How to create the MHDD.CFG file?

[BigG]

Thanks for any help.

I've a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 (120GB) disk, and it has million bad sectors. But no noise. I guess something like firmware was corrupted.

I got a copy of MHDD30 this morning, and run it under Win98Se boot disk.

The MHDD30 complains that the "Primary port [1F0] is disabled. To enable, see MHDD.cfg".

The problem is, I could not find that file on floppy disk (it suppose to create one after first run of the MHDD), and I could not find any documentation about that file either.

I really need your help here.

p.s. The computer I'm using to try fixing the hard disk is a Dell Optiplex.

Thanks very much.

[Dmitry_Postrigan]

Look in CFG\ directory.

[BigG]

Look in CFG\ directory.

Thanks for the quick help.

The CFG directory on my boot floppy disk? I've checked and there is no such directory on the disk before and after running the MHDD30.exe.

Posted 11/10/2004, 14:11:

Look in CFG\ directory.

Sorry for the mistake. I found it. Will give it a try.

Thanks very much.

Posted 11/10/2004, 14:23:

Look in CFG\ directory.

Well, after serveral tries, it still did not work, even though I already modified the mhdd.cfg file like the following:

PRIMARY_ENABLED=TRUE
AUTODETECT_ENABLED=TRUE
#DEVICE=3
#SCAN_ENDCYL=-1
#SCAN_ENDLBA=-1
#SCAN_STARTCYL=0
#SCAN_STARTLBA=0
#SCAN_ERASEWAITSDELAY=250
#SCAN_LOG=0
#SCAN_TIMEOUT=60
#SCAN_MENUX=20
#SCAN_MENUY=5
#SCAN_SLEEP=0

I've put the mhdd.cfg under the root of boot disk and also under CFG\ directory. Unfortunately that did not help.

[Dmitry_Postrigan]

Do not move cfg file anywhere. Just edit it.

For now:
1. delete all cfg files from your floppy
2. Run MHDD and select any port
3. exit
4. edit .cfg (do not touch anything but primary_enabled value). Do not type additional spaces, etc.
5. run mhdd. It will tell you whether primary is enabled or no.
6. if yes, select your drive and begin.

[BigG]

Do not move cfg file anywhere. Just edit it.

For now:
1. delete all cfg files from your floppy
2. Run MHDD and select any port
3. exit
4. edit .cfg (do not touch anything but primary_enabled value). Do not type additional spaces, etc.
5. run mhdd. It will tell you whether primary is enabled or no.
6. if yes, select your drive and begin.

Thanks for help me out here.

Well, I did exactly as you said, and here is the mhdd.cfg file generated automatically by the program:

PRIMARY_ENABLED=TRUE
#AUTODETECT_ENABLED=TRUE
#DEVICE=3
#PRIMARY_ENABLED=FALSE

I did not change anything here. Seems the primary was enabled automatically. Unfortunately when I restart the program, it still says the primary is disabled.

What else I can do?

p.s. I have a copy of Hiren's BootCD (version 6), and it contains a copy of your old release of mhdd. Under that prgram, I can access primary controller.

p.p.s. Which function can actually fix the the bad sectors by your program? I did not see any reference in the manual or the program.

Thanks again.

[Dmitry_Postrigan]

PRIMARY_ENABLED=TRUE

Ok, now i understand...
DO NOT remove anything like "#" symbol. Just change FALSE to TRUE.

Then you need to run scan procedure to see how many bad sectors there are. If it is not more than 10000 for entire drive, you can try first to make "erase", then scan+remap.

[BigG]

PRIMARY_ENABLED=TRUE

Ok, now i understand...
DO NOT remove anything like "#" symbol. Just change FALSE to TRUE.

Then you need to run scan procedure to see how many bad sectors there are. If it is not more than 10000 for entire drive, you can try first to make "erase", then scan+remap.

Thanks. It really worked this time. (with "#").

Dmitry, you are the man.

[pc3000hrt]

THANK YOU DMITRY AND BIGG

[paul1149]

I'm running MDHH from a writable USB stick so I can edit the config file. I have only

#PRIMARY_ENABLED=TRUE
#AUTODETECT_ENABLED=TRUE

in the file. When I fire up MDHH attached to a windows netbook it says the primary is enabled. But it doesn't see the drive. It keeps saying "drive not ready". It seems the only way to access the drive is to pull it and tether it to another computer, but that's no small task in some netbooks. Is there something I'm missing here? Thanks.

[Vulcan]

Is there something I'm missing here?

Can you alter the SATA controller setting in the BIOS setup on that netbook (and, if so, what is it currently set to, what have you tried already, and what are the available options)?

On those netbooks I've seen, you can't alter that setting (and many laptops also have limited or no options for this too), and that BIOS limitation will likely be your problem. That's why it is often necessary to (temporarily) move netbook & laptop drives to a desktop system, with a more configurable BIOS, in order to follow the instructions for SATA controller setting in the MHDD manual.

[paul1149]

Vulcan, the bios is very simple for the netbook, but it did have an AHCI/IDE setting for the hard drive, currently set to AHCI. I didn't think to try changing it. I'm writing zeros with DBN currently, but when it's done I'll toggle that setting and try MDHH again. One other DOS-based disk prog also couldn't see the HDD, but DBN does see it. Thanks much.

[Vulcan]

Thanks for the info. You're lucky that BIOS has an IDE option, and if it is currently set to AHCI then that is why MHDD and other DOS programs are not detecting the drive. When you toggle the SATA controller setting to IDE, MHDD has a much better chance of working.

I assume that when you say "DBN" that is "DBAN", and if so then this has no problem using the AHCI BIOS setting, hence why it works

[paul1149]

Ok, perfect confirmation! Looking forward to being able to fire up MDHH in place. BTW, I do see the ahci/ide toggle very often in netbooks, so this may be shaping up to be a doable rescue procedure for me. Thanks again.

[paul1149]

That ahci/ide switch was indeed the problem. MHDD saw the drive immediately once it was switched. Thanks, Vulcan! I'll report the actual results in the other thread I've got running.