◄Summary► ◄Notes► ◄Back► ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This operation is sometimes called a "low level format" and prepares the disk for physical read/write operations at the sector level. The drive must be subsequently partitioned with the FDISK command and then given a "high level format" with the FORMAT command to install a file system. If bit 4 of register CL is set, Int 15H is called with AH=0FH and AL=phase code after each cylinder is formatted or analyzed. The phase code is defined as: 0=reserved 1=surface analysis 2=formatting See also Int 15H Function 0FH. If bit 2 of register CL is set, the drive's secondary defect map is updated to reflect errors found during surface analysis. If both bit 2 and bit 1 are set, the secondary defect map is replaced. For an extended surface analysis, the disk should first be formatted by calling this function with bit 3 cleared and then analyzed by calling this function with bit 3 set. -♦-