Re: MicroDrive Re-Do-Do

[Linards Ticmanis <ticmanis@gmx.de>]

Steve ][ wrote:

> What can I do to make sure this thing is completely "fresh"?

Do you have access to a Linux machine with a card reader?

If yes, insert the card there, then type "mount" in a terminal window to
see which the device special file (such as /dev/sdb) is, (Note: Remove
the number at the end, so /dev/sdb1 becomes /dev/sdb, because you want
to delete the whole card and not just some partition).

Then "umount" the beast but don't remove it. Now do this as root:

cat /dev/zero | tr '\0' '\377' > device name

and wait. Make absolutely sure that you get the device name right,
otherwise you can end up deleting your hard disk!

This will set the card back to all-FF (empty) state.

At the end it will complain about fullness or EOF being reached. This is
fine. Now just to be sure say

sync

then remove the card. It will be pristine.

-- 
Linards Ticmanis