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Section C:
Utility Programs
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$!NIT
*
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C.l2. $INIT - Initializing Diskettes
Factory-fresh
diskettes
are delivered either unformatted or
formatted
according
to some standard,
depending on the
manufacturer.
Diskettes
must be formatted in some manner in order to be of any use at all. It is
thus necessary to initialize diskettes before putting them into use,
$INIT belongs to the class of menu-driven programs. It is started simply
by typing
$INIT5
$INIT8
$INITHD
for mini diskettes,
for standard diskettes
for the harddisk.
and
The
menu has three columns:
The left column serves for
selecting
the
drive with the diskette to be initialized,
and the middle column offers
a list of available diskette formats, Finally, the right column contains
the command list.
For those in a hurry a specific format is predefined.
You will see that
the window is positioned at the
11
START
11
command. This means that a touch
of the ENTER key
will
start the formatting process without delay.
After you selected "START", a dot scale appears in the middle of the CRT
screen.
Each
dot represents a track to be formatted.
Of
course,
the
scale
for
mini disks has another length than that for standard
disks,
After a track has been initialized, the corresponding dot is replaced by
an
"!".
When the formatting phase has run to completion,
$!NIT does
a
second pass over all tracks,
this time verifying the disk by proofread-
ing. Accordingly, the "I
11
s are now replaced by "V"s for each successful-
ly verified track.
If the disk has been found
in
order after formatting and verifying,
the
program
notifies you in the bottom line of the screen.
Any errors
are
reported there, too.
What if you want to stop initialization? Well, it is the standard proce-
dure you will know since long:
type CONTROL-C or another
=>
BREAK char-
acter. Formatting is immediately aborted.
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•
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•
•
Initializing diskettes will destroy any data stored
C 0 M P L E T E L Y
So be careful to insert the correct diskette
BEFORE
you select
11
START'
1
!
*
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EOS User
1
s manual
Daeumling & Zimmermann
Page 81
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