BRADFORD@BUASTA.BITNET (David A. Bradford) (03/15/88)
I am having a problem with my hard disk system: an A2090 controler and seagate st277N drive (I think, could be st227N - it is 65 meg's). Whenever I try to store a high resolution file (640x200, 640x400, etc.) I receive a complaint about disk errors. This brings a requestor to the screen, I then hit RETRY and it succeeds (since the lo-res workbench screen is now up front). Anyway, I think this is a familiar problem, my question is what to do? Does these problem mean I have an old hard disk driver? Is it fixed by a new one? If so, how do I get a copy of the new one (and while I'm complaining, why didn't the new one come with my controller)? Thanks in advance for any help. David Bradford Astronomy Department Boston University BITNET: bradford@buasta INTERNET: bradford@buasta.bu.edu
kjohn@richp1.UUCP (John K. Counsulatant) (05/26/88)
(This is a repost, due to phone problems my first posting got lost.....) I am having problems with "bad blocks" on my C. Ltd SCSI. When using the PD program Tracer (I am modifing it for SPEED) it ocassionally (read 40-50% of the time) creates a bad block on my harddisk. The bad block is always in the middle of the picture and can be found by using DiskDoctor. When I try to re-format (HDFormat (i.e. low level)) I don't come up with any bad blocks. Does anyone know how to use DiskDoctor information to update a bad sector list (need cylinder, surface and BFI (byte offset)? Please help me, I am losing my faith in my Amiga (oooohhhh nnnnooooo!) as a development machine, this problem has cost me MANY MAN HOURS!!! P.S. Oh yea, my current configuration is: Amiga 1000 (March 86 vintage) 512K memory PROPER GROUNDED PALS on Amiga daughter board C.Ltd SCSI controller w/SCSIDOS v2.01 andrequired PAL upgrade Adaptec 4070a RLL SCSI<->ST506 adapter Seagate ST238R 30Mb RLL certified harddisk P.P.S. I also had trouble with the mount list, i.e. C.Ltd claims the ST238 to be a 610 cylinder drive while Seagate says 615, who is right? Also does anyone have a GOOD mountlist for the above hardware that can be used as a floppy drive (i.e. I had one but it gave me problems.). THANX IN ADVANCE KJohn (John Kjellman) Contact me by snail at John Kjellman 17302 Park Avenue Lansing, IL 60438 voice:1(312)418-1236 or E-mail: ihnp4!richp1!kjohn (I have had problems with this so be careful!) I will post a summary if warrented.
thad@cup.portal.com (05/27/88)
From the Seagate manual for the ST238R, the drive has 4 heads, 615 cylinders, and 2 disks. Probably C.Ltd wanted to be conservative, permitting 5 cylinders for use containing alternate sectors (mapped out from lower-numbered cyls).
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (05/28/88)
In article <5972@cup.portal.com> thad@cup.portal.com writes: > From the Seagate manual for the ST238R, the drive has 4 heads, 615 > cylinders, and 2 disks. > > Probably C.Ltd wanted to be conservative, permitting 5 cylinders for > use containing alternate sectors (mapped out from lower-numbered cyls). I'll bet if you look at the specs for the ST238N (the SCSI version) you will find the disk suddenly has fewer cylinders because the SCSI controller reserves them for loading it's software and doing bad block management. They are not available for general use. In general, whenever on talks about a Seacrate^H^H^H^H^Hgate drive one has to specify the letters and numbers after the model number because that has a very definite effect on how one interprets the question. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
micha@ecrcvax.UUCP (Micha Meier) (11/02/88)
I've experienced recently some problems which are most probably related to my hard disk. I've been porting a large program to the Amiga in the past few weeks. When I've fixed the compilation errors, I've recompiled the whole thing and got gurus which seemed to be random, that is, when I got it on one file, it was there all the time, but after a slight change it disappeared or vice versa, it appeared on a file which was ok before. The guru type varies, sometimes it's freeing a memory twice, sometimes illegal instruction or key already free/used. Although it is still possible that a bug in the compiler is involved, I suspect that there is as well a problem with the hard disk. Therefore I (desperately) need the answer to the following questions: - is it normal that my hard disk won't validate after a guru? Why does this happen? Sometimes it's validated after a reboot, sometimes not; sometimes it is possible to write to a non-validated disk and sometimes not. Meanwhile I've changed my t: setting to ram: and didn-t get any validation problems since then, but I haven't tried it many times. Is it possible that the validation problem is only due to t: ? - I got a guru when trying to delete a .o file of zero length created by the compiler before it crashed. Does it mean that there is a hard/soft error on the disk? The PD programs I know of are able to restore files but not to repair the disk itself - is there a program somewhere that would do this? - Since I have no other programs, I've tried diskdoctor to repair the hard disk. It ended up by saying that two keys are not readable. What is the key? How is it related to the cylinder/head? When I've run diskdoctor for the second time, it wrote the same message. I suppose therefore that it does not try to correct the disk or that it did not succeed. - Is there a way to tell Amiga that there are some errors on the hard disk without running the hard format? When I've tried to reformat the disk with dpformat (I'm using a PC disk, ST-157R), nothing really changed. - Even with the complete format, I cannot tell the controller that there are some bad tracks on the disk since it asks for the BFI number. Can someone tell me what BFI is (I know what it stands for but this does not help me) and how to work it out? - If I'm wrong and there is no hard error on the disk (after all, I've reformatted it several times and run some PC tests on it), what can be the problem? If it is only in the compiler, is it possible to prevent it from messing up the disk when it crashes? I somehow cannot make the ROM-wack work, when I loadWB with -debug and select the Debug menu, it just does nothing, is there something I'm missing? Thanks for any hints/comments. --Micha US: ...!pyramid!ecrcvax!micha Europe: mcvax!unido!ecrcvax!micha CSNET: micha%ecrcvax.UUCP@Germany.CSNET UK: stl!ecrcvax!micha
jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) (11/04/88)
In article <649@ecrcvax.UUCP> micha@ecrcvax.UUCP (Micha Meier) writes: > The guru type varies, sometimes >it's freeing a memory twice, sometimes illegal instruction or key already >free/used. ... > - is it normal that my hard disk won't validate after a guru? It's certainly possible, especially since the Guru appears to be disk-related, or writing to the disk was going on. I disk that was being written to during a crash can have any sort of garbage on it. > Why does this happen? Sometimes it's validated after a reboot, > sometimes not; sometimes it is possible to write to > a non-validated disk and sometimes not. Meanwhile I've changed > my t: setting to ram: and didn-t get any validation > problems since then, but I haven't tried it many times. > Is it possible that the validation problem is only due to t: ? Well, if the compiler crashes the system during a write to t:, or when a file in t: is open, it will force a re-validate. If there are problems with the drive, they may show up during validation, or a crash during write to the disk could destroy some important sectors, like the root block, or a directory header block. > - I got a guru when trying to delete a .o file of zero length > created by the compiler before it crashed. Does it mean that > there is a hard/soft error on the disk? The PD programs I know > of are able to restore files but not to repair the disk > itself - is there a program somewhere that would do this? Which guru? Was it one of the "DOS" guru's, like invalid key? BTW, key == block number. For saving data from dead drives, DiskSalv, by Dave Haynie (on Fish disks, there's an _old_ one on Fish 20, I think there's a new one on a rectent fish disk), appears to be very good at recovering disks that have been wiped. Note: the old version doesn't work with FFS, the new one does. Also note it copies the files to another disk, instead of repairing in place. This is good because then you can re-format the drive, and restore. > - Since I have no other programs, I've tried diskdoctor > to repair the hard disk. It ended up by saying that two > keys are not readable. What is the key? How is it related > to the cylinder/head? When I've run diskdoctor for the second > time, it wrote the same message. I suppose therefore that > it does not try to correct the disk or that it did not succeed. Key is the block number (sector number). divide by sectors/cylinder to get the cylinder, take the remainder and divide by sectors/track to get head number, the remainder is the sector number. Sounds like there are two blocks that can't be read (read errors.) > - Is there a way to tell Amiga that there are some errors on the > hard disk without running the hard format? When I've tried to > reformat the disk with dpformat (I'm using a PC disk, ST-157R), > nothing really changed. All controllers I've seen so far require a hard format to map out bad sectors (NOT amigados format command). Check the manufacturers documentation for your hard drive. > - Even with the complete format, I cannot tell the controller > that there are some bad tracks on the disk since it asks > for the BFI number. Can someone tell me what BFI is (I know > what it stands for but this does not help me) and how to > work it out? BFI - Bytes From Index. Note there are two BFI's: RLL and MFM. Usually RLL drives have errors listed in RLL BFI, MFM (normal, older) drives use MFM BFI. For 512 bytes sectors, 1-1 interleave, I THINK the conversion from sector->BFI is sector*(512+85) + (~256), which puts the error in the "center" of the sector. I'm not 100% certain this will work for RLL BFI, and it certainly won't work for non 1-1 interleave. > - If I'm wrong and there is no hard error on the disk (after all, > I've reformatted it several times and run some PC tests on it), > what can be the problem? If it is only in the compiler, is it > possible to prevent it from messing up the disk when it crashes? > I somehow cannot make the ROM-wack work, when I > loadWB with -debug and select the Debug menu, it just does nothing, > is there something I'm missing? Format == AMigaDos Format command or manufacturers low-level hard format program? In general, having a compiler Guru while writing to disk is a VERY bad thing. Can mess things up bad. The question is whether the compiler is dieing, and in the process trashing the HD, or whether the HD has bad spots, and this is causing problems when the compiler writes to them. I'd suspect the first, especially if you don't get read/write errors. LoadWB -debug: Do you have a 9600 baud terminal attached to the serial port? -- You've heard of CATS? Well, I'm a member of DOGS: Developers Of Great Software. Randell Jesup, Commodore Engineering {uunet|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup
rkwood@rosebud.UUCP (Randy Wood) (03/30/89)
HELP!!!
I'm having some serious problems with my hard disk. The hardware
consists of a C L'td SCSI controller (v. 2.x), an Adaptec 4000 SCSI->ST506
converter, and a Seagate ST-225 20 megabyte ST506 MFM hard drive. The
software I'm currently running is WB 1.3 (FFS) and C L'td's SCSI_DOS v.
2.06.
The problem is that the machine has great difficulty mounting DH0: the
first time I turn the machine on. I have to Cntrl-A-A (warm boot) the
machine about a dozen times before it will recognize DH0: as a dos disk.
Otherwise it will pop up a little system requestor saying "Not a DOS Disk
in DH0:.... Use DiskDoctor...". Once the machine recognizes DH0: I have no
further problems and subsequent warm-boots are trouble free.
This problem first appeared the day after I ran B.A.D., a hard disk
optimizing program. At first, I only had to try warm booting the machine
several times before my 1000 would recognize DH0: on the initial power-up.
However the situation has become progressively worse... I've tried
reformatting DH0: with both the C L'td low-level utilities and the AmigaDOS
format command. Everything looked OK until I powered down and then powered
back up....
I would hate to think I might have to junk my hard drive, which had
worked perfectly for almost 2 years, in favor of a new Supra or C L'td
drive. :^( Do the comp.sys.amiga net-gods have any ideas or
suggestions???
--
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
| Randy Wood RKW Technologies, 271 NE 45th St, Seattle, WA 98105 |
| (206) 363-TECH UUCP: rkwood@rosebud.UUCP |
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+jvmiller@zeno1.rdrc.rpi.edu (Jim Miller) (10/16/89)
I have recently been having problems with my 20 meg Supra hard disk on my Amiga 1000. Upon mounting the disk, it repsonds with "No partion table found" (or some such information). I have been able to get it to mount intermittently. If it does mount, then while the disk is in use, it will change speeds and decide that this is a good time to park the disk. It lets the disk coast to a stop and of course locks up the computer. I had the disk for about 2 1/2 years. I had to send it back once (about a year after I bought it) because the medium had gotten damaged. I haven't gotten a chance to call Supra yet (I don't feel like being without my harddisk for a month). It seems to me that the controller seems to be misinterpretting commands like "move" as "park". Does anyone have any suggestions other than contacting Supra? Thanks, Jimmy
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (10/23/89)
It appears my original reply to Jim Miller's Q about problems with his HD didn't get posted (there are still some quake-related problems zinging PORTAL's disks) ... my conjecture is the power supply. I posted testing instructions; Jimmy, send email and I'll walk you thru the procedure. Replacement power supplies should be readily available at surplus places in your area, and the mounting holes are "almost" a universal standard so it can be an easy repair job. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]
schwager@m.cs.uiuc.edu (12/21/89)
Posted for a friend:
(reply to this person, NOT me!):
>From tegge@idt.unit.no Mon Dec 18 12:19:06 1989
Subject: Help wanted
I've tried several times to post this question to I-AMIGA (on bitnet), but
some times the message were stopped ('list is held'), and other times the
messages seemed to be distributed, but no answers came ....
I have a ST296N harddisk, and an A590 harddisk-controller. Interleave 1:1
is kind of sssslllloooowwww. (100 K/sec, due to bug in the REV 8 ROM). I've
heard that interleave 1:2 is faster (400 K/sec). REV 7 ROM is without this
bug.
I've tried using the hdtoolbox program that came with the A590. There were
no way to select interleave value there.
I've tried putting an entry for the drive in the DEVS:mountlist file, and
found that if the partition started at cylinder 0, a low level format would
be done. But, the interleave value in the mountlist entry was ignored.
(ARRGH!)
I'm using ARP1.3, but the mount command is from the Demo version of
CrossDos.
What i would like to have is :
- Email address to seagate. (if one exists). Since this is a BUG,
they ought to do something.
- Documentation of the hddisk.device/xt.device/scsi.device on the A590,
or information about where to get it.
Then I may be able to write a program that sends the correct SCSI
packet to the drive.
- A utility program that supports low level format with different
interleave values.
I hope you or one of your friends know the answers .... I don't want to
spend a month with a disassembler to find the answer myself.
Sincerly,
Tor Egge
Bitnet : TEGGE@NORUNIT
Internet: tegge@idt.unit.nopfmnews@cbnewsi.att.com (peter.f.meng) (10/12/90)
I recently had file system problems with my hard disk. I
tried using sectorama and disk mechanic to recover
but to no avail. (I have a 2000 with WB 1.3 booting from
floppy, A2090 controller with ST-251 40 Meg disk, and
it was operational for over a year and a half)
Anyway, I decided to start from scratch and rePREP and
format the disk. The MountList file was already set with
descriptions for RES0: partition (tracks 0 and 1 for the
PREP info) and FS1: for the FFS partition (tracks 29-819 I think).
Mount RES0: (completed)
PREP RES0: (completed)
FORMAT DRIVE DH0: NAME "SLOWHD" (completed)
MOUNT FS1: (completed)
FORMAT DRIVE FS1: NAME "FASTHD" FFS
asks to insert FS1: and hit RETURN
I hit RETURN and it comes back with
=>=>=>=>=>=>=> FORMAT failed - handler not found. <=<=<=<=<=<=
I believe this is the same procedure I followed a year ago and
all the associated files (hddisk, PREP, Mountlist, etc)
seem to be on the floppy.
I had also modified the startup files to delete any hard
disk references. I even tried retyping the MountList entries.
I'm probably missing something obvious. Any ideas??
Thanks in advance,
Peter Meng
att!hotlf!pfm