wagner@utcs.uucp (Michael Wagner) (02/26/86)
A few things that I've noticed...I wonder if anyone else has too.
(1) The 'Disk Gauge' seems to be connected to the wrong thing. To see
this, boot a workbench disk, get into intuition, open the workbench
disk, then pull the disk and put it into the external drive instead.
Put some other, relatively empty disk into the internal drive. Notice
how the gauge moves? Seems that, once opened, the gauge is tied to
the original drive rather than the original disk.
(2) There are some problems with error recovery and disk drives. I seem
to have an unreasonable number of i/o errors on my disks. They almost
always happen on the internal drive, and they are generally eventually
fatal (as in Guru). Seems there are situations (like disk verification)
where the requestor button CANCEL is meaningless (it just keeps plugging
away at that disk)...I suspect that storage corruption is keeping it
from reading the disk properly, because it finally reboots, and then
has no problem reading the disk at all. Up until then, though, it
get progressively worse and worse...it starts asking for disks with
names it has made up, then unreadable names, and so on.
The errors generally seem to occur around cylinder 60-70, are on
certified (2-sided) BASF disks, and are somewhat repeatable. They
often happen during initialization. They *never* happen on the
external drive. They are always of the type 'bad sector number'.
An offending disk can be copied with the cli command DISKCOPY and
the error will 'travel' with the disk. Its generally readable on the
external drive, but unreadable on the internal one.
I have no idea what is going on here, and no idea where to begin.
Is one supposed to clean these drives? There were no instructions
with the Amiga. Are there diagnostics for this machine? Any way of
finding out what's really bothering it?
(3) There seems to at least one other requestor button that isn't connected,
and that's the CANCEL button on the 'your printer seems to be having
problems' requestor. I use a serial printer, and if I forget to plug
it in (I switch between the modem and the printer), it waits a while
and then says 'something's wrong with your printer'. A nice idea, but
I expect the CANCEL button to mean 'I changed my mind...I don't want
this to print'. It doesn't....it means the same as retry...it tries
again. After a few retries, it reboots the machine for me. Nice going.
Oh, well...just thought I would ask if anyone else has experienced any of
this, and if anyone at C/A knows what's going on here.
On another plane, does anyone know when MANX C is going to make it out?
Is it really better than Lattice? The pain of crossing my legs is killing
me. Having watched Lattice run at a friend's house, I'm amazed that it
ever completes. Have I missed something?
Michael Wagner (utcs!wagner)jec@iuvax.UUCP (03/04/86)
I doubt that your disks are the problem, but if BASFs are anything
like they used to be (5.25" days), I'd be suspicious. When I was using my
trusty Apple II, BASF disks were effectively write only. On the other
hand, I've never had a Dysan fail, so I doubt it was my drives.
Currently I'm using Brown 3" disks (DS/DD), and Sonys (SD/DD). Both
seem to work fine. If you get a chance, I'd try copying your data to another
brand of disks when this happens again and see if that solves anything.
James E. Conley Usenet: {ihnp4,pur-ee,purdue}!iuvax!jec
I.U. Dept. of Linguistics Phone: (812) 335-8702 [Work]
401 Lindley Hall (812) 333-6702 [Home]
Bloomington, IN. 47405cc100jr@gitpyr.UUCP (Joel M. Rives) (03/07/86)
I have been experiencing a high fail rate with the OPUS disks that I have
been using. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I am beginning to
wonder if my disk drive is not at fault. Out of 20 disks, 6 have read/write
errors (checksum errors) on them.
Joel Rives
Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!cc100jr
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are!"
<< Buckaroo Banzai >>d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) (03/10/86)
Besides knowing a friend (Ron Stanions, ihnp4!topaz!unirot!ron_s) who has
had troubles with Opus disks, I was cordially ripped off of the sum of
about $50 buying Brown Disc disks. Ron showed me something neat- on double
_density_ disks, there is a notch in the middle between the metal disk
shutter and the left edge of the disk. His Awful Opuses and my
Bad Brown Discs both didn't have this feature. (My 10-pack of Brown Discs
had one unformattable discs, and at least three that wouldn't hold
data. I later complained to Software City where I bought them, and got
Maxell replacements (which listed for less) and they work fine.)
--
############################################################################
# Daniel Rosenberg / Bell Labs / Murray Hill / I disclaim.
# {ihnp4;allegra;research}!alice!d || {ihnp4;allegra;research}!charm!dancem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (03/11/86)
> I have been experiencing a high fail rate with the OPUS disks that I have > been using. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I am beginning to > wonder if my disk drive is not at fault. Out of 20 disks, 6 have read/write > errors (checksum errors) on them. > > * * * * Warning * * * * In the Bay area (S.F. that is) I have noticed quite a few people who are using single sided disks on their Amiga. This is sort of a carry over from the fact that most single sided 5-1/4 inch disks can be used as double sided. This is *not* the case with 3-1/2" disks. I don't know if it is a less mature manufacturing technology or what but single sided 3.5" disks are rated that way for good reason. Many people regret attempting to save a buck by doing this and losing data. I know it is tough to pay $2.50 a disk when 5-1/4" go for $.75 but the real comparison should be to high density floppies which are $2-$3 also per disk. --Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
cc100jr@gitpyr.UUCP (Joel M. Rives) (03/15/86)
In article <233@intelca.UUCP> cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) writes: >> I have been experiencing a high fail rate with the OPUS disks that I have >> been using. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I am beginning to >> wonder if my disk drive is not at fault. Out of 20 disks, 6 have read/write >> errors (checksum errors) on them. >> >> > >* * * * Warning * * * * > >In the Bay area (S.F. that is) I have noticed quite a few people who are >using single sided disks on their Amiga. This is sort of a carry over from >the fact that most single sided 5-1/4 inch disks can be used as double >sided. This is *not* the case with 3-1/2" disks. I don't know if it is >disks are rated that way for good reason. Many people regret attempting >to high density floppies which are $2-$3 also per disk. > >--Chuck >-- > - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - >{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my > {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my > {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-} I can not speak for the others who have complained on this net about OPUS disks. However, the OPUS disks I have been using (with failing results) are double-sided and lifetime warrantied. Joel Rives Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!cc100jr "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are!" << Buckaroo Banzai >>