if having an error in a Bank reduces the quality or

usefulness of the Bank. This is not a concern. Hard disks are engineered with a certain

amount of redundancy so that should an error occur, there will be additional memory

available to take its place.

After formatting the disk, you might want to send the Emulator II on an Error Scan hunt

to make sure all error logs are accurate; see next section.