Top | ||
Description of Program | ||
Assumptions | ||
Installation/Deinstallation | ||
Command Line Parameter | ||
Further possibilities of using TRACK0 are:
Top | ||
Description of Program | ||
Assumptions | ||
Top | ||
Description of Program | ||
Installation/Deinstallation | ||
Because of safety reasons you should keep the necessary program files together with the backup of track 0, sector 1 on a write protected DOS-bootable disk.
File Name | Description |
---|---|
TRACK0.EXE | Work statements in i80286-language (the program itself :-) |
TRACK0.INI | Configurations in text format for language and country file. The register code will also be put here. This file will be created in the program directory by TRACK0 at first start. |
TRACK0ll.NLS | All language dependent strings are kept in this file. |
STATE_cc.NLS | Files with county information. |
TRACK0ll.HTM | Language dependent documentation of program, (compacted) HTML format. |
TRACK0.JS | Language independent Javascript for the HTML documentation. |
TRACK0ll.GIF | Language dependent image for the HTML documentation. |
*.GIF | Language independent images for the HTML documentation. |
T0REGll.TXT | Language dependent order form. May be deleted after registration. ;-) |
Legend: | |
ll | 2-character-language-code according ISO 639. |
cc | 2-character-country-code according ISO 3166 (or ftp://ftp.ripe.net/iso3166-countrycodes) |
If you are short on space, all above mentioned files with one of these codes in their names can be deleted - except the ones with the desired language and country code. |
To deinstall TRACK0 simply delete all files of the project.
Top | |||
Description of Program | |||
Command Line Parameter | |||
Definitions of Actions | |||
Options | |||
TRACK0 [options] [/action={backup|restore|get|put|delete|show}] [/trans={filename|ERRORLEVEL|"string"}]
also available with short hand parameters:
TRACK0 [options] [/a={b|r|g|p|d|s}] [/t={filename|ERRORLEVEL|"string"}]
If data has to be transported, the parameter /TRANS= has to be set to the source or the destination:
12 | 12 as decimal number (equal to xC equal to o14 equal to w1100) |
o123 | 123 as octal number (equal to z83 equal to x53 equal to w1010011) |
z123 | 123 as decimal number (equal to o173 equal to x7B equal to w1111011) |
x3c | 3c as hexadecimal number (equal to o74 equal to z60 equal to w111100) |
w100101 | 100101 as dual number (equal to o45 equal to z37 equal to x25) |
Top | ||||
Description of Program | ||||
Command Line Parameter | ||||
Definitions of Actions | ||||
Data in the Command Line | ||||
Example: TRACK0 /ACTION=BACKUP /TRANS=a:\backup\hdd0.dat would write the content of track zero, head zero, sector two until the maximum available sector number into the file named "a:\backup\hdd0.dat". |
Because of securety reasons you should do this action first of all. If possible, put this file together with TRACK0 on a bootable DOS disk.
If you don't set the option /BATCH you will be asked to continue.
Important: If you suppress the defaults of the program by setting /RANGE or /DISK, you may loose the MBR as well as the partition table and all your hard disk data in consequence. Please use these parameters only, if you know what you are doing!
Track0 v0.0, (c) 1997-2000 by MSDatec ------------------------------------------------------- registered for Peter Mustermann summary of track 0 of disk 128: 63 sectors total 0 sectors used by TRACK0 46 sectors possible free: 18-63 46 sectors available for data (22,754 bytes) MBR: signature ok |
Track0 v0.0, (c) 1997-2000 by MSDatec ------------------------------------------------------- registered for Peter Mustermann summary of track 0 of disk 128: 63 sectors total 7 sectors used by TRACK0: 10,13-18 3,041 bytes stored user data stored with TRACK0 version 0 first write at 08/17/00 09:05:42 am last write at 09/27/00 10:53:50 pm 6 sectors possible free: 4-9 13 sectors available for data (6,419 Bytes) MBR: signature ok |
Example: TRACK0 /ACTION=GET /TRANS=f:\pc\serial.txt would write the previous written data (first hard disk, track zero, head zero) into the file f:\pc\serial.txt. |
Or TRANS may have the value ERRORLEVEL. The DOS-errorlevel is put to the first byte of the previous written data then. If you want another byte than the first, use option /INDEX.
Examples: TRACK0 /ACTION=GET /TRANS=ERRORLEVEL The DOS-errorlevel would be put to the first data byte of the previous written data (first hard disk drive, track zero, head zero). |
TRACK0 /ACTION=GET /TRANS=ERRORLEVEL /INDEX=123 The DOS-errorlevel would be put to the value of the 124th byte. |
In order to distinguish the read value from an error you can determinate which DOS-errorlevel should be set on an error by using option ERRORCODE.
Example: TRACK0 /ACTION=GET /TRANS=ERRORLEVEL /INDEX=123 /ERRORCODE=99 The DOS-errorlevel will be set to the value of the 124th data byte, if no error occour. In case of an error the dos-errorlevel will be set to 99. |
If TRANS is a reference to an existing file (filename), the data will be fetched from there. On the other hand you may specify the data on the command line ("string"), putting them in doube quotes.
|
You will find details on this in Data in the command line.
Attention: You may loose your partition table by using the parameter RANGE with odd values.
Top | ||||
Description of Program | ||||
Command Line Parameter | ||||
Definitions of Actions | ||||
Data in the Command Line | ||||
For the data in this string following rules apply:
String | Value (dezimal) | Interpretation to | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
\\ | 92 | the escape itself
| ||||||
\a | 7 | alert | ||||||
\b | 8 | backspace | ||||||
\e | 92 | the escape itself | ||||||
\f | 12 | page feed | ||||||
\n | 10 | line feed | ||||||
\r | 13 | carriage return | ||||||
\t | 9 | horicontal tab | ||||||
\v | 11 | vertical tab |
|
|
If environment variables are given in the string, the will be expanded (even if the variable is null).
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Top | |||
Description of Program | |||
Command Line Parameter | |||
Options | |||
0 | first floppy disk drive |
1 | second floppy disk drive |
... | |
128 | first hard disk drive |
129 | second hard disk drive |
... |
If ERRORCODE is not set, the program always returns 255 on any error.
Top | |
Management of Track Zero | |
It does not matter which file system (FAT, VFAT, VFAT32, HPFS, HPFS386, NTFS, EXT2, ...) is used on other parts of the hard disk or even if there is another file system.
A sector may be free if it consists only of the same fill byte. If this sector is not used by other programs, an interaction of TRACK0 with other data or programs will probably not happen. To keep the risk of data loss small, TRACK0 uses free sectors from upper (mostly 63) down to lower values (lowest is 2).
Please note that there is no convention to distiguish used from unused sectors. It may happen that programs working near to the system (operation system, boot manager, BIOS-extentions) overwrite data written by TRACK0. Before you start such kind of software, you should read the TRACK0-data to a file, and afterwords restore your data.
The head zero, track zero in linear model:
Index | Length | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | variabel | Master-Boot-Record (MBR) |
446 | 64 | Partition Table |
510 | 2 | Signature '55AAh' |
The first sector ist not treated by TRACK0 usually. TRACK0 uses the second and following sectors. Sectors used by TRACK0 are constructed as follow:
Index | Length | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | 14 | Magic Number for Identification |
14 | 1 | Number of the next used sector. The last sector takes it own number. |
15 | 495 | User Data |
510 | 2 | 16 bit check sum (CRC) over the previous 510 bytes |
The user data are spread over the free sectors. In order to keep information about the user data, a administrative header is added and put into the sector with the highest number.
The header consists of following:
Index | Length | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | 1 | Total length of the header including the tailing check sum. |
1 | 1 | Version infos |
2 | 4 | Date and time of first write (packed format). This time is set only at the first writing to a disk. |
6 | 4 | Date and time of last write (packed format). |
10 | 2 | Amount of user data in bytes |
12 | 2 | Check sum (CRC16) for the user data |
14 | 2 | Check sum (CRC16) for the previous data (check for the head itself) |
So the first sector used by TRACK0 can take 495-16 = 479 bytes user data only (all other can take 495 Bytes).
Top | |
Frequently asked Questions | |
If this medium has a partition table, TRACK0 should work proper on this medium.
If this medium does not have a partition table, probably parts of the file system will be destroyed. For example on floppy disks with FAT file system unused parts of File Allocation Table are overwritten, but the files on the floppy are still accessable - mostly. Back up your data before using other media than hard disk drives.
Perhaps the data in sector 2-63 is garbage, perhaps not. Some viruses, boot manager or BIOS extensions are known to write data into this area. Ask the manufacturer of the software how many sectors it uses. If you are sure not having such kind of software only sector 1 is used on your system.
Proceed as follows to delete sectors with "data garbage" (on own risk):
Either the TRACK0 header for user data or the user data itself have been damaged. This may happen, if you use software which also stores data in track zero (boot manager, viruses, etc.) TRACK0 does not contain routines to reconstruct the data in case of damage. You may restore parts of the stored data: Uses ACTION=BACKUP to create a file which contains the sectors in question and use a hex editor to examinate it. Instead, you can use an disk editor to examinate the data on the disk directly.
Only, if you made a backup of the sector one earlier and only if the main partition table is lost. In this case:
TRACK0 cannot make a copy of the partition table but an image of the sector which contains it and the MBR:
Boot from the backup disk. Use track0.exe /action=restore /trans=A:\PT.DAT /Range=1-1 to write the earlier written image back to the first hard disk. Be sure that the image on the disk contains the partition data you want to get.
The program directory of TRACK0 contains the file TRACK0.INI. Open this file with a text editor and replace the file names of LanguageFile and CountryFile by the ones you want to use.
Example: The current locale may be "Deutsch (Deutschland)". The entries of TRACK0.INI are as follow:
LanguageFile=TRACK0DE.NLS CountryFile=STATE_DE.NLS |
LanguageFile=TRACK0EN.NLS CountryFile=STATE_GB.NLS |
Another way than editing the entries is to delete TRACK0.INI - after the next start TRACK0 will ask you for your desired country and language settings and create a corresponding initialisation file. Matthias Stolte Datentechnik (MSDatec) If you have done so you will get the register code by E-Mail or letter. Instructions how to use it will be included there. You can send me the following order as an E-Mail. If you have activated java script in your browser, the sums are calculated automagically.Top About TRACK0 Shareware hints Order History Author of Program
Please send bug reports, comments and milled hard disks to:
Wer und Was Komplettsysteme
und KomponentenEntwicklung,
Produktion,
InstallationSystembetreuung Seminare Newest version
The newest version of this software is always available at our communication channels or often less new on internet at http://www.msdatec.de/download.htmLimitations
The usage of this program is at your own risk. There is no warranty for the program except the above mentioned functions. Neither the author nor his company is responsible for any damage or loss concerning this program especially not for loss of data.Top About TRACK0 Shareware hints
Please note that the software is licenced like a book. You can install it on different machines and it can be used by different persons, but not simultaneously. If the software is used multiple simultaneously, you need multiple licences.
The number of necessary licences follows the n²-licence, that means, the number of software copies you can use simultaneously is the square of the number of licences (see table).Number of
licencessimultaneous
usable1 1 2 4 3 9 4 16 etc.
Of course you are not allowed to give the register code to others except you don't use it anymore.
Furthermore you get technical support concerning this program as well as two free updates (for example if you register version 3 you can use the versions 4 and 5, too).
How to register the shareware versionTop About TRACK0 Order
The waiting for a key press is surpressed in the registered version. The cost of one licence is 15.00 Euro.
You can transfer it to my account or you can send me a letter with a cheque or bank notes. Please don't forget to mention the name of the program and your E-Mail- or letter-address. Sometimes I get payments, where I can't see which program is concerned nor where I have to send the code.
(If the order isn't possible with this formular {e.g. the internet explorer can't do this}, you can send me the text formular T0RegEN.txt with E-Mail, fax or letter.)
Top About TRACK0 History
Size of EXE file: 74,496 BytesLast update: 11/15/2000 Questions, comments and suggestions