TESTMBR Tool
This page applicable to version 1.4
Description
TESTMBR.EXE is a DOS program that can be used in support of XT-IDE and XT-CF cards.
It tests the ability of software to read and write the first sector on the first hard drive. That sector as known as the MBR, the master boot record.
The 'Test first sector on target drive' menu option is what does that.
If the read/write test is successful, TESTMBR will restore the first sector to how it found it (whatever that was, blank or otherwise).
An OS (operating sytem, e.g. DOS) does not need to be present on the hard drive. TESTMBR's scope is only the first sector, and it reads/writes that at the low level.
Hard drive 0 versus hard drive 1
By default, TESTMBR targets hard drive 0 (normally appears as logical drive C:).
If your vintage computer contains two hard drives, and you want to target hard drive 1 (normally appears as logical drive D:) instead, then use the 'Change target hard drive' menu option.
Of course, be confident about which drive is hard drive 0 and which is hard drive 1.
The drive's access LED, or LED on an XT-IDE/XT-CF card, is an excellent indicator - will seen to be flickering during operation of the 'Test first sector on target drive' menu option.
Loop mode
Here, the 'Test first sector on target drive' menu option will run in a continuous loop, stopping if an error is encountered.
Loop operation is good for when you suspect that there is an intermittent read/write problem.
You can abort the continuous loop by pressing any key.
To turn loop mode on/off, use the 'Change loop mode' menu option.
/FILE switch
Here, the screen output of the 'Test first sector on target drive' menu option, will be copied to a text file. That can be useful for providing information to others. The file created is named TESTMBR.TXT
To invoke this, start TESTMBR with the FILE switch, a shown below, then execute the 'Test first sector on target drive' menu option, then quit TESTMBR.
A:>testmbr /file
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