Electronics > Repair
How To: Make a new boot disk for your HP 4145B Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer.
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TERRA Operative:
Ok, so I figured out the process of making your own 4145B Boot Disk using info from around the web etc, so I thought I'd document it here for posterity and to help anyone else who needs it.

First up you'll need a couple things:
- PC with 3.5" floppy disk drive (This MUST be directly connected to the motherboard, USB disk drives WILL NOT work due to the low level access required).
- A 3.5" floppy disk, HD is fine, we'll reformat it as needed later.
- A CD and CD/DVD burner.
- The attached CD .iso file.

Unfortunately I don't have an old PC that supports USB boot, so I currently can't make instructions for that, check here for USB boot instructions:
https://torlus.com/floppy/forum/viewtopic.php?p=24043&sid=90a698af4dbda5c4568c26813d8da371#p24043

If anyone makes a disk using a bootable USB key, feel free to document the exact process in this thread.


* First up, you'll need to burn the attached disk image to CD. Any software (even late versions of Windows can do it) that can burn a .iso file is fine.


* Boot the PC with the boot CD, you will be greeted with a command prompt at drive A:


* Put some tape over the hole in the top corner of the 3.5" disk (Opposite side to the movable write protect window) to tell the disk drive that the disk is a Double Density (DD) disk instead of a High-Density (HD) disk.


* With the 3.5" disk in the disk drive, type 'FORMAT B: /T:80 /N:9' to correctly format the disk as a DD 720K disk. (Substitute your disk drive letter if needed).
Don't set a Volume label, you can also format as many disks as you need one after the other here.


* Once the disk drive has finished buzzing and groaning and your disk is formatted, type 'R:\IMGDISK\IMD' to select the R: drive to access the Image Disk files on the CD and start the Image Disk software.


* Hit the 'ESC' key to close the intro screen and then press the 'S' key at the main menu page of Image Disk to set the following settings:

* Drive: A (Try other letters if it doesn't work for some reason)
* Cylinders: 83
* Sides: One
* Double-step: Off
* R/W gap: Calculated
* Format gap: Calculated
* Format Fill: E5
* Full analysis: No
* Interleave: Best Guess
* Retries: 5
* Keep bad sector: No
* 500kbps -> 500kbps
* 300kbps -> 300kbps
* 250kbps -> 250kbps

* Press 'ESC' to escape back to the main menu, then press 'W' to select the disk image to write.


* Delete 'A:\' in the file selection field and type 'R:\', then hit 'ENTER'. Hit 'ENTER' on 'IMGDSK\' then press left key and hit 'ENTER' on '4145BDSK' to select the disk image.


* Folow the screen prompts and wait a few minutes until it's finished and then go boot your 4145B! :)
RikV:
Well I could not resist. A 4145B for a reasonable price!
Error M02 sounds scary at first but in fact must be one of the easier messages on this thing. Of course there was no system floppy with it. Closer inspection revealed the FDD was mechanically stuck. No problem, disassemble, clean and grease. Now it works -mecanically- as espected.
But then one needs a floppy! Some years ago I got rid of most of these and most CD-DVD stuff, keeping a "strategical" supply. Unfortunately I kept no DS/DD variants, only HD. However, HD should not be a problem when properly formatted?
I followed your "manual" and produced a boot-CD. Works fine!
Then I tried to format a HD as an DD disk on the only machine with internal FDD I have left: Compaq laptop running WIN95. Trying to format with  'FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9' result in message "parameters not supported". So no re-format, but I believe these parameters are the standard values for DOS? And my disks are preformatted.
Next step: disk image tool.
Modify the parameters as indicated, write floppy. Successfull!
Last step: wait a few minutes until it's finished and then go boot your 4145B!
Elas! A lot of terrible noises coming from the FDD and Error mssage M19!
Tried thi with different disks: sam result. Also tried to format the disk with the tool. You NEED to enter a value for the 'interleave' parameter (1-90), I used the proposed 43. No difference.
Anyone any suggestions on what I am doing wrong? (or is my FDD gone forever?)
squadchannel:
How far have you disassembled the FDD?
If you remove the head moving stepper motor or the track 0 sensor(sometimes integrated with the control board), you will need to readjust it. It is very complicated.
RikV:
I only removed the FDD receiving mechanics: the two parts where you slide the floppy in and that at the end flips down to engage the heads on the disk. I did not touch the heads nor their transport mechanism.
TERRA Operative:
Hmmm. Not sure about the disk drive beyond a general clean and lubrication, diving too deep is a painful experience as squadchannel mentioned...
I'd make sure all the old grease is cleaned out and replaced, without disturbing the heads or sensors....

PM me. I'll boot up my 4145B and use it to make a couple disk copies if you like (I have a stack of spare HD disks which work in the disk drive in my 4145B). I can post it to you, it shouldn't cost much for a couple disks.
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