geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) (11/30/89)
The other day, I was working on a HyperCard stack which I was keeping on
a floppy. When I quit HyperCard, I got a System Error (don't recall the
number) and restarted. I didn't reinsert the floppy at that time.
Well, last night I went to work on my stack. When I inserted the
floppy disk, the Finder greeted me with a dialog box stating that the
disk needed "minor repairs" and asking me if I wanted it to repair the
disk. If I cancelled, I was informed that the disk was unreadable and
the disk was ejected. If I said to repair the disk, the mac churned for
a while and reported back that the disk was unable to be repaired.
So I tried Disk 1st Aid. It accomplished nothing. (Actually, I've
never seen this program accomplish anything -- does it do anything
useful?)
MacTools brings up a window for the disk. No files appear in the
window. But MacTools *is* able to tell me that the disk has 360K used
and 440K available (or whatever the actual numbers are).
"Verify Disk" using MacTools gives me several errors, all with an ID of
-72.
If I examine the disk using the "View Edit" command, it appears that the
files are still there.
It seems at some time or another, a message flashed by that the Desktop
file was corrupted or missing or something.
I'm using a Mac SE with System 6.0.2 and 1 Mb RAM.
Now for the question: Is there any hope for this disk? At least one of
the files represents a bit of work I was doing. (I do have another
copy, but it's outdated). Any and all help would certainly be
appreciated.
Thanks,
Geoff
--
Geoff Allen \ WINCO doesn't believe in Macs,
{uunet|bigtex}!pmafire!geoff \ so of course these are my views.
ucdavis!egg-id!pmafire!geoff \JAH4@PSUVM.BITNET (JEFFREY A. HAMMAN) (12/01/89)
In article <874@pmafire.UUCP>, geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) says: > >The other day, I was working on a HyperCard stack which I was keeping on >a floppy. When I quit HyperCard, I got a System Error (don't recall the >number) and restarted. I didn't reinsert the floppy at that time. > >Well, last night I went to work on my stack. When I inserted the >floppy disk, the Finder greeted me with a dialog box stating that the >disk needed "minor repairs" and asking me if I wanted it to repair the >disk. If I cancelled, I was informed that the disk was unreadable and >the disk was ejected. If I said to repair the disk, the mac churned for >a while and reported back that the disk was unable to be repaired. > > >MacTools brings up a window for the disk. No files appear in the >window. But MacTools *is* able to tell me that the disk has 360K used >and 440K available (or whatever the actual numbers are). > I have had this problem in the past. It says the files are there by the room that it says is taken up. Try the product "1st Aid HFS" by 1st Aid Software in Boston. You can only order this through the company though. I spoke with the company owner at MacWorld/Boston/89 and complemented her on a very well made & thought out product. It definately does what it is supposed to do..recover files off of floppy disks. It works on Hard Disks also...but I tend to use Symantec Utilities. The cost is $99.00 (but pays for itself) and can be ordered at: 1st AID SOFTWARE, Inc. 42 Radnor Road Boston, MA 02135 1-800-THE-FIXR >"Verify Disk" using MacTools gives me several errors, all with an ID of >-72. > I have always taken this to mean in laymans terms "physical damage". The manual makes reference to a somewhat technical explaination, but I have found that you should never use these disks again. I have formatted them succesfully, but they never verify as OK afterward. >If I examine the disk using the "View Edit" command, it appears that the >files are still there. > >It seems at some time or another, a message flashed by that the Desktop >file was corrupted or missing or something. >Now for the question: Is there any hope for this disk? At least one of >the files represents a bit of work I was doing. (I do have another >copy, but it's outdated). Any and all help would certainly be >appreciated. > >Thanks, >Geoff > >-- >Geoff Allen \ WINCO doesn't believe in Macs, >{uunet|bigtex}!pmafire!geoff \ so of course these are my views. >ucdavis!egg-id!pmafire!geoff \ You may be in luck if the file in question is not stored on a bad sector and only the directory information is damaged. You can copy a file over and it will "zero out" bad sectors if it happens to be on any bad ones, but recovery isn't too good for database files of any kind. You are usually going to do better with word processing files as you can extract the text. 1st Aid HFS has always done a good job for me on a tremendous amount of floppy disks, and I am not saying that cause I have any stock in the company, No affiliation. If you are looking for a no-cost way of recovering this file, I have not found a way with the particular symptoms that you have just descibed. Copying the disk over and working off of the copy may give you some relief, but I doubt it as I have only gotten copies that show zero files but disk space taken up. Find a persom with 1st Aid HFS and get him to do it for you.....I know I always hate people giving me the solution that upgrading or buying something new will take care of everything. Jeffrey A. Hamman Microcomputer Systems Consultant Coordinator, Student Support The Pennsylvania State University
geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) (12/04/89)
In article <874@pmafire.UUCP>, I wrote a tale of woe concerning a floppy disk which seemed to be playing hide-and-seek with all of the files on it. >MacTools brings up a window for the disk. No files appear in the >window. But MacTools *is* able to tell me that the disk has 360K used >and 440K available (or whatever the actual numbers are). > >"Verify Disk" using MacTools gives me several errors, all with an ID of >-72. > >If I examine the disk using the "View Edit" command, it appears that the >files are still there. > >It seems at some time or another, a message flashed by that the Desktop >file was corrupted or missing or something. I managed to see the message again. It appeared when allowing the Finder to try the "minor repairs" that it recommended. After a bit of whirring and such, the Mac reported back to me that it was "unable to create Desktop file." Aha! As I suspected, something wiped out my Desktop file and my Mac was complaining about it (understandably). Now, it is my pleasure to inform you all that I now have my files back! Here's what happened: One kind netter offered to try to fix the disk for me if I mailed it to him. (To nicely save me from needing to spend $100 just to get my stack back.) I had decided to take him up on his offer, since I had given up all other hope. Just in case, I decided to make a copy of the disk before sending it off. I decided to try "Copy Disk" in MacTools before resorting to a sector or bit copy in Copy II. Anyway, it just so happens that I forgot to lock my disk before copying it. After the copy, I inserted my original disk and saw all the files! My only guess is that MacTools, in reading the disk to make the copy, found all the files and created a Desktop file for me. Since I hadn't locked the disk, MacTools was able to save the Desktop file back to my disk. Serendipity strikes again! I'll post a summary of some of the responses I got in another article, in case people are interested. -- Geoff Allen \ WINCO doesn't believe in Macs, {uunet|bigtex}!pmafire!geoff \ so of course these are my views. ucdavis!egg-id!pmafire!geoff \