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do you write byte by byte to that port until you have written 512 bytes?

Or an error occurs, yes. You need to be monitoring the status register while the data transfer is in progress (just like you do when you're sending the command and getting the result bytes).

--Jamethiel

hmm...seems too easy....what do i do once i finish sending all 512 bytes?

also to set up NONDMA mode:

DMA: DMA and IRQ channel
1=Enabled 0=Disabled

does this setting affect whether the controller is setup for nondma mode because in the main status register there is another setting:

NDMA: non-DMA mode
1=controller not in DMA mode 0=controller in DMA mode

the second one is 1

what about:

DMA: DMA and IRQ channel
1=Enabled 0=Disabled

also....after reading a couple of more docs..hard drives seem easier to program than the FD...is this because of the fact that HD's are relatively newer?

IDE hard drives have a lot more intelligence on board than the floppy drive controller. With an IDE hard drive, you can say, "give me the data at sector 123456 and tell me when you've finished".

i read somewhere that dell has stopped supplying their PCs with floppy drives....are CDROMs like HD's when it comes to programming them compared to floppies?

CD-ROM drives use the same ATA interface, although the exact codes they use are slightly different.

does anyone know:

what do i do once i finish sending all 512 bytes?

also to set up NONDMA mode:

DMA: DMA and IRQ channel
1=Enabled 0=Disabled

does this setting affect whether the controller is setup for nondma mode because in the main status register there is another setting:

NDMA: non-DMA mode
1=controller not in DMA mode 0=controller in DMA mode