Senior System Engine wrote on 2022-11-08, 23:59:

So I just bought a nice IBM PC350 486DX4-100MHz. It has a Sony Magneto-Optical drive in it. I've been around the block a few t […]
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So I just bought a nice IBM PC350 486DX4-100MHz. It has a Sony Magneto-Optical drive in it. I've been around the block a few times and can't believe I've never even heard of this technology, never mind seeing or owning one. Anyway, the hard drive was yanked from the machine so I've installed MS-DOS 6.22 and WFW 3.11. The Drive is connected to an Adaptec SCSI board. I have two 1.3GB cassettes for it. I've found the correct drivers and set them up in CONFIG.SYS and they load fine. I can't get the drive to be readable (i.e. format it or copy files to it).

Here's a summary of the Specs:

- Adaptec ISA SCSI interface Card (AIC-6360 Family/AHA-1522A)
- Sony Magneto-Optical Disk Drive (SMO-F531) 1.3GB @ 1024 Bytes/Sector

SCSI ID# - 5
Port – 340h

CONFIG.SYS:
BUFFERS=30
FILES=30
DEVICE=ASPI2DOS.SYS /D
DEVICE=ASPIDISK.SYS /D

When I run AFDISK.EXE, I get this error:
download/file.php?mode=view&id=149668

When I run SCSIFMT.EXE, I get this error:
download/file.php?mode=view&id=149669

Can anyone help me troubleshoot these cryptic errors or give me any help on how to proceed?

Thanks,
Scott

Welcome to Vogons 😀

You'll probably need a MO Disk Formatting utility (Sony used to use Disk Drive Tune Up by SAI - hard to find apparently). There is a Fujitsu one which may work - https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Windows-PC … atter-FREE.html

Thanks for the reply...I actually have the correct (supposedly) formatter (SCSIFMT.EXE) that I show the screenshot of the error above. I did find and try the Fujitsu formatter and it didn't recognize my Sony drive...Any ideas on the cryptic errors?

Yes SCSIFMT does support SCSI hard disk drives, removable media, Floptical drives, and magneto-optical drives. It is a Low-Level formatter so should be used with caution.
It is not a DOS formatter for already low-level formatted disks (like most HD and other removable are).
AFDISK is a DOS partition util but "SCSI disks not installed under the host adapter BIOS must be partitioned with AFDISK. AFDISK will allow you to add or delete a DOS partition, as well as delete a non-DOS partition."
So you should use Fdisk to partition since your MO is seen by the BIOS and should be under control of BIOS and OS.
Curious about the 1024byte/sector, that is non-standard for DOS/Win3x. 512 is (or2048 for CD)...maybe the IBM had a different OS or the disks were formatted under one ?
Just because the MO is seen by adaptec stuff does mean it actually works proper....

Thanks for the info...It seems like I'm 90% of the way there but the optical drive NEVER spins up??? It's recognized by all of the drivers and software but it does not make any sounds ever. It does accept the cartridge and ejects it also. I opened it up and didn't see any belt so I assume it's a direct drive servo motor...Taking a break for tonight...I'll hit it fresh in the morning...Thanks again, Scott

Senior System Engine wrote on 2022-11-09, 06:12:

Thanks for the info...It seems like I'm 90% of the way there but the optical drive NEVER spins up??? It's recognized by all of the drivers and software but it does not make any sounds ever. It does accept the cartridge and ejects it also. I opened it up and didn't see any belt so I assume it's a direct drive servo motor...Taking a break for tonight...I'll hit it fresh in the morning...Thanks again, Scott

Could you fix your MO drive?

I have a fujitsu m2512a 3 1/2 drive that never recognizes a disk inserted.. it will spin up and the head moves around but it wont load / read the disk
after a while windows will say there is no disk inserted...

thanx