Category : Linux Files
Archive   : RAWRITE.ZIP
Filename : RAWRITE.DOC

RaWrite 1.2
-----------

Purpose
-------

Write a disk image file to a floppy disk.


Equipment/Software Requirements
-------------------------------

PC/XT/AT with a floppy disk drive capable of reading and writing a
floppy diskette.

This program uses generic low-level BIOS diskette read/write functions. It
should be portable to nearly every PC in existance. PS/2's should be able
to run RawWrite but this has not been tested.


CAVEAT
------

This program will write ANY disk file to a floppy, overwriting any previous
information that may have been present. If you wish to re-use a diskette
under MS-DOS thats been written to by RawWrite then the disk will need to be
reformatted; all MS-DOS specific information will have been erased.


Usage
-----

C> RAWRITE

And follow the prompts. All arguments are case-insensitive.

A sample run is shown below. The disk file being written, in this example,
is named DEMODISK and the destination - where the image is being written -
is the B: drive.

This program may be aborted at any time by typing ^C.


Sample Run
----------

C> RAWRITE
RaWrite 1.2 - Write disk file to raw floppy diskette

Enter source file name: DEMODISK
Enter destination drive: B
Please insert a formatted diskette into drive B: and press -ENTER- :
Writing image to drive B:


Errors
------

RaWrite attempts to determine if the diskette is a 360K, 720K, 1.2M, or
1.44M diskette by reading specific sectors. If the inserted diskette is not
one of the mentioned types, then RaWrite will abort with a short error
message.

Errors such as write protect, door open, bad disk, bad sector, etc. cause a
program abort with a short error message.


History
-------

1.0 - Initial release
1.1 - Beta test (fixing bugs) 4/5/91
Some BIOS's don't like full-track writes.
1.101 - Last beta release. 4/8/91
Fixed BIOS full-track write by only only
writing 3 sectors at a time.
1.2 - Final code and documentation clean-ups. 4/9/91