README - WDCLEAR


PROGRAM SUMMARY:

    This program has options to Read Verify and Write the entire drive.
    It is used to scan the drive for errors and to reinitialize drives.
    It is recommended that WDCLEAR be run instead of the program WDFMT
    because of the improved user interface.

    If errors are detected with WDCLEAR, then the program WDAT_IDE
    can be run to restore the drive to defect-free status. WDAT_IDE
    only runs with Western Digital drives.


TO RUN THE PROGRAM:

    To run the program, type WDCLEAR at the DOS prompt.


COMMAND LINE OPTIONS:

    To run the program without menus, type WDCLEAR -tX at the DOS prompt.

    The -tX parameter must be included to specify one
    of the following tests:
        -t1     Read Verify Entire Drive
        -t2     Write 00s To Entire Drive 
        -t3     Write 00s To Cylinder 0

    Also, any of the following options may be specified
         -L      Enables output to log file
         -dX     Selects drive X 

                 X       Baseport       Drive

                 0       1F0            0
                 1       1F0            1
                 2       170            0
                 3       170            1
                 4       1E8            0
                 5       1E8            1
                 6       168            0
                 7       168            1

    For example, to Write drive 0 at baseport 168, type

                 WDCLEAR -t2 -d6


LOG FILE:

    The test results are stored in the file WDCLEAR.LOG.


DRIVES SUPPORTED:

    All IDE drives.


PROGRAM DETAILS:

    Test 1 - Verify Drive

       This option issues Read Verify commands to the entire drive and
       reports all errors. 


    Test 2 - Write Drive

       This option issues Write commands to the entire drive and
       reports all errors. The data pattern written is all 00s. 


    Test 3 - Write Cylinder 0 (available only from command line)

       This option issues Write commands to fill all sectors of
       cylinder 0 with 00s. This option can be used to remove
       the operating system records including the boot sector,
       fat tables, and partition information.



WDCLEAR ERROR CODES/DESCRIPTIONS:

The following errors can be reported while Verifying or Writing the drive.
For any error, the program WDAT_IDE can be run to try to remove the error
from the drive.


ERROR  ERROR
CODE   DESCRIPTION

  0    no error
  1    unknown error
  2    seek timeout
  3    write fault
  4    drive not ready
  5    busy glitch
  6    track 0 error
  8    seeking
 11    DIAG error
 12    IRQ timeout
 16    ID not found
 17    ECC error
 18    DAM error
 21    servo error
 24    ECC correctable
 25    bad track
 26    bad wedge
 32    aborted command
 34    busy timeout
 35    DRQ timeout
 36    bad sector
 37    relocated sector
 38    still busy timeout
 39    DRQ not expected
 40    DRQ timeout ECC
 50    Missing Interrupt


ERROR LEVELS ON EXIT

    The following error levels are set and can be tested in a batch file:
 
       0 = No Error
       1 = Program stopped by user
       2 = Errors occurred


VERSION HISTORY:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00, 27 Oct 95, dms

Initial release. (Replaces WDFMT 2.50)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.10, 9 Nov 95, dms

Change error reporting for correctable ecc errors. Now rereads each sector
of previous multi-sector command to determine the exact location of the
correctable ecc error. As part of this algorithm, reset and IDC commands 
have to be issued to clear BUSY, so when returning to DOS the user is forced
to reset the system.
 
Fix bug - Now scrolls to previous page properly when viewing 3 or more 
pages of error records.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.20, 16 may 96, dms

Show firmware string on the screen and in the log file.

Show the baseport and the drive number in the log file (already on the 
screen).

Returns to DOS with error message 'No Drive Found' during the
Select Drive option if no drives are found.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.30, 29 may 96, dms

Fix bug - When writing 00s to cyl 0 with command line option -t3, now
writes 00s instead of random data.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------