Function 1Ch (27)        Get FAT Information for Specified Drive
 
    Gets disk characteristics and the media descriptor byte for any drive.
 
       On entry:      AH         1Ch
                      DL         Drive number (0=default, 1=A, 2=B, etc.)
 
       Returns:       AL         Number of sectors per cluster
                      CX         Sector size in bytes
                      DX         Total number of disk clusters
                      DS:BX      Pointer to the media descriptor byte (FAT ID
                                 byte)
 
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  Media Descriptor (FAT ID) Byte
 
    The media descriptor byte is limited to the values F0 through FF. This
    range is no longer sufficient to provide unique identifiers for each
    media type. The following values are defined:
 
          FFh            Double-sided 5 1/4" floppy, 8 sectors
          FEh            Single-sided 5 1/4" floppy, 8 sectors or
                         Single-sided 8" floppy, 26 sectors or
                         Single-sided 8" floppy, 8 sectors
          FDh            Double-sided 5 1/4" floppy, 9 sectors or
                         Single-sided 8" floppy, 26 sectors
          FCh            Single-sided floppy, 9 sectors per track
          F9h            Double-sided 5 1/4" floppy, 15 sectors or
                         Double-sided 3 1/2" floppy, 9 sectors
          F8h            Hard disk
          F0h            Double-sided 3 1/2" floppy, 18 sectors or
                         Any other undefined media type
 
    For more reliable information about media type, use Interrupt 25h to
    read the BIOS Parameter Block (BPB) in the boot record.
 
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       Notes:         This function changes the current value of DS. To
                      ensure the stability of your program, it's best to
                      PUSH DS before calling this service.

Seealso:



This page last updated on Fri Nov 30 10:49:50 MSK 2001
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