etan@tellab5.UUCP (10/01/87)
I'm wondering if anyone else out there is having the same types of problems with their SH204 20Mb hard drive as I am with mine. I bought it as part of a 1040ST package in February and didn't use the computer much until May. (I use the 1040ST almost exclusively for music applications with Steinberg PRO-24.) Then I got into a 4-5 times/week mode in preparation for a concert. One week before the show, I went to power the drive up, but it was dead (the fuse was ok). I took it back to the dealer and he replaced the power supply board for about $135 (ouch!). about 1-1/2 weeks later, the same thing happened. The dealer had to wait 3 weeks for more power supply boards, then went through several before he found one that wouldn't blow up. By this time, the concert had passed, and I was down to about once-a-week use (crossing my fingers every time I turned it on). A couple days ago, I encountered a new problem. My wife and I had the PRO-24 loaded and were taking a break, when we noticed that the drive was occasionally chirping on its own. Thinking this was odd, I decided to exit the program to see what was going on. I then got a dialog box stating that data on drive D (where PRO-24 resides) may be damaged. I selected cancel, and the system crashed. When I rebooted, I got the factory-default desktop and only one hard-drive ikon that claimed to be empty. I tried to reboot several times, and got different desktops, including the right one once, but with "damaged data". The last few times, I couldn't even get drive C ikon. Has anyone else had any of these problems? Do I have a lemon, or do all SH204's suck? Should I sell mine and buy something different? If so, what? Nate Stelton
sandra@utah-cs.UUCP (Sandra J Loosemore) (10/02/87)
In article <698@tellab5.UUCP>, etan@tellab5.UUCP (Nate Stelton) writes: > [Long list of problems with SH204] > Has anyone else had any of these problems? Do I have a lemon, or do all > SH204's suck? Should I sell mine and buy something different? If so, what? I've had my SH204 for over a year now and it has always worked fine. I use my machine every day, too. I take reasonable precautions with it -- I park the head before moving it (even if it's just a few inches to clean around it), and I unplug all of my equipment during storms or if I'm going to be away from home for a few days. The only complaint I have with the SH204 is that it's too noisy. I wish I could hook it up with a 20-foot cord and hide the box in a closet or something, so I wouldn't have to listen to it humming away right in front of my nose..... -Sandra
knutsen@aramis.rutgers.edu.UUCP (10/03/87)
In article <698@tellab5.UUCP> etan@tellab5.UUCP (Nate Stelton) writes: > Has anyone else had any of these problems? Do I have a lemon, or do all > SH204's suck? Should I sell mine and buy something different? If so, what? The first SH204 that we got for the JACG BBS at the beginning of this year was DOA, probably due to the fact that the majority of the metal case contained empty space. The power supply and controller were there, but the hard drive itself was missing. Who removed it and when (factory worker? Atari? distributor? retailer?) is anybody's guess. The packing carton was apparently factory-sealed. Needless to say, the "hard drive that wasn't" was returned and replaced. The replacement was complete and intact, and has been in operation continuously since March or so, with nary a problem. Drive fan is too loud, though. --Mark Knutsen, SysOp, JACG BBS -- _________________________________ Jersey ||| _____________________________ ARPA: knutsen@rutgers.edu | Atari / | \ | GEnie GE Mail: M.KNUTSEN UUCP: {...}!rutgers.edu!knutsen | ||| Computer | The JACG BBS: (201)298-0161 --------------------------------- / | \ Group -----------------------------
exodus@uop.UUCP (Freddy Kreuger) (10/04/87)
I have not had any problems at all with my SH204. Do you always wait until the seek-alignment is finished before turning your computer on? My drive has performed flawlessly but I needed a little more storage so I disconnected the internal hard drive and connected a Micropolis 50 Meg drive to the controller. THis works too but a few applications have problems (Final Word can read the swap file but cannot work with it, etc.) I think these problems are because of the extended partitioning I have done with the Supra Formatter (4 Meg, 4.5 Meg, 7 Meg, 4.9 Meg, 10.3 Meg, 10.3 Meg). Demand a replacement if possible...you must have a defective board-- the controller?? G. Onufer
crash@calgary.UUCP (Glen ) (10/05/87)
In article <698@tellab5.UUCP>, etan@tellab5.UUCP (Nate Stelton) writes: > Has anyone else had any of these problems? Do I have a lemon, or do all > SH204's suck? Should I sell mine and buy something different? If so, what? > > Nate Stelton I've had mine for over a month, no problems. It does suffer from the whine the arises after it has been on for ~5 hours. The whine starts out low, rises to a high pitch, goes low and is gone. This has been mentioned before I believe. There is a BBS in the city that leaves its disk on 24 hrs. apparently no problems.
steven@cwi.nl (Steven Pemberton) (10/06/87)
In article <698@tellab5.UUCP> etan@tellab3.UUCP (Nate Stelton) writes: > I'm wondering if anyone else out there is having the same types of problems > with their SH204 20Mb hard drive as I am with mine. [...] > A couple days ago, I encountered a new problem. [...] > I then got a dialog box stating that data on drive D may be damaged. > I selected cancel, and the system crashed. When I rebooted, I got the > factory-default desktop and only one hard-drive ikon that claimed to > be empty. I tried to reboot several times, and got different > desktops, including the right one once, but with "damaged data". The > last few times, I couldn't even get drive C ikon. > Has anyone else had any of these problems? Yes, I had similar problems. Access times went down and down, and the disk started to thrash on all disk-accesses. Then I started getting problems like the "disk damaged" alert, and rebooting would give different desktops, and every now and then the right one. So I usually just had to reboot a few times to get it back. Then it died irrevocably, and I had to send it to be repaired. I don't remember what they said they had to repair though. Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; steven@cwi.nl
paone@topaz.rutgers.edu (Phil Paone) (10/12/87)
Yes, I had the same exact thing happen. The only difference was that it cost 280, and took 4 months to get it back. It was blamed on the room being too hot (~95). -- Phil Paone paone@topaz.rutgers.edu ihnp4!moss!oac!ppaone "Admiral...There be whales here"