Int 13h, 04h Verify Sectors all
Verifies one or more fixed disk or diskette sectors.
Entry AH = 04h
AL = Number of sectors to verify
CH = Cylinder number (10-bit value; upper 2 bits in CL)
CL = Starting sector number
DH = Head number
DL = Drive number
Return AH = Status of operation (See Service 01h)
AL = Number of sectors verified
CF = Set if error, cleared otherwise
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Verifies the specified number of sectors starting at the specified
location (head, cylinder, and track) on the disk. The verification
process consists of checking that the sectors can be found and
read (checking address fields) and that the Cyclic Redundancy
Check (CRC) is correct. No memory area is needed for this
operation.
Note
Values in DL less than 80h specify floppy disks; values greater
than 80h specify fixed disks. For example, 0 means the first
floppy diskette, while 80h means the first fixed disk.
The cylinder number is a ten-bit quantity (0 through 1023). Its
most significant two bits are in bits 7 and 6 of CL; the remaining
eight bits are in CH. The starting sector number fits in the
low-order portion (lower 6 bits) of CL.
The value returned in AL (number of sectors verified) may not give
the correct number of sectors, even though no error occurred while
verifying. Use the results of the Carry flag and AH (status flag)
to determine the status of the operation.
The sectors verified must all be on the same cylinder and same
side for diskettes, while a hard disk can verify up to 255 sectors
at one time.
If an error is encountered verifying a sector, use Service 0h to
reset the drive and retry the operation. It is recommended that at
least 3 retries be attempted before an error is signalled, since
the error may have resulted from the diskette motor not being up
to speed.
For the AT, XT-286, and PC Convertible, the BIOS executes Int 15h,
Service 90h (Device Busy), for the diskette (Type = 01h) and the
fixed disk (Type = 00h) prior to waiting for the interrupt. Int
15h, Service 91h (Interrupt Complete), is executed upon
completion. Also diskette operations that require the diskette
motor to be on will call Int 15h, Service 90 (Device Busy), with
the type equal to "Diskette Drive Motor Start" (Type = FDh). This
allows the system to perform another task while the drive motor is
waiting to get up to speed.