On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 2:08 PM, emanuel stiebler via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Hi, > > trying to check some MFM drives I have on my shelf. > Have an IBM PC AT, with an WD1003 controller in it. > > So, what is the best(?) or easiest piece of software, > to format the drives, check for bad blocks, etc.? > > I think I remember something like "ontrack" for doing it, > but didn't touch PCs for a while ...
Hi, Emanuel, I remember OnTrack existing but I never used it. I don't think the 5170 PC/AT had a BIOS-based formatter, but you could toss the WD1003 into a newer machine (386 and up) and just use the BIOS menus to get to the formatter. With older 8-bit controllers, there was often a formatter in the controller's BIOS ROM, but I don't think the WD1003 has one. -ethan
