 Diamond Edge Demo Version Extendible Help System
 File: MEDIC.HLP
 Topics covered:
  
    ù  Testing Your Disk Structure
    ù  Disk Medic Report
    ù  Mapping Bad Sectors on Your Disk
    ù  Map Bad Report 
    ù  Creating Validation Files
    ù  Validating Files
    ù  What to do if a Validation Error is Identified
    ù  Partitioning Your Hard Drive
    ù  Partitioning Options
    ù  Partitioning Actions
 
 
 
 ù  Testing Your Disk Structure
 
       As with all of Diamond Edge's functions, the Disk Medic 
 can be performed on either floppy disks or hard disk partitions.  
 We strongly recommend that you perform run Disk Medic on ALL or 
 your hard disk partitions at least once a week.  
 
       There are several basic options, selectable through the 
 Medic Menu, that control the action of Disk Medic.  If you select 
 Auto-Fix errors, then Diamond Edge will automatically correct all 
 disk errors found during the Disk Medic evaluation of the active 
 drive.  It will log all errors found in a error file MEDIC_X.ERR 
 where X is the active drive.  Disk Medic Error files are saved to 
 the directory specified for Validation files in the Preferences 
 menu.  After the Disk Medic pass, you may view the error file for 
 information on what errors were found and fixed.
 
       If you decide not to Automatically fix errors. You may 
 then view the error file from the Disk Medic Report to find out 
 what errors were found and what files are effected.  At this point 
 you may either cancel without fixing the errors or instruct the 
 Disk Medic to fix the errors.
 
      When you fix the disk errors you may select to either discard 
 the data in the lost clusters or to save the data in the lost 
 clusters to a file.   When you select Save Lost Clusters from the 
 Medic Menu, any lost clusters will be saved to a file LOSTCLUS.DAT 
 when the active drive is fixed.  If LOSTCLUS.DAT already exists on 
 the active drive, then LOSTCLU0.DAT, LOSTCLUS1.DAT etc. will be 
 created in succession.
 
      To begin the Disk Medic Pass of the active drive, select 
 Test Disk from the Medic Menu.  Remember that the drive you are 
 testing is the Active drive. If you want to test more than one 
 drive in a single pass select Test Multiple from the Medic Menu.  
 The Test Multiple selection dialog will then be displayed.  Select 
 all of the drives that you want to run Disk Medic on and then 
 select Test Drives.  
 
      The Disk Medic pass then proceeds to examine the entire 
 disk structure looking for errors.  As the Disk Medic pass proceeds 
 the location of the disk being examined is displayed in the graphic 
 window.  Areas where errors are detected are displayed in 
 Red(cross hatch in monochrome).  When the Disk Medic pass is 
 complete the Disk Medic Report screen is displayed.
 
 ù  Disk Medic Report
 
       This screen gives the total number of each type of disk 
 error, described above, that was found on the active drive.  
 If Auto-Fix was selected, any errors detected were corrected 
 during the Disk Medic pass.  This is indicated by the Disk 
 Errors Have Been Fixed message in the Report Screen.  
 
       If Auto-Fix was not selected and errors were detected this 
 would be indicated by the message Disk Errors Need To Be Fixed 
 and the appearance of a Fix Now button on the Disk Medic 
 report screen.
 
       Any errors detected and the files they effect can be viewed 
 from the Medic Report screen by selecting View.  If Auto-Fix was 
 not selected and you want to fix the disk errors, then selected 
 Fix Now from the Medic Report screen.  This will launch another 
 Disk Medic pass that will fix all of the disk errors.  If you do 
 not want to fix the errors now, then select Cancel.  If no errors 
 were found or after Disk errors have been fixed, select Continue.
 
 
 ù   Mapping Bad Sectors on Your Disk
 
      You may either Map Bad sectors on just the active drive or 
 on Any multiple drives.  The status of the Auto-Fix option in the 
 Medic menu effects whether bad sectors are automatically marked bad 
 or just recorded for review.  When you select Map Bad Sectors from 
 the Medic Menu the Bad Sector Mapping Preferences Dialog is 
 displayed.  There are three types of Bad Sector Mapping available:
 
 ù  Read - Read  Non-destructive:  This method of mapping bad 
    sectors reads each sector of the active drive twice and compares 
    the data.  If the information read is not the same then that 
    sector is identified as bad.  The data already existing on your 
    hard drive is not effected.
 
 
 ù  Read - Write - Read   Non-destructive:  This method of mapping 
    bad sectors reads each sector of the active drive and writes it 
    back to the hard drive.  The sector is then read in again and 
    compared to the data originally read.  If the information is 
    not the same then that sector is identified as bad.  The 
    existing data on the active drive is not effected.
 
 ù  Write - Read   Destructive:  This method of bad sector mapping 
    writes a random bit pattern to each sector on the active drive 
    and then reads that sector back.  If  the information read back 
    is not the same as the random bit pattern that was written then 
    that sector is marked as bad.  This is a destructive mapping and 
    all data existing on the drive will be destroyed.
 
      The effectiveness of all methods can be increased 
 by performing multiple bad sector mapping passes. The number of 
 passes that you want to perform is entered in the Mapping Bad 
 Sectors preferences dialog.  The time it takes to complete the 
 process increases with the number of passes.  When you are ready 
 to begin mapping bad sectors, select Map Bad Sectors Now.
 
      The Map Bad Sector  pass then proceeds to examine the 
 entire disk surface looking for errors.  As the Map Bad pass 
 proceeds, the location of the disk being examined is displayed 
 in the graphic window.  Areas where errors are detected are 
 displayed in Red(cross hatch in monochrome).  When the Map Bad 
 pass is complete the Map Bad Report screen is displayed.
 
 ù  Map Bad Report 
 
      The logical sector numbers of each bad sector found is 
 displayed in the Map Bad Report screen.  If Auto-Fix was not 
 selected and errors were detected this would be indicated by the 
 message Disk Errors Need To Be Fixed and the appearance of a 
 Fix Now button on the Map Bad Report screen.
 
 
 ù  Creating Validation Files
 
       To create a CRC validation file from the active drive, 
 select Create CRC File from the Medic Menu, to create a Checksum 
 validation file for the active drive select Create Checksum File.  
 The validation file will automatically be created and stored in 
 the path designated in the user preferences.  Validation files 
 are named VALIDY_X.VLD where Y is the validation type 
 (C=Checksum and R= CRC) and X is the active drive.  
 
 ù  Validating Files
 
       To perform a validation of the active disk select Validate 
 Files from the Medic Menu.  A standard GEM file selector will 
 appear and ask you for the reference validation file to use.  
 
       When you have selected the validation file you will be 
 asked what action to take when the program encounters a file 
 that is not in the reference validation file.  You have the 
 option of either automatically adding the new file to the 
 existing validation file, skipping all new files, or being 
 prompted for action each time a file not contained in the 
 reference file is encountered.  
 
       At anytime during the creation of a validation file or 
 the validation of files you may pause the process to study the 
 screen  by selecting Control-S.  To restart the process, select 
 Control-Q.  You may abort the entire process by selecting 
 Control-C. 
 
 ù  What to do if a Validation Error is Identified
 
       A file validation error occurs when the calculated 
 CRC/Checksum value does not match the value stored in the 
 reference validation file.  Each time this occurs you will be 
 notified on the screen and the effected file will be recorded 
 in a file named VALID_X.ERR where X is the active drive.

       If a validation error is recorded DON'T panic.  After the 
 validation is complete, view the effected files recorded in the 
 validation error file.   Even though a validation error is 
 observed, you may not actually have a corrupted file, refer to 
 your manual foradditional information..  
 
 
 ù  Partitioning Your Hard Drive
 
       It is strongly suggested that the reader consult 
 Section 8 of this manual before attempting to use this function.  
 This will give the reader the basic understanding of disk and 
 partition structure necessary to fully utilize this function.  
 
       After selecting Partition SCSI Disk, the existing 
 partitioning information will be read off the disk.  If valid 
 partitioning information exists on the disk it will be displayed 
 as the basis to begin the partitioning session.  
 
       There are three basic editing modes: Start/End sectors, 
 Size, and Partition Type.  The current editing mode is displayed 
 at the bottom of the partition window.   To change fields within
 an edit mode, you may use the usual Arrow and Tab keys or point 
 the mouse and click the left button.  To change edit modes click 
 on the object that you want to edit with the left mouse button.   
 
       As you edit your partitions there are two basic rules 
 regarding the sizes and locations of partitions: 1) Partitions 
 must be sequential i.e. the start of partition #2 is after the 
 end of partition #1 and 2) You cannot create partitions whose 
 total size exceeds the size of your hard disk.  
 
 ù  Disk Partitioning Options
 
       The following partitioning aids are provided to expedite 
 the task of partitioning your disk:
 
 ù  Display Size Mode:   You can select to have the disk and
    partition size information displayed in either Sectors or Megs.  
    Diamond Edge displays Megs consistent with the ICD definition 
    Meg = 1,000,000 bytes.  Note that this is different than the 
    traditional definition of a Megabyte = 1,048,576 bytes used by 
    Atari.
 
 ù  Split:  Selecting split will split your hard disk into a number 
    of partitions of equal size.  You will be prompted for the 
    number of partitions to split.  An easy way to partition your 
    hard disk into one large partition is to split the disk into 
    1 partition.
 
 ù  Maximum:  Selecting this option will create as many GEM 
    partitions of the maximum allowable size, for the Rom Version 
    you have selected, that can fit on your disk.  An additional 
    partition will be created with any excess disk space.
 
 ù  Clear:   Selecting this option will clear all entered 
    partitioning information.
 
 ù  Reset:  This option will reset the displayed partitioning 
    information to the original information read off the hard disk.
 
 ù  Atari/ICD:  Selecting this button will toggle the state of the 
    extended partitioning mode. If Atari is selected then extended 
    partitions, (more than 4 partitions on the same hard disk) will 
    be laid out in accordance with the Atari extended partition 
    standard.  If ICD is selected, extended partitions will be laid 
    out in accordance with the ICD/Supra extended partition standard.  
    Please see section 8.2 for a complete description of extended 
    partitions.
 
 ù  TOSxxx:  Selecting this button will toggle the state of the 
    Rom dependence mode.  If TOS1.02 is selected, then partitions 
    whether GEM or BGM will be limited to 32,767 clusters.  These 
    disks will be able to be read on any ST regardless of ROM 
    version.  If you have TOS 1.4 or above you can specify that 
    partitions may include up to 65,535 clusters.  These disks 
    cannot be accessed by machines with TOS1.02 or 1.00.
 
 
 ù  Save:  You can save the hard disk partitioning information 
    currently displayed to a file for future reference or 
    installation.  This option creates a SCSI disk information 
    file equivalent to those created by the Save SCSI Information 
    function of the Archive menu.
 
 ù  Load:  You can load previously saved partition information 
    files by selecting this function.  This is useful for 
    partitioning a new disk "just like" another disk.  The loaded 
    information is fully editable.
 
 ù  Print:  Selecting this option will print a copy of the currently 
    displayed partition information to your printer.  The use of 
    this option is HIGHLY recommended. Having the partitioning 
    information in physical sector 0 wiped out is a more frequent 
    occurrence than most people might imagine.  You should always 
    have a printout of your partition parameters and a SCSI 
    information file saved to floppy disk.
 
 ù  Recalculate:  At any time during your editing session you can 
    recalculate the amount of available space on your disk.  You can 
    either click on the Recalculate button or press the Return key to 
    update the available information.  All of the currently selected 
    options are taken into account and some of the partitions may 
    begin in a slightly different place after recalculation.  This is 
    due to changes in the control sector requirements of the different 
    extended partitioning protocols.  
 
 ù  Active:   Remember to specify which drives you want to be active.  
    Diamond Edge allows up to 64 different partitions installed on 
    each disk.  However, GEMDOS only allows a total of 14 active 
    partitions on all your hard drives.  Changing the Active status 
    of extra partitions and using the Install Information Only option 
    is a convenient way to create "Secret" partitions on your hard 
    drive not accessible unless you reactivate it.
 
 ù  Disk Partitioning Actions
 
       After you are satisfied with the partitioning information 
 currently displayed you have four action options:
 
 ù  Install Only:   Select this option if you only want to install 
    the current partition information without rebuilding any 
    partitions.  This is used to change the activation status of 
    hidden partitions or to reinstall the partition information 
    after a hard disk crash without changing any of the data on 
    the hard drive.  
 
 ù  Install and Rebuild One:  This option will install the 
    displayed partition information and rebuild one specified 
    partition.  Rebuilding a partition involves the creation of 
    a boot sector, FAT sectors, and Root Directory sectors of the 
    appropriate size on the specified partition and then zeroing 
    them.  All data in the area effected will be lost.
 
 ù  Install and Rebuild All:  Use this option to repartition your 
    entire hard disk.  The current disk partitioning information 
    will be installed and all partitions will be rebuilt.  All 
    existing data on the entire hard disk will be lost.
 
    If you Accidently Rebuild a partition and need information that 
 was previously in that area you can recover the information by 
 reinstalling the old partitioning information and reinstalling the 
 disk structure from an archived Disk Information File.  
 See Archiving Disk Information for instructions on how to perform 
 these life saving actions.
 
 ù  Cancel: If you have not performed any other action, then 
    Selecting Cancel will return you to the Diamond Edge Basic 
    Window.  If you have installed partition information or rebuilt 
    one or more partitions, then selecting Cancel will perform a cold 
    reboot of your system.  This is required for the operating system 
    to become aware of the new  disk structure.
 
 
 
