The SCSI Floppy Expert Tool provides low-level floppy functions to
test, format or examine a floppy in depth. You can also repair a
floppy by sparing bad blocks. The SCSI Floppy Expert Tool is fully
interactive, with its own set of menus.
CAUTION: The SCSI Floppy Expert Tool contains commands which can destroy data or impair the functioning of the floppy if used improperly (for example, Format Unit, Write).
To use the SCSI Floppy Expert Tool safely, you should be trained and knowledgeable about SCSI floppys.
File pulldown menu
Save As - Save tool's main window
Print - Print tool's main window
Exit - Exits tool and returns to main STM prompt
Info pulldown menu
Capacity - Displays the characteristics and capacity of the medium
Inquiry - Displays product information for the device
Tests pulldown menu
Selftest - Starts the internal power-on selftest for the device
Seek Test pulldown menu
Alternate - Causes the drive to perform seeks between two specified addresses
Butterfly - Causes the drive to perform seeks over the entire CD-ROM surface
Random - Causes the drive to perform a seek to a random address
Verify - Verifies data on a selected or random area on the drive's media.
Utility pulldown menu
Format Unit - Initializes the surfaces of the disk ( CAUTION )
Read - Reads and displays the contents of a logical block
Write - Writes data to the floppy (CAUTION)
Options pulldown menu
Display Format pulldown menu
Interpreted - Causes data or logs to be displayed in ASCII format
Hex/Interpreted - Causes data or logs to be displayed in ASCII/hex formats
Help pulldown menu
General Help - Displays online help for the Expert_Tool_Template
Display Version - Displays version and copyright information
Control-C - Interrupts or aborts execution of tool; escape to the user
interface.
The SCSI Floppy Expert Tool allows low-level access to SCSI floppy
devices by issuing SCSI commands.
Although this tool uses the term "SCSI", the real name for the protocol is SCSI-2. SCSI-2 is a popular standard protocol for a class of devices such as disks and tapes. SCSI-2 includes:
If you experience problems, consult the Troubleshooting help topic.
To run the SCSI Floppy Expert Tool on a device:
If you want to test several floppys simultaneously, select a floppy, start an instance of the expert tool, select another floppy, start another instance of the expert tool, and so forth.
The following procedure is one possible method for troubleshooting
floppys. The idea is to perform quick tests first to find easy
problems then to perform more time-consuming tests to find less
obvious problems.
To troubleshoot a suspect floppy:
If you run into problems, see the Troubleshooting help topic.
Consult the Failure Log (for failures) and the Test Activity Log, accessible from the STM main window.
Make sure the device is connected, powered on, and on-line.
You can stop the executing function by pressing the INTERRUPT in the window of the expert tool. To stop the expert tool entirely and return to the xstm Main Window, press the ABORT.
To reduce the chance of this problem occurring, specify a smaller scope for the function. For example, with the Verify command, select a block or range of blocks rather than the entire floppy.
The SCSI Floppy Expert Tool offers the following commands through
menus:
The Save As command in the File pulldown menu saves the contents of the tool's main window. ( Only the most recent 200 lines can be saved. )
The Print command in the File pulldown menu prints the contents of the tool's main window. ( Only the most recent 200 lines can be saved. )
Use the Exit function key to leave the SCSI Floppy
Expert Tool and return to the main STM window.
The Info pulldown menu provides access to
commands which are used to access information about the floppy drive.
The type of information available are the capacity of the floppy
through the Capacity menu, and
manufacturer information through the
Inquiry menu.
The Capacity command displays the following
information for the selected floppy drive:
Running this command is a quick way to check if the floppy is responding.
The Inquiry command displays the following
information for the selected floppy drive:
Running this command is a quick way to check if the floppy is responding.
The Tests function provides access to a
number of floppy device exercises. This includes access to the
device's built-in test ( Selftest),
servo positioning tests (Seek Test), and
data verification test (Verify).
The Selftest command starts the internal power-on selftest for the selected device. Tests are device-dependent and are described in the support documentation for each drive.
After selecting the test, you are queried for the number of loops for the test to execute (default is 1).
Full path: Tests | Selftest
The Seek Test function provides access
to three variation of the servo position test. These variations
exercises the positioning mechanism is different ways. They are:
Refer to the appropriate section for more detail information.
Full path: Tests | Seek Test
The Alternate command causes the drive to perform
seeks between two specified addresses. The command is useful for
testing the servo circuitry (head positioning mechanism).
After selecting the test, you are queried for the addresses of the two blocks between which the seek is performed. You are also queried for the number of loops for the test to execute (default is 1).
Full path: Tests | Seek Test | Alternate
The Butterfly command causes the drive to perform a
series of seeks over the entire floppy surface. The test moves the
drive heads between the innermost track and the outmost track, then
works its way towards the center of the tracks. The command is useful
for testing the servo circuitry (head positioning mechanism).
NOTE: The Butterfly command can take a long time to execute.
Full path: Tests | Seek Test | Butterfly
The Random command causes the drive to perform a
seek to a random address. The command is useful for testing the servo
circuitry (head positioning mechanism).
After selecting the test, you are queried for the number of loops for the test to execute (default is 1).
Full path: Tests | Seek Test | Random
The Verify command verifies the data on a selected
or random area on the surface of the drive's media.
After you start the test, you are queried for:
If you choose "Random Area" option, the tool randomly generates a start address and an end address for verification. All blocks in this range are tested sequentially. This option is useful when you want to exercise the floppy but are not concerned about a specific area.
If you choose "Selected Area" option, you specify a "Start Block Address" and an "End Block Address" for verification. All blocks in this range are tested sequentially.
For each loop (iteration), the Verify command sequentially verifies the range of blocks randomly selected or that you have selected.
Full path: Tests | Verify
The Utility pulldown menu provides access to commands to initialize the media, display data, spare bad regions, and write/overwrite data. The list below shows the various commands available with a synopsis of its function:
The Format Unit command prepares a new floppy for access by initializing all data surfaces and organizing the sectors into logical blocks. Surfaces with defective areas will be relocated to ensure data reliability.
CAUTION: The Format Unit command will destroy all user data on the floppy drive! If you want to preserve data on the floppy, press "Cancel" to cancel the command.
The Format Unit command can take a long time to execute. The time required for the Format Unit command depends on the capacity of the floppy drive (about 1 second per Mbyte). For example, formatting a 1-Gbyte (1000-Mbyte) drive takes about 1000 seconds, or 17 minutes.
NOTE: To stop the command once it has begun, press the ABORT. (The Format Unit command does not respond to the INTERRUPT.) If you stop the command in the middle of execution, the floppy will be unformatted. You will have to re-execute the Format Unit command for the floppy to be usable.
The Read command reads any block of data on the selected device into a buffer for examination and for subsequent write operations (the Write command).
By default, the data is displayed in both hexadecimal and its ASCII equivalent. You can optionally choose to turn off the display of data.
The command only buffers one block of data at a time, so multiple read operations overwrite the previous content of the buffer.
The Write command writes data to the floppy drive and can be used to verify the operation of the device's write circuitry. This command has three variations:
After you select the Write command, you are queried whether to perform a Write, a Read-then-Write. You are also queried for the destination block(s) for the operation.
CAUTION: The Write operation will write data to any block you specify on the floppy. Data that currently exists in the block will be destroyed.
The Read-then-Write operation operation is non-destructive because they write data back to the location from which it was originally read.
The Options pulldown menu provide access to the Display Format menu.
This will allow the user to select the format of which information from the device is displayed when implemented.
The Interpreted command causes internal status data or logs to be displayed or printed in an interpreted (ASCII) format.
Full path: Options | Display Format | Interpreted
/Interpreted
The Hex command causes internal status data or logs to be displayed or printed in a hexadecimal format.
Full path: Options | Display Format | Hex/Interpreted
The Help menu provide access to information about the tool in general, command available within the tool, and version information. General information and tool commands information is access through the Help button and version information is available through the Version button.
The Help command displays online help for the SCSI Floppy Expert Tool (the help system you are currently viewing).
For information on using the help system, select the "Using Help..." command in the Help menu in the Help window.
For online help on STM as a whole, use the Help menu in the STM main window.
The Version command displays version and copyright information for the SCSI Floppy Expert Tool.
Pressing Control-C (CNTL-C) allows you to interrupt or abort execution of tool, or to escape to the user interface. After you press Control-C, the following function keys are displayed:
The ESCAPE TO UI function key allows you to disconnect from the currently executing tool and return to the main User Interface (UI) command level. To reconnect to the tool, use the Attach to Tool menu item in the Tools->Tool Management pulldown menu.
The INTERRUPT function key allows you to interrupt the tool.
When the tool receives the interrupt, it stops whatever it is doing and asks you if you want to continue with the operation. If the reply is "Continue", the tool resumes what it was doing at the time of the interrupt. If the reply is "Abort", it terminates the operation and returns to the SCSI Floppy Expert Tool main menu.
The tool may not immediately receive the interrupt as it could be in the middle of an operation that should not or could not be interrupted. The interrupt is received as soon as the tool completes the operation.
The tool will receive and ignore user interrupts when it is already in the process of returning to the main pulldown menu of the tool.
The ABORT pulldown menu allows you to abort the tool.
The tool will be requested to abort and the state of the tool execution in the system map will be set to ABORT_PENDING. When the tool actually exits, its state will be set to ABORTED.
The CONTINUE function key allows you to continue with tool execution. The tool will continue execution just as if the Control-C keys had not been pressed.