[comp.sys.mac.misc] MayDay, MayDay, DiskExpress II ate my Hard Disk

soudan@iitmax.iit.edu (Bassel Soudan) (03/15/91)

	I am sorry to cross-post this, but I didn't know where it should go!

	I need the help of anybody who can. Yesterday, I ran DiskExpress II on
my Mac IIcx to defragment the disk. Then foolishly enough, I turned on the
background defragmantation and kept working. Three or four hours later, I 
shutdown the computer and went to bed. This morning, I tried to turn the 
computer on, but there was no hard disk to be found!!!!! (it is physically
there, but it will not boot.)

	This happened to me before (the last time I used DE II), but everything
I tried this time failed. Last time it happened, I powered the machine down and 
then up several times and that seemed to solve the problem. Nothing doing. I
just can't get the Hard Disk to go. One more thing, after several of these
attempts, the disk started to make a strange sound when it starts to turn and
then the only sound remaining would be that of the fan.  It sounds like the
motor is slipping or something. (needless to say, this is the first time I have
heard this).

	Does anybody have any suggestion on how I can get this thing going 
again? I have more than 60 MBytes of information on the hard disk that has not
been backed up for the last month or so. (The funny thing is that I was supposed
to back it up this morning). Any help will be greatly appreciated. The last time
this happened, I remember seeing an error message saying that the disk does not
have any boot block. (this was a message from one of the many utilities I used)
How can I fix that? and what is that frightening noise?

	Sincerely yours,

	Bassel Soudan
-- 
________________________________________________________________________________

	"Learn to say I don't know, and not to say I know.
	 Because, if you say 'I don't know' the people will teach you
	 until you know, and if you say 'I know' the people will ask
	 you until you don't know."

________________________________________________________________________________

knapp@cs.utexas.edu (Edgar Knapp) (03/16/91)

In article <1991Mar14.225659.17466@iitmax.iit.edu> soudan@iitmax.iit.edu (Bassel Soudan) writes:
>
>	I need the help of anybody who can. Yesterday, I ran DiskExpress II on
>my Mac IIcx to defragment the disk. Then foolishly enough, I turned on the
>background defragmantation and kept working. Three or four hours later, I 
>shutdown the computer and went to bed. This morning, I tried to turn the 
>computer on, but there was no hard disk to be found!!!!! (it is physically
>there, but it will not boot.)
>
>	This happened to me before (the last time I used DE II), but everything
>I tried this time failed. Last time it happened, I powered the machine down and 
>then up several times and that seemed to solve the problem. Nothing doing. I
>just can't get the Hard Disk to go. One more thing, after several of these
>attempts, the disk started to make a strange sound when it starts to turn and
>then the only sound remaining would be that of the fan.  It sounds like the
>motor is slipping or something. (needless to say, this is the first time I have
>heard this).

Before you assign the blame to DE II, you should blame yourself. "Fool
me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Also, ho do you
know it was DE II that caused your problem? From the symptoms you
describe, it could be a hardware fault as well.

If it is a software problem, your best bet is to get a copy of the
Norton Utilities and have them figure it out for you.

If have been using DE II now since it came out. There is not a single
problem I can attribute to it. Please be more careful in the future
with your wild accusations.

Edgar

(knapp@cs.utexas.edu)

david_islander_hughes@cup.portal.com (03/17/91)

I agree: It sounds like a h/w problem (strange sounds, etc.)

Use SCSI tools, et al to see if the h/d is there, if so, mount it
if not, find out why.

Use your h/d's setup disk to put a new driver on, et cetera. DE II
is the best program I have ever used. It has never eaten my disk even
when I had a power failure (a normal affair on this pacific island B-<)