4.1 Configuring Your Drive
There are two types of BIOS that can play a role in the use of the WD1007A with the
ESDI drive: the system BIOS and the WD1007A BIOS. If the system BIOS is used, the
exact physical drive parameters for the drive must be present in the system BIOS tables.
In terms of maximum flexibility and adaptability with different drives, Western Digital
recommends the use of the WD1007A BIOS.
4.1.1 Using the System BIOS
The system BIOS refers to the BIOS that is controlling the computer, i.e., Phoenix, IBM-
AT, Faraday. If the appropriate drive parameter tables are present, the system BIOS can
be used, along with the operating system (MSDOS, SCO XENIX) to partition and per-
form high level formatting of the drive.
Examine the system parameter tables using one of the following three methods:
1. To determine if a system BIOS has the physical drive parameters required for your
ESDI drive, use the set-up diskette for your system to see if the appropriate number of
heads, cylinders and sectors per track are listed. If they are not listed, the system BIOS
probably does not have the required parameter tables. Use other means, such as
WDFMT or the WD1007A BIOS, to perform a low level format.
2. Another way of examining the system parameter tables to determine if the drive is
listed in the BIOS is to use the DOS Debug Utility.
Although some systems locate drive parameters in other locations, the standard location
in the AT BIOS is F000:E401. The proper command at the DEBUG prompt (-) is as
follows:
df000:e401 <CR>
This corresponds to drive type 1 and will display 8 lines of data from the BIOS ROM.
By entering another " d" at the DEBUG prompt, another eight lines of data will be
displayed, corresponding to drive type 2, etc. This procedure is continued until all drive
parameter information for all drive types is displayed. If your drive's parameters are
encountered in this process, the system BIOS recognizes your particular drive.
