Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 14:40:49 +0200 (IST)
From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
To: Cesar Scarpini Rabak <csrabak AT dce03 DOT ipt DOT br>
Cc: Simon Oke <simon AT loony DOT demon DOT co DOT uk>, djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: Drive Help
In-Reply-To: <1.5.4.16.19961025143513.385f35f8@dmeasc.rc.ipt.br>
Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.961027143816.14799N-100000@is>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, Cesar Scarpini Rabak wrote:

> But to check the availability of the hardware only isn't enough call INT 11h
> and check for bit 0 and bist 6-7?

This interrupt only knows about drives controlled by the system BIOS.  It 
will tell you nothing about network drives or CD-ROMs.  Even SCSI drives 
not always can be detected this way.

> >If you want to know whether a drive *could* be made available (as opposed 
> >to a disconnected or otherwise physically absent drive), there is no 
> >single way to do it AFAIK.  Floppy drives can be accessed on a BIOS or 
> 
> If the drive is physically connected (and not broken) shouldn't it be 
> available?

I consider a drive which is not ready (e.g., no floppy disk inside a 
drive) as ``not available'' (you can't chdir to it).