pss4@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Paul S Shannon) (04/19/91)
Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what might have happened. Early this week, I turned on my SE/30 after it's been sitting idle for a few days, and the machine couldn't find the HD (40MB internal). When I booted up from another system disk, and tried to reinitialize the HD, the program to do this couldn't find the SCSI port. I panic, sort of, and call one of my friends at a computer store, but before she got back to me, I tried turning it on once again (this would be the 5th time or so after the 1st failure), and VOILA it boots up perfectly. Everything is still there, and it's worked perfectly since then. I've had the Mac since August. There was a problem back in January when the analog board was fried by some bizarre power spike, but that was replaced, and there have been no problems in the intervening months. Any speculations? Thanks. Cheng-Jih Chen (using Paul Shannon's account) ---------------------------------------------------------------- If you happen to fall off the Sears Tower, go limp, so people will think you're a dummy and they'll try to catch you, because, hey, free dummy. ---------------------------------------------------------------- If you happen to fall off the Sears Tower, go limp, so people will think you're a dummy and they'll try to catch you, because, hey, free dummy.
talarico@rodan.acs.syr.edu (John F. Talarico) (04/21/91)
Well you've just described what happens alot on many Mac. systems. I have a
IIfx with a 200mb internal drive, and every once and a while, I get that same
error. Most of the time it happens when I start the machine up before letting
the HD slow down after a shut-down. (ex. I shut down, forget to do something,
then power up while the drive was spinning down from the initial shut-down.)
Letting the drive slow to a stop, then restarting usually clears it up, but
sometimes I have to zap the PRAM to get the SCSI to recognize the drive. No
data is ever lost. It seems to be a problem with the SCSI ports inherit in the
Mac design.
If anyone else has any other ideas, I'd be glad to hear them. There is no
data lost, but it does get ANNOYING after a while.
SSSSS U U
S S U U
SS U U
SS U U
S U U
S S U U
SSSSS UUUUU Yeah, the university with the funky mascot.
John Talarico (TALARICO@SUNRISE.ACS.SYR.EDU)hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) (04/23/91)
pss4@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Paul S Shannon) writes: >Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what might have happened. >Early this week, I turned on my SE/30 after it's been sitting idle >for a few days, and the machine couldn't find the HD (40MB internal). >When I booted up from another system disk, and tried to reinitialize >the HD, the program to do this couldn't find the SCSI port. ^^^^ >----------------> I think that you mean the SCSI device. >I panic, sort of, and call one of my friends at a computer store, >but before she got back to me, I tried turning it on once again (this >would be the 5th time or so after the 1st failure), and VOILA it boots >up perfectly. Everything is still there, and it's worked perfectly >since then. I think that you have the infamous sticking drive problem! Apple has a somewhat questionable fix for this. This problem is caused by lubricant in the drive which doesn't lubricate well. This is a real problem if the drive sits for a long period of time unused (long time = several days). This happened here and taking a rubber mallot to it sometimes helps BUT THIS IS *NOT* RECOMMENDED. You can also twist the Mac (or remove the drive and twist it) in a somewhat violent motion in the direction that the drive spins. This was enough to unstick a drive here. And remember. This is a VERY good time to do backups!!! hoepfner@heasfs.gsfc.nasa.gov NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
pss4@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Paul S Shannon) (04/24/91)
In article <hoepfner.672412590@heawk1> hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: > This happened here and taking a rubber mallot to it sometimes helps > BUT THIS IS *NOT* RECOMMENDED. You can also twist the Mac (or remove > the drive and twist it) in a somewhat violent motion in the direction > that the drive spins. This was enough to unstick a drive here. > > And remember. This is a VERY good time to do backups!!! > >hoepfner@heasfs.gsfc.nasa.gov >NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Hmm, when I talked to the computer consultants here, they said that if I was really daring I could take it out and drop it, and that might unjam the drive. It sort of seemed a bit radical for me.... If I twist the Mac, which way should I do it, clockwise or counterclockwise? And also, is there any detrimental effects if I leave the computer on all the time? Thanks for the replies. Cheng-Jih Chen (using Paul Shannons account) ---------------------------------------------------------------- If you happen to fall off the Sears Tower, go limp, so people will think you're a dummy and they'll try to catch you, because, hey, free dummy.
patrinos@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Anthony J. Patrinos) (04/25/91)
Shouldn't Apple be offering a recall, since this is a very common and known defect in their product? Regards Tony Patrinos