Low level formatting - [was Re: slow (s-l-o-w) install (TRY)]

[Mikkel L. Ellertson]

Alan Cox wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:54:52 -0600
> Frank Cox <theatre at sasktel.net> wrote:
> 
>> Low level what?  If you mean low-level formatting, I don't think that's been
>> possible to do with hard drives since the days of RLL and MFM.
> 
> Correct (well the very earliest days of IDE), and it wouldn't affect
> performance anyway.
> 
I can remember people killing the early IDE drives by low-level 
formatting. The tools for low-level formatting MFM/RLL drives would 
mess up the IDE drives. With later drives, they would ignore the 
low-level formatting attempts.

Themain reason for low-level formatting MFM/RLL drives was moving 
them to a new controller, or changing the interleave - nether are 
applicable to modern IDE/ATA drives. (It was easier to low-level 
format then to tweak the controller data clock to match the old 
controller.)

Mikkel
-- 

   Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!

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