phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti) (06/02/89)
Since I posted my message a little while ago about having problems with
my external drive (DF1:), an AIRdrive, I've had several letters from other
people who also have AIRdrives and have had continual problems with
read/write errors cropping up at random. Here's the kind of thing I've been
having happen:
1> format drive df1: name "Fubar"
(drive formats floppy)
1> DiskVerify df1:
(diskette verifies as having no errors)
1> copy df0: df1: all
(DF0: contains a virtually full workbench floppy; copy completes
successfully)
1> DiskVerify df1:
(diskette verifies as having no errors)
1> delete df1:#? all
(files deleted)
1> copy df0: df1: all
(DF0: copies again)
1> DiskVerify df1:
(Diskette now has at least one error.)
Sometimes, the diskette will verify once, and then not verify
as soon as it is written to. The error DiskVerify reports is #25, and it
will occur on either side of the floppy. (Obviously, more than one floppy
is in question here; the problem seems to be with the drive.) The error
will most often crop up around track 40, very often on track 40 itself.
(I suspect this is because track 40 is the most commonly written when
copying disk files, no?)
Anyway, this is very annoying, and seems to be happening to a
relatively large number of people. In my case, it seems to be not "will
the disk drive create an error on my diskette," but "when will the disk
drive create an error on my diskette?" Others report similar certainty.
The question: are other AIR drive owners out there, and have you
been having similar problems? Personally, I'm ticked off; if this is as
common as it is appearing to be, then I'll be quite annoyed.
The second question: as soon as I can get Draco to work, I'll
be putting together a diskette drive benchmark utility. I would like
suggestions for this utility (types of tests, etc.) These can be EMailed.
If there is interest, once I get this working, I'll send it to other
people and we can put together some sort of consensus result and find out
exactly how common a problem this is, and whether our problems are indeed
identical.
- R'ykandar.
--
| "Signature, hell! I can barely print!" | phoenix@ukma.bitnet | Plink: |
| "Who let him in here?" - Tom Smith | CIS: 72406,370 | Skywise |
| "Yes, that IS my real name. No, I'm NOT joking." | QLink: Bearclaw |joe@lakesys.UUCP (Joe Pantuso) (06/02/89)
In article <11818@s.ms.uky.edu> phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti) writes: > > Since I posted my message a little while ago about having problems with >my external drive (DF1:), an AIRdrive, I've had several letters from other >people who also have AIRdrives and have had continual problems with >read/write errors cropping up at random. Here's the kind of thing I've been >having happen: (More Stuff about errors on the drive and a way to create an error on the drive) Well, my experience is that if you do somthing like that on ANY amiga drive you get errors like that. I've had my AIR drive for a month now and I can't complain, it's quiet and I have had no errors that surprised me (in fact I can'tthink of any drive problems I've had except one that was caused by a virus). So I don't know, maybe I just got lucky. Another nice feature is the rather long cord on the drive, by making that DF1 and my Commodore drive DF2 I can finally put the drives in a realistic place on my desk. -- Joe Pantuso joe@lakesys.lakesys.com Home(414)259-1897 Work(414)281-8700 Software ONE
phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti) (06/02/89)
In article <672@lakesys.UUCP> joe@lakesys.UUCP (Joe Pantuso) writes: >Well, my experience is that if you do somthing like that on ANY amiga drive >you get errors like that. I've had my AIR drive for a month now and I can't >complain, it's quiet and I have had no errors that surprised me (in fact I can'tthink of any drive problems I've had except one that was caused by a virus). > >So I don't know, maybe I just got lucky. Sorry if I wasn't clearer; this is just one way to definately make an error happen, quickly, under something like test conditions. (BTW, my internal drive passes that test...) The problemis that my AIRdrive WILL DEFINATELY EAT any diskette that it writes to on a regular basis. Until I just gave up, it was eating an average of one diskette a day! (I refuse to believe this is "normal.") I'm glad to hear that you have a well-behaving AIR drive. Mine is still under warranty, and as soon as my hard drive comes in, I'll send this one off for service, and I'm happy to know that at least SOME of their more recent drives work well. (I bought mine because someone I know locally got one some time ago and had good luck with it). - R'ykandar. -- | "Signature, hell! I can barely print!" | phoenix@ukma.bitnet | Plink: | | "Who let him in here?" - Tom Smith | CIS: 72406,370 | Skywise | | "Yes, that IS my real name. No, I'm NOT joking." | QLink: Bearclaw |
KRSEAR01@ULKYVX.BITNET (Kendall 'Opusii' Sears) (06/05/89)
>> Since I posted my message a little while ago about having problems with >>my external drive (DF1:), an AIRdrive, I've had several letters from other >>people who also have AIRdrives and have had continual problems with >>read/write errors cropping up at random. Here's the kind of thing I've been >>having happen: [...] > I've had my AIR drive for a month now and I can't > complain, it's quiet and I have had no errors that surprised me > I have had my AIRdrive for over a year now with no problems. In fact, when my internal drive on my 500 died, I pulled the drive mechanism out of the AIRdrive and installed it in my 500 until I found a replacement drive for the 500. I personally think that the AIRdrive is a decent drive, but the only thing AIR did was print a SMALL circuit board and install a (in my case) NEC mechanism. The circuit board DOES look a little cheesy, but it works. Opusii Kendall "Opusii" Sears KRSEAR01@ULKYVX.bitnet ...!psuvax!ulkyvx.bitnet!KRSEAR01 (UUCP) K.SEARS (GEnie) --------------------------------------------------- "VIC's LIVE... Really. I just used one..."
pfaff@atlantis.asd.contel.com (Ray Pfaff - Oakwood 457 934-8162) (06/05/89)
>The question: are other AIR drive owners out there, and have you >been having similar problems? Personally, I'm ticked off; if this is as >common as it is appearing to be, then I'll be quite annoyed. Well, it appears to at least be common to the two of us. You appeared to have looked into the problem more than I have, but I noticed that the problem occurs whenever I do a lot of copies and deletions on a disk in the AIR drive. I've given up trying to write onto the drive; I just read on it. I some cases (such as Dungeon Master), where I pretty much have to write to the drive, I make a backup copy.