Initializes disk sector and track address fields on a drive attached to the ESDI Fixed Disk Drive Adapter/A.
Call with:
AH = 1AH
AL = relative block address (RBA) defect table count
0 if no RBA table
>0 if RBA table used
CL = format modifier bits
Bit(s) Significance (if set)
0 ignore primary defect map
1 ignore secondary defect map
2 update secondary defect map (see Notes)
3 perform extended surface analysis
4 generate periodic interrupt (see Notes)
5—7 reserved (must be 0)
DL = drive
80H—FFH fixed disk
ES:BX = segment:offset of RBA table
Returns:
If function successful
Carry flag = clear
AH = 00H
If function unsuccessful
Carry flag = set
AH = status (see Int 13H Function 01H)
Notes:
This operation is sometimes called a "low level format" and prepares the disk for physical read/write operations at the sector level. The drive must be subsequently partitioned with the FDISK command and then given a "high level format" with the FORMAT command to install a file system.
If bit 4 of register CL is set, Int 15H is called with AH = 0FH and AL = phase code after each cylinder is formatted or analyzed. The phase code is defined as:
0 = reserved 1 = surface analysis 2 = formatting
See also Int 15H Function 0FH.
If bit 2 of register CL is set, the drive's secondary defect map is updated to reflect errors found during surface analysis. If both bit 2 and bit 1 are set, the secondary defect map is replaced.
For an extended surface analysis, the disk should first be formatted by calling this function with bit 3 cleared, then analyzed by calling this function with bit 3 set.