[comp.sys.amiga] The world worst case of hard disk errors! Help!

joseph@garfield.MUN.EDU (Joseph Dawson) (04/03/89)

The world's worst case of hard disk Errors! Help!

I am using an Amiga 2000 (3 Megs of ram) with a 2090A, and a
MiniScribe 40 MEG hard disk.  I have had this system for about 7
months now and have had nothing but problems with it from the
first day I bought it.

I can sometimes go for as long as three months with no errors and
then hit 3 or five within a few days.  As I have had so many
errors I have set up my hard disk into 4, 9.5 MEG FFS  sections,
and 1, 1 MEG NONE FFS section.

I have had a total of 12 hard disk errors now.  This has put me
at the end of my rope.  I had an Amiga 1000 for 2 years with no
problems.  

Can the 2090A get mixed up and can it write VIDEO on my hard
disk?  Can the DMA get totally fooled up and not write the right
information on the hard disk?  

I run a BBS so my computer and hard disk are working all the
time, so I really need a system that works all the time without
any problems.  (I have a busy life I don't need this as well!)

How about multi-tasking the hard disk while using a graphics
program, could that cause any errors?  Or how about just multi-
tasking the hard disk a lot?  I need some reason why I am getting
all the dam errors!

I will give you a copy of my mount list at the end of this letter
if that will help anyone.  

What could cause such a problem?????  

How about a list of software that can cause problems with hard
disks.  I use Word Perfect 4.1, AC-BASIC a lot.  Any known
problems with them and hard disks?


I have replaced my:  Amiga 2000 (1 time)
                     2090A      (2 times)
                  Memory board  (0 times)
                     MiniScribe (3 times)

HELP! PLEASE! ANY IDEAS WOULD BE GREAT!


Joseph@Garfield.UUCP

PS:  I have a real problem with backup programs that don't manage
the backup disks.  I want one that will erase something off my
backup disks when I erase something off my hard disk.  I only
want to have to use 10 megs of disks when backing up a 10 meg
part of my hard disk.  Has anyone seen a backup program like this
for the Amiga. 
------------------------------------------------------
/* Sample Mountlist Entry to add another partition to a ST-506
drive */
P2:        Device = hddisk.device
           Unit   = 1
           Flags  = 0
           Surfaces  = 4
           BlocksPerTrack = 17
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 300  ;  HighCyl = 601
           Buffers = 20
           BufMemType = 0
#
/* SCSI drives are units 3 and up */
RES2:     Device = hddisk.device
           Unit   = 3
           Flags  = 0
           Surfaces  = 4
           BlocksPerTrack = 17
           Reserved = 0
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0  ;  HighCyl = 1
           Buffers = 5
           BufMemType = 0
#
/* MountList for V1.3 */

VD0:       Device = asdg.vdisk.device
           Unit   = 1
           Flags  = 0
           Surfaces  = 1
           BlocksPerTrack = 16
           Priority = 5
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0
           HighCyl = 109
           Buffers = 5
           BufMemType = 5
#

VDK:       handler = L:vdk-handler
           stacksize = 2000
           priority = 5
           globvec = 0xffffffff
#


/*  Mount Entry for the new Console Handler */

NEWCON:
    Handler = L:Newcon-Handler
    Priority = 5
    StackSize = 1000
#

/* This is an example of a non-filing system mount using a
handler written
   in C.
*/

SPEAK:
    Handler = L:Speak-Handler
    Stacksize = 6000
    Priority = 5
    GlobVec = -1
#

/*  This is an example of an alternative type of non-filing
device mount,
    used to mount the non-buffered serial handler
*/

AUX:
    Handler = L:Aux-Handler
    Stacksize = 1000
    Priority = 5
#
/*  This is a non-filing system device */

PIPE:
    Handler = L:Pipe-Handler
    Stacksize = 6000
    Priority = 5
    GlobVec = -1
#

/* This is an example of a mount list entry for using the
recoverable
   ram disk.  Depending on the amount of memory you wish to
devote to
   it, you may want to change the HighCyl value.
*/

RAD:       Device = ramdrive.device
           Unit   = 0
           Flags  = 0
           Surfaces  = 2
           BlocksPerTrack = 11
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0  ;  HighCyl = 21
           Buffers = 5
           BufMemType = 1
#

/* Mount a 5.25" disk drive to be mounted as DF2: */

DF2:       Device = trackdisk.device
           Unit   = 2
           Flags  = 1
           Surfaces  = 2
           BlocksPerTrack = 11
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0  ;  HighCyl = 39
           Buffers = 20
           BufMemType = 3
#
/* ST-506 hard disk drives are units 1 and 2 */
res0:      Device = hddisk.device
           Unit   = 1
           Flags  = 0
           Surfaces  = 6
           BlocksPerTrack = 17
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0 ;  HighCyl = 1
           Buffers = 1
           BufMemType = 0
#
FAST1:
    Device = hddisk.device
    FileSystem = l:FastFileSystem
    Unit   = 1
    Flags  = 0
    Surfaces  = 6
    BlocksPerTrack = 17
    Reserved = 2
    Interleave = 0
    LowCyl = 21  ;  HighCyl = 215
    Buffers = 30
    GlobVec = -1
    BufMemType = 1
    Mount = 1
    DosType = 0x444F5301
    StackSize = 50000
#

FAST2:
    Device = hddisk.device
    FileSystem = l:FastFileSystem
    Unit   = 1
    Flags  = 0
    Surfaces  = 6
    BlocksPerTrack = 17
    Reserved = 2
    Interleave = 0
    LowCyl = 216  ;  HighCyl = 410
    Buffers = 30
    GlobVec = -1
    BufMemType = 1
    Mount = 1
    DosType = 0x444F5301
    StackSize = 50000
#

FAST3:
    Device = hddisk.device
    FileSystem = l:FastFileSystem
    Unit   = 1
    Flags  = 0
    Surfaces  = 6
    BlocksPerTrack = 17
    Reserved = 2
    Interleave = 0
    LowCyl = 411  ;  HighCyl = 605
    Buffers = 30
    GlobVec = -1
    BufMemType = 1
    Mount = 1
    DosType = 0x444F5301
    StackSize = 50000
#

FAST4:
    Device = hddisk.device
    FileSystem = l:FastFileSystem
    Unit   = 1
    Flags  = 0
    Surfaces  = 6
    BlocksPerTrack = 17
    Reserved = 2
    Interleave = 0
    LowCyl = 606  ;  HighCyl = 800
    Buffers = 30
    GlobVec = -1
    BufMemType = 1
    Mount = 1
    DosType = 0x444F5301
    StackSize = 50000
#

dh0:
    Device = hddisk.device
    Unit   = 1
    Flags  = 0
    Surfaces  = 6
    BlocksPerTrack = 17
    Reserved = 2
    Interleave = 0
    LowCyl = 2  ; HighCyl = 19
    Buffers = 30
    BufMemType = 0
    StackSize = 20000
#
/* Let's say you have an A2000 with an internal drive, and an
external
   drive, and you want to refer to the external drive as DF1: as
well
   as DF2:   Well, this MountList entry will do it for you.  This
technique
   can be extended to provide you with a drive A: and B: if you
really
   want.
*/

DF1:       Device = trackdisk.device
           Unit   = 2
           Flags  = 1
           Surfaces  = 2
           BlocksPerTrack = 11
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0  ;  HighCyl = 79
           Buffers = 20
           BufMemType = 3
#