jrs2@ablnc.ATT.COM (J.R. Smithson) (12/31/86)
HELP! I've had my XENIX System V running on my IBM PC clone running
for 2 months. In that time I've had 3 separate occasions of bad
blocks on the hard disk. I'm using a Seagate ST225 (20Mb, 78ms)
with a DTC 5150BX controller.
The last time this happened, my system would not boot, it would
get hung just after completing the filesystem checks.
Looks like I'll have to reload the disk. No problem since I have
backups.
What I would like to know is what I can do to avoid this in the future.
1. Does turning off the power cause the heads on the hard disk to land
on the platter and create bad tracks?
Seems that I've seen the debate rage on this issue in other newsgroups
and the concensus was that it was better to leave the machine powered
up all the time to keep the heads from landing on the platter.
2. If the above is true, does XENIX have a utility to park the heads
over a safe zone before power off? /etc/haltsys???
I have the DOS utility included on the IBM diagnostic disk
to park the heads for shipping. I ran it and it seemed strange to me
that it worked for several minutes (disk made very strange seeking noise)
and then terminated. I would think that this utility would just require
a few hundred milliseconds to execute.
I'd leave the machine powered up all the time but it does throw out a bit
of RF interference for my TV.
Please post replies to this group as I'm sure all are interested.
Jim Smithson {ihnp4}!ablnc!jrs2 (305)834-5439lawrence@nvanbc.UUCP (Lawrence Harris) (01/02/87)
In article <219@ablnc.ATT.COM> jrs2@ablnc.ATT.COM (J.R. Smithson) writes:
->HELP! I've had my XENIX System V running on my IBM PC clone running
->for 2 months. In that time I've had 3 separate occasions of bad
->blocks on the hard disk. I'm using a Seagate ST225 (20Mb, 78ms)
->with a DTC 5150BX controller.
I have not experienced any such problems. I am running a IBM PC/AT with
two full height Seagate 20Mb drives. The system as a whole has been running
for over two years with only minor problems.
->1. Does turning off the power cause the heads on the hard disk to land
-> on the platter and create bad tracks?
I am using the full height Seagete 20 meg drives and they park there heads
automatically (you can here them go THUNK when you shut the power off).
I do leave the power on all the time, I wore out a CDC 20 meg drive after
two years continuous operation. But, I understand there were reliablility
problems with this drive anyhow.
->2. If the above is true, does XENIX have a utility to park the heads
-> over a safe zone before power off? /etc/haltsys???
I am running IBM XENIX 2.0 (Microsoft XENIX V) and whenever you issue the
haltsys command it does park the heads automatically.
->I'd leave the machine powered up all the time but it does throw out a bit
->of RF interference for my TV.
You could try some passing all the external cables though some ferrite beads
to try and chock :-) off the rf noise. This is not one of my strong points
though and maybe somebody else could comment on how to reduce rf interference.
->Please post replies to this group as I'm sure all are interested.
->
-> Jim Smithson {ihnp4}!ablnc!jrs2 (305)834-5439
--
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UUCP: { ihnp4!alberta, tektronix!uw-beaver }!ubc-vision!van-bc!nvanbc!lawrence
PHONE: 1-604-736-9241 (09:00-17:00 PDT)compata@cup.portal.com (David H Close) (06/02/90)
Yesterday I wrote: " I pay for support from SCO but don't usually find it convenient to call them " during the business day. So I use email. I sent in the following request " two days ago, but so far I haven't had ANY response. If anyone on the net " can answer the question, I'd sure appreciate it. And if anyone is wondering " about SCO's email support, I'd have to advise you to beware. Turns out SCO did receive my request, just didn't acknowledge it. They now have both acknowledged it and answered it. I understand when technical people get behind and responses are delayed. I don't understand the failure to even acknowledge the message for over 48 hours. Left me hanging, if you understand. I do think SCO is getting further behind these days. Maybe they should consider a satellite support center somewhere else in the country. I'm sure that nearly everyone competent in Santa Cruz is already hired... Dave Close, Compata, Arlington, Texas compata@cup.portal.com compata@mcimail.com 817/277-6767 (817/apropos)
davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) (06/05/90)
In article <30439@cup.portal.com> compata@cup.portal.com (David H Close) writes: | I do think SCO is getting further behind these days. Maybe they should | consider a satellite support center somewhere else in the country. I'm sure | that nearly everyone competent in Santa Cruz is already hired... No, the problem is that nobody want to work support. And nobody seems to take the time to let their support people play with the systems for, say, 2-3 hours a day, because that raises the cost a lot. The way you train for anything is to do it, and talking on the phone trains people to talk on the phone. People who try to fix broken systems are good at fixing broken systems. This doesn't mean that the people answering the phone aren't competent, just that they don't seem to get enough time fighting with problems. Maybe the answer is to make the top developers handle tough questions 4 hours a week, although I guess if you can convince the first few people that you have a real problem then you can get to talk to someone more senior. -- bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen) sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me