Quick replys sought:MBR dump shows zeros. Is my HDD trash, or can I make a good MBR?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard
  • Start date Start date
R

Richard

A HDD which has no data whatsoever on it, so there is nothing to loose, has
nothing in the MBR except zeros.

Here is the MBR dump:
---------------------------------

Dump MBR for disk 128 (0)

Date for MBR dump is 07-30-2004

000 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
016 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
032 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
048 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
064 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
080 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
096 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
112 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
128 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
144 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
160 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
176 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
192 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
208 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
224 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
240 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
256 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
272 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
288 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
304 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
320 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
336 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
352 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
368 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
384 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
400 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
416 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
432 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
448 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
464 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
480 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................
496 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ³ ................

Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 786/254/63

Partition Table Information:
ACT TYPE START-C/H/S END----C/H/S LBA-start LBA-length
Entry 1: 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Entry 2: 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Entry 3: 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Entry 4: 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Partition table as shown in MBR :
Entry 1: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Entry 2: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Entry 3: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Entry 4: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, the Fujitsu HDD tests okay with the Fujitsu diagnostic tool, passes
all the tests, but I cannot format the HDD, my PC does not seem to recognise
I have a C: when I have the HDD plugged in (I only have this HDD connected
in a PC). I get things like invalid media.

I have DOS program mbrtool.exe. What procedure or program tool do I need to
go through to make this HDD work again with my PC?

Thanks. Rich.
 
Partition table as shown in MBR :
Entry 1: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Entry 2: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Entry 3: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Entry 4: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, the Fujitsu HDD tests okay with the Fujitsu diagnostic tool, passes
all the tests, but I cannot format the HDD, my PC does not seem to recognise
I have a C: when I have the HDD plugged in (I only have this HDD connected
in a PC). I get things like invalid media.
Click to expand...

Of course you do. There is nothing to FORMAT yet.
Format does not do complete disks, it needs a PARTITION.

You need to CREATE a C: partition on that disk first, using FDISK.

After that you can format it ...

Regards, JvW
 
Oh wow. Gee.
A completely empty harddrive and now you can't figure out why the
bloody MBR is uh, ...... empty?

You give the term 'newby' a whole new meaning.

Partition the drive, THEN format.
 
Folkert Rienstra said:
Oh wow. Gee.
A completely empty harddrive and now you can't figure out why the
bloody MBR is uh, ...... empty?

You give the term 'newby' a whole new meaning.

Partition the drive, THEN format.
Click to expand...

It's not a case of me figuring out why the MBR is empty. I'm rushing a bit,
and just trying to get my HDD up and running. I'm no computer geek, and I've
no idea whether MBR for a HDD that was "erased" should be completely empty
or not. For all I know it should never be completely empty, I mean I
wondered about that and whether if the MBR was empty that meant the HDD
could not be "resurrected", but obviously the MBR can be completely empty,
and in a sense, rebuilt when you have no data to worry about.

I don't seem to be getting anywhere with partitioning with FDISK .

Here is the last MBR dump after running FDISK:
--------------------------------

Dump MBR for disk 128 (0)

Date for MBR dump is 07-30-2004

000 33 C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C FB 50 07 50 1F FC BE 1B 7C ³ 3ÀŽÐ¼.|ûP.P.ü¾.|
016 BF 1B 06 50 57 B9 E5 01 F3 A4 CB BE BE 07 B1 04 ³ ¿..PW¹å.ó¤Ë¾¾.±.
032 38 2C 7C 09 75 15 83 C6 10 E2 F5 CD 18 8B 14 8B ³ 8,|.u.ƒÆ.âõÍ.‹.‹
048 EE 83 C6 10 49 74 16 38 2C 74 F6 BE 10 07 4E AC ³ îƒÆ.It.8,tö¾..N¬
064 3C 00 74 FA BB 07 00 B4 0E CD 10 EB F2 89 46 25 ³ <.tú»..´.Í.ëò‰F%
080 96 8A 46 04 B4 06 3C 0E 74 11 B4 0B 3C 0C 74 05 ³ –ŠF.´.<.t.´.<.t.
096 3A C4 75 2B 40 C6 46 25 06 75 24 BB AA 55 50 B4 ³ :Äu+@ÆF%.u$»ªUP´
112 41 CD 13 58 72 16 81 FB 55 AA 75 10 F6 C1 01 74 ³ AÍ.Xr.ûUªu.öÁ.t
128 0B 8A E0 88 56 24 C7 06 A1 06 EB 1E 88 66 04 BF ³ .ŠàˆV$Ç.¡.ë.ˆf.¿
144 0A 00 B8 01 02 8B DC 33 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ ..¸..‹Ü3Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
160 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
176 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
192 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
208 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
224 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
240 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
256 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
272 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
288 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
304 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
320 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
336 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
352 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
368 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
384 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
400 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
416 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
432 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
448 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
464 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
480 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.
496 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 ³ Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.Ð.

Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 1023/14/63

Partition Table Information
ACT TYPE START-C/H/S END----C/H/S LBA-start LBA-length
Entry 1: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696
Entry 2: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696
Entry 3: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696
Entry 4: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696

Partition table as shown in MBR :
Entry 1: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
Entry 2: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
Entry 3: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
Entry 4: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
-------------------------------

First of all, what is to be said about BIOS. In the first dump I posted I
had BIOS set to "AUTO" and the dump said:

Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 786/254/63

Then I set BIOS to "USER" with: C 13410/H 15/S 63 per the disc info. Now
after running FDISK to try to make a partition the dump says:

Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 1023/14/63

Should the geometry values I see in these dumps match the figures I put in
BIOS (ie C 13410/H 15/S 63 per the disc info?)

I run Format and I'm still not getting anywhere. Runnimg FDISK is not it
seems, making a partition. What does this second dump above say about a
partition? TIA.
 
It's not a case of me figuring out why the MBR is empty. I'm rushing a bit,
and just trying to get my HDD up and running. I'm no computer geek, and I've
no idea whether MBR for a HDD that was "erased" should be completely empty
or not. For all I know it should never be completely empty, I mean I
wondered about that and whether if the MBR was empty that meant the HDD
could not be "resurrected", but obviously the MBR can be completely empty,
and in a sense, rebuilt when you have no data to worry about.
Click to expand...

It can also be rebuilt from scratch (empty) if you HAVE data
to worry about, you just need the right tools :-)
I don't seem to be getting anywhere with partitioning with FDISK .
Click to expand...

So it seems. What version of FDISK are you using, from what operating
system ?
Here is the last MBR dump after running FDISK:
--------------------------------

Dump MBR for disk 128 (0)

Date for MBR dump is 07-30-2004

000 33 C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C FB 50 07 50 1F FC BE 1B 7C ³ 3ÀŽÐ¼.|ûP.P.ü¾.|
Click to expand...

This start of the MBR boot-code does not look very good, the MBR
usually
starts with JMP instructions and this does not ...

Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 1023/14/63
Click to expand...

Strange values ...
It seems like it reports the maximum value for each compomnent, so
the actual geometry reported here is 1024/15/63
Partition Table Information
ACT TYPE START-C/H/S END----C/H/S LBA-start LBA-length
Entry 1: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696
Entry 2: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696
Entry 3: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696
Entry 4: 208 D0 768 0 16 768 0 16 13631696 13631696

Partition table as shown in MBR :
Entry 1: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
Entry 2: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
Entry 3: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
Entry 4: D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00 D0 00
-------------------------------
Click to expand...

The trailing part of the MBR sector is filled with a grabage pattern
0xD0
so there is no meaningfull entry in the partition-table.
First of all, what is to be said about BIOS. In the first dump I posted I
had BIOS set to "AUTO" and the dump said:

Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 786/254/63
Click to expand...

Again assuming limit-values reported, this would really be 787/255/63

That looks OK, it means trandlation isn used to get a more efficient
geometry.
Then I set BIOS to "USER" with: C 13410/H 15/S 63 per the disc info. Now
after running FDISK to try to make a partition the dump says:
Click to expand...

Bad move, using the ATA-level geometry (which this is) is likely to
cause problems with some higher level tools because the INT13
cylinder limit (1024) can be a problem now ...
Geometry values (from BIOS!) for this disk : (C/H/S) - 1023/14/63

Should the geometry values I see in these dumps match the figures I put in
BIOS (ie C 13410/H 15/S 63 per the disc info?)
Click to expand...

Yes, but it seems this BIOS reports the maximum values, not the
'number of ...'
For the Heads it specifies 0..254 meaning number of heads = 255

It is NOT the most clever geometry to use, the best ones these days
use the
maximum allowed values for heads and sectors/track being 255/63.
This gives the largest (about 7.8 MiB) limit for INT13/DOS access.
I run Format and I'm still not getting anywhere. Runnimg FDISK is not it
seems, making a partition. What does this second dump above say about a
partition? TIA.
Click to expand...

There are no partuitions defined. FDISK has a rather crude
user-interface, you
must make some selections from numeric 'menus' to create a partition.

Allthough most FDISK programs will automatically create a new MBR
sector on
an empty disk, you can also instruct it to do so. Depending on the
FDISK versions
and operating system you are using that would be:

FDISK /MBR
or
FDISK /MBR:1
or
FDISK /NEWMBR:1


You can also use my DFSee tool to create a new MBR using the command:

DFSDOS newmbr 1 -clean

Or use the corresponding menu-item:

File -> Open disk to work with -> 01 ... select disk-1
Mode=Fdisk -> New MBR code, ERASE tables

You can also use the same tool to create partitions.
It is not a free tool, but you are allowed one month of evaluation
after download ...

Regards, JvW
 
[snip]
This start of the MBR boot-code does not look very good, the MBR
usually starts with JMP instructions and this does not ...
Click to expand...

You are confusing between the boot sector and the MBR. The above is fine for
the MBR, this is how a standard FDISK created MBR looks.

Regards, Zvi
 
Allthough most FDISK programs will automatically create a new MBR
sector on an empty disk, you can also instruct it to do so. Depending on the
FDISK versions and operating system you are using that would be:

FDISK /MBR
or
FDISK /MBR:1
or
FDISK /NEWMBR:1
Click to expand...

Cutting to the chase. I was using a 6Gb HDD, Win98SE and I could not make
FDISK work. Really things should have been simple and there should have
been no need to obtain a MBR dump. I got into that because I was not making
progress.

Anyway, in the end I stuck in a Windows installation boot disk along with
the Windows installation CD and lo and behold the routine must have set a
partition because it formatted, then put Windows on the HDD.
You can also use my DFSee tool to create a new MBR using the command:

DFSDOS newmbr 1 -clean

Or use the corresponding menu-item:

File -> Open disk to work with -> 01 ... select disk-1
Mode=Fdisk -> New MBR code, ERASE tables

You can also use the same tool to create partitions.
It is not a free tool, but you are allowed one month of evaluation
after download ...
Click to expand...

Maybe this program would have been better than FDISK. Why FDISK messed up
I don't know.
 
You are confusing between the boot sector and the MBR. The above is fine for
the MBR, this is how a standard FDISK created MBR looks.
Click to expand...

I was not confused, but you are right, on checking this is the code
used by
the standard DOS and windows FDISK.

In my daily work I almost exclusively see OS/2 generated MBR sectors
and they DO start with a jump, just like partition bootsectors :-)

Regards, JvW
 
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