INT 13h, 0Bh (11) Write Long diagnostics
Writes one or more long sectors to a fixed disk from memory. A long
sector is a sector of information plus 4 bytes representing the ECC
code for the sector. This service can be performed on fixed disks
only.
On entry: AH 0Bh
AL Number of sectors to write (1-127)
CH Cylinder number (10-bit value; upper 2 bits
in CL)
CL Starting sector number
DH Head number
DL Drive number (Bit 7 must be set)
ES:BX Address of memory buffer
Returns: AH Status of operation (See Service 01h)
AL Number of sectors written
CF Set if error, else cleared
Writes the information at a memory buffer to the sectors starting at
the specified location (head, cylinder, and track)
Notes: This service is for diagnostics only. For a more
generalized version, see Service 03h, which writes
sectors for both diskettes and fixed disks. Also see
INT 26h (DOS), which allows the writing of absolute
sectors from any type of block device.
The cylinder number is a ten-bit quantity (0 through
1023). Its most significant two bits are in bits 7
and 6 of CL; the remaining eight bits are in CH. The
starting sector number fits in the low-order portion
(lower 6 bits) of CL.
The value returned in AL (number of sectors written)
may not give the correct number of sectors, even
though no writing error has occurred. Use the
results of the Carry flag and AH (status flag) to
determine the status of the operation.
The number of sectors to write (AL) can be 127
sectors at most.
If an error is encountered while writing a sector,
use Service 0h to reset the drive and retry the
operation. It is recommended that at least 3 retries
be attempted before an error is signalled, since the
error may have resulted from the diskette motor not
being up to speed.
Because of the architecture of the DMA channel, an
error will occur if the buffer in memory for the
sectors overlaps a 64K page boundary. A 64K page
boundary is a memory location which is one of the
following (10000h, 20000h, 30000h, etc.). Ensure
that no part of your buffer falls on such a
boundary. If it does, then create a new buffer or
start the buffer just after the boundary.
For the AT, XT-286, and PC Convertible, the BIOS
executes INT 15h, Service 90h (Device Busy), for the
diskette (Type = 01h) and the fixed disk (Type =
00h) prior to waiting for the interrupt. INT 15h,
Service 91h (Interrupt Complete), is executed upon
completion.
Seealso:
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