n8742883@unicorn.cc.wwu.edu (Perry Pederson) (11/19/90)
Today I was working with unarcing some files while using
NeoDesk 3.0 as my desktop. I put a new disk in the drive and pressed
the ESCape key to tell NeoDesk to read the new disk info and display
the directory. The window refreshed itself with the same info-- for
some reason, the FAT had been written from the disk that was just in
the computer to the new disk I just inserted!!
While the directories of the two disks look identical, the
disk which had its FAT rewritten will not execute / print the files on
the disk as the files are nonexistant on the disk. A disk editor
showed me that the files do exist on the drive, but the FAT has been
rewritten to match the old disk.
I had run several programs which I had just unarced. Could
the symptoms be from a virus that was picked up off of one of those,
or does NeoDesk 3.0 have (gulp!) a bug hiding in it? I've never had
this problem before.
My system is an Atari 1040STf, 1 meg, 1 internal drive. The
window I was trying to reread was the B: window.
Any suggestions on what could have happened would be appreciated.
***** ******* Perry Pederson: email: n8742883@unicorn.wwu.edu
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+++++ ++++++fischer-michael@cs.yale.edu (Michael Fischer) (11/19/90)
In article <1990Nov19.014528.16629@unicorn.cc.wwu.edu> n8742883@unicorn.WWU.EDU (Perry Pederson) writes: > > Today I was working with unarcing some files while using >NeoDesk 3.0 as my desktop. I put a new disk in the drive and pressed >the ESCape key to tell NeoDesk to read the new disk info and display >the directory. The window refreshed itself with the same info-- for >some reason, the FAT had been written from the disk that was just in >the computer to the new disk I just inserted!! >... > Any suggestions on what could have happened would be appreciated. What happened is pretty clear. TOS failed to recognize the new disk, so it continued using its cached copies of the FAT and directory from the old disk. I'm surprised that the new disk was clobbered unless you actually attempted to write something on it. Why it happened is more of a mystery. The way things are supposed to work is that TOS senses that the medium (disk) might have changed and rereads the boot sector. (The hardware is such that it can't tell for sure.) If the 24-bit disk ID field in the boot sector has changed, then it knows a new disk is in the drive; otherwise, it assumes the same disk is still there. If your two disks had the same disk ID, that would be enough to explain the problem, for then TOS would not know you had switched disks. The TOS desktop and most ST formatters generate a random ID field, so this problem rarely arises. However, some copy programs copy the entire disk, including the ID field, and they can lead to these kinds of problems. Also, I understand that IBM PC's do not use the ID field, so disks formatted on a PC might end up all having the same ID. You didn't say which version of TOS you are using. This problem has been lessened in TOS 1.4. There, I believe that pressing ESC causes TOS to assume a new disk, regardless of whether the ID fields match. With the older version of TOS, pressing escape causes the boot sector to be read and the ID fields to be checked, but a new disk is assumed only if the ID's differ. -- ================================================== | Michael Fischer <fischer-michael@cs.yale.edu> | ==================================================
sagemma@eos.ncsu.edu (STEVEN ANTHONY GEMMA) (11/20/90)
In article <1990Nov19.014528.16629@unicorn.cc.wwu.edu>, n8742883@unicorn.cc.wwu.edu (Perry Pederson) writes: > > Today I was working with unarcing some files while using > NeoDesk 3.0 as my desktop. I put a new disk in the drive and pressed > the ESCape key to tell NeoDesk to read the new disk info and display > the directory. The window refreshed itself with the same info-- for > some reason, the FAT had been written from the disk that was just in > the computer to the new disk I just inserted!! I've had nearly the same thing happen with my setup. I have Neodesk 2.0 that I use with my 520ST (recently updated to 1 meg), 1 internal, and 1 external drive. Sometimes when I switch the disk in drive B, and ask Neodesk to update the window, seemingly without even checking the drive, it refreshes itself with the info from the previous disk. Closing and opening the window achieve the same result. Sometimes I have to change disks several times before it is recognized, or else I update drive A, and then drive B. Another, more disturbing result is that sometimes Neodesk will tell me that drive B contains some folders with unprintable names (control characters and such). It goes on to say that I am using up -17348542 bytes in 3 items. At other times I have had nearly a gigabyte (!) of disk space used on a standard double-sided disk, or so Neodesk says. I haven't had any problem with the disk being damaged or changed in any way, however. When I examine the disk from Atari's desktop, I never have any problems. At first, I thought it was my disk drive (Master 3S), but now I'm beginning to wonder... -Steve Gemma
schultzd@kira.uucp (David Schultz) (11/20/90)
A while back (when I first replaced an aging Compaq with an even older ST), I had the same type of problem. The fix was stumbled onto accidentally, may be extremely unrliable (ie. it might not work for you), and it SAVED MY BUTT. What I did was put the disk through the VKILLER program (PD on atari.archive). When I "killed" the non-existing virus. My FATs were all fixed up. (There is more than one copy of the FAT. VKILLER recontructs the FATS from the copies.) Good Luck, -- ----- David W. Schultz ----- ----- schultzd@egr.msu.edu ----- ----- Work Phone: (517)-353-8891 ----- -- "Since my opinions are mine, I won't tell you who I work for." --
ljdickey@aftermath.waterloo.edu (L.J.Dickey) (11/21/90)
In article <27343@cs.yale.edu> fischer-michael@cs.yale.edu (Michael Fischer) writes: >In article <1990Nov19.014528.16629@unicorn.cc.wwu.edu> n8742883@unicorn.WWU.EDU (Perry Pederson) writes: >> >> Today I was working with unarcing some files while using >>NeoDesk 3.0 as my desktop. I put a new disk in the drive and pressed >>the ESCape key to tell NeoDesk to read the new disk info and display >>the directory. The window refreshed itself with the same info-- for >>some reason, the FAT had been written from the disk that was just in >>the computer to the new disk I just inserted!! >>... >> Any suggestions on what could have happened would be appreciated. > >What happened is pretty clear. TOS failed to recognize the new disk, >so it continued using its cached copies of the FAT and directory from >the old disk. I'm surprised that the new disk was clobbered unless >you actually attempted to write something on it. > >Why it happened is more of a mystery. I am wondering if it could have happened because he was using two disks with the same serial number. Perhaps one disk one had been formatted by making a full copy of everthing on another disk. Or both were formatted on an IBM PC