Thread: "parking" hard drive in DOS?

  1. #1
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    "parking" hard drive in DOS?

    I hard there was a dos command where the user can "park" their hard drive after use. anyone remember it?

  2. #2
    The Artful Lurker Deckard's Avatar
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    Yes, I remember. The command was "park", but I don't believe it came with MS-DOS (usually supplied by the drive manufacturer). Parking drives went out with the RLL/MFM controllers. Unless you have a very old hard drive, you don't need a park utility.
    Jason Deckard

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    Registered User Scourfish's Avatar
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    Parking is for really old hard drives. The heads on a hard disk are suspended on a cloud of air generated by the spinning platter on the hard disk. When the system would turn off and the platter slow down to a stop, the head would sometimes land on the disk and damage part of it. Parking the drive would move the head to a safe spot designated on the hard disk to land. Current hard disks do not need this because when the power to a machine is turned off (suddenly or by going through proper shut down procedures), a spring or magnet automatically moves it to a safe landing spot.

  4. #4
    Just because ygfperson's Avatar
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    i remember it. the hard drive was 30 mb, and even it didn't need to be parked. tried the command a few times, but it didn't really do anything.

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    _B-L-U-E_ Betazep's Avatar
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    It was only for winchester drive types. Most drives do not have heads that float over the disk...
    Blue

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    Normal vector Carlos's Avatar
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    There's no program in native MS-DOS for parking heads. It must have been some specialized program, which came with the drive.

    You can make such a program if you take a closer look to Ralph Brown's Interrupt list, and figure out which command do you have to send to which port in case of a given HDD. As I remember, there were slight differences.

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    www.entropysink.com
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    Originally posted by Betazep
    It was only for winchester drive types. Most drives do not have heads that float over the disk...
    What do they do then?
    Visit entropysink.com - It's what your PC is made for!

  8. #8
    The Artful Lurker Deckard's Avatar
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    Originally posted by RobR
    What do they do then?
    Osmosis :)
    Jason Deckard

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    www.entropysink.com
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    Heh heh heh!!!
    Visit entropysink.com - It's what your PC is made for!

  10. #10
    Normal vector Carlos's Avatar
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    >> All relationships are emptying and temporary...

    I don't agree with that.
    My girlfriend is the same I had in all my previous lives. And everything is perfect.

    Visit us on Orion#3!
    You're welcome.

    Btw, what do you call temporary?

    Sorry for crossposting, but there's no [reincarnation] board here (yet).

  11. #11
    www.entropysink.com
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    Originally posted by Carlos
    >> All relationships are emptying and temporary...

    I don't agree with that.
    My girlfriend is the same I had in all my previous lives. And everything is perfect.

    Visit us on Orion#3!
    You're welcome.

    Btw, what do you call temporary?

    Sorry for crossposting, but there's no [reincarnation] board here (yet).
    It's a lyric from a song. Not necessarily my view. I'd tell you the band / song, but it's much more fun to make you guess!!!
    Visit entropysink.com - It's what your PC is made for!

  12. #12
    _B-L-U-E_ Betazep's Avatar
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    >>>What do they do then?

    Sorry... Winchester disks have foils that allow the air created by rotation to lift the head off of the disk. When the disk is formatted a special 'park' zone is created for the head to land on to keep from damaging data areas. The head parks on proper shut-down, when requested, etc. On inproper shutdown, older winchester type hard drives came to a grinding halt on the data section. That is why older disks had bad sectors and tracks (pysical damage) more often than today's disks.

    Many modern disks also ride on an air cushion, but they do not need to be parked. Many are fixed distance and do not float, instead they are suspended above the disk, and never touch the disk.

    I am typing this tired.... hopefully cleared up the confusion.
    Blue

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