AccuLogic IDE Controller Incompatible with ScanDisk (108016)

SYMPTOMS

AccuLogic has confirmed that running MS-DOS 6.2 ScanDisk on a hard disk drive controlled by the AccuLogic Side 3 Plus IDE controller may result in data loss if you allow ScanDisk to perform a surface scan.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when the AccuLogic Side 3 Plus IDE controller is configured for an IDE drive type not directly supported by the ROM BIOS of the system and the AccuLogic ROM BIOS is enabled.

NOTE: AccuLogic has confirmed that this problem occurs due to a limitation of the AccuLogic ROM BIOS. The potential for data loss on these controller cards is not limited to ScanDisk--it exists for other surface-scan programs that make interrupt 25h and interrupt 26h calls (absolute sector reads and writes). The AccuLogic ROM BIOS does not properly resolve these interrupt calls.

RESOLUTION

If your computers BIOS supports an IDE drive type that is similar to your IDE hard drive's actual or logical characteristics, it may be possible to disable the AccuLogic ROM BIOS and use your computer's ROM BIOS to support the drive. This would allow all ScanDisk functions to run successfully.

If your IDE hard drive cannot be supported by your computer's ROM BIOS, you should not run the ScanDisk surface scan on that drive. All other ScanDisk features (media descriptor, file allocation tables, directory structure, and file system) should work properly.

MORE INFORMATION

If you cannot successfully run the surface-scan portion of ScanDisk on your IDE drive, you should not install MS-DOS DoubleSpace. Also, you should not use Microsoft Defragmenter (Defrag) since it uses interrupt calls 25H and 26H to move the information stored in one cluster to another.

For information on what drive types are supported by the ROM BIOS of your computer, contact your hardware vendor. For information on configuring the AccuLogic controller, call AccuLogic Technical Support at (714) 454-2441.