From: nobody@nowhere.com   
      
   On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 18:55:39 -0500, "Jim Nicholson"   
    wrote:   
      
   >If you have the DOS, you can boot from that. If you do not care about any   
   >data on the hard disk, you can do a low-level format by using the fdisk   
   >command. Make a list of all of the listed bad sectors before you start so   
   >they can be marked. After you finish with fdisk, just use the format C: /s   
   >command to do your high-level format and add the boot information to the   
   >hard disk. Then install your DOS normally. All versions up to 6.22 will   
   >work.   
      
   FDISK is a partitioning program, not a low-level formatter. To   
   low-level format an MFM drive, you normally run DEBUG and type   
   G=C800:5 (the address can vary, consult controller documentation).   
   Then run FDISK to partition the drive. Then FORMAT C: /S with a   
   bootable floppy in A:.   
      
   DOS up to 6.22 will work as you say, but 3.3 is best as it uses less   
   memory on a machine with no XMA or UMB's. The TX came with 3.2. The   
   original TX DOS can be downloaded from Tvdog's Archive.   
      
   >The hard drive is an MFM drive, and ANY MFM drive will work with the   
   >controller on the hard card. For large drives, a disk controller program   
   >like OnTrak might be needed to access the whole drive. You can also use a WD   
   >RLL controller (the card's address needs to be changed - it is different   
   >from an IBM XT) or an XT IDE controller (if you can find one)(an AT IDE   
   >controller will NOT work!) with an XT IDE hard drive - This setup was sold   
   >by Tandy as a hard card for the 1000TL series.   
      
   The MFM drive will need to match the MFM controller for number of   
   heads and sectors, though it can have more cylinders than the   
   controller needs (the extra cylinders will be ignored). Each   
   controller has a set of drive types that it supports; consult the   
   controller documentation (check the Total Hardware 99 site if none).   
   Same situation for RLL, which must match heads and sectors with an RLL   
   drive with the same or more cylinders. An RLL drive can be used with   
   an MFM controller but not vice versa as long as the heads and sectors   
   match (when used as an MFM drive, the RLL has fewer sectors, 9 instead   
   of 15). OnTrak has no relevance here.   
      
   An AT IDE drive could also be used with an 8-bit AT IDE controller.   
   Again the drive needs to be one supported by the controller.   
      
   >As a matter of note, the 1000TX will actually run Windows 3.0 if the 768 kb   
   >memory is installed, even though it is an 8-bit machine, because it has an   
   >80286 processor!   
      
   A 286 is recommended for Windows 3.0 but not required. The 768k is   
   needed to get 640k DOS RAM which Windows requires.   
      
   And the TX is a 16-bit machine, like the original IBM PC. The TRS-80   
   and Color Computer were 8-bit machines.   
      
   >Jim Nicholson   
   >jim@gonii.com   
      
   Jeff Hayes    
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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