scfsiu@watsol.uwaterloo.ca (Steven C. F. Siu) (06/19/91)
I purchased a new 386SX clone system about a month ago. It has a 40meg IDE hard drive (Western Digital, I think.) Twice, when I powered it up (after a few days while it was off), the hard disk wouldn't spin. (i.e. DOS tried to boot from floppy drive A:, failed, and then nothing happened. The hard disk activity LED didn't ever light up, and I didn't hear the sound of the hard disk spinning.) In both case, a warm boot woke the drive up and solved the problem. I transport the system with me in/out of town (150km each way) every week. I always put it in its original packaging, but with no other special precautions (for shock absorption etc.). Questions: - Does the problem have to do with the frequent transit? If so, what special precautions do I need to take when transporting it? - Will the problem get worse if I do nothing? (i.e. Should I bring in the system for service before warranty expires?) I can live with the situation if the problem will not get worse. - And (of course) how to fix the problem? Thanks, Steven
mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir) (06/19/91)
In article <1991Jun19.005824.7510@watdragon.waterloo.edu> scfsiu@watsol.uwaterloo.ca (Steven C. F. Siu) writes: >I purchased a new 386SX clone system about a month ago. It has a 40meg IDE >hard drive (Western Digital, I think.) Twice, when I powered it up (after a >few days while it was off), the hard disk wouldn't spin. (i.e. DOS tried to >boot from floppy drive A:, failed, and then nothing happened. The hard disk >activity LED didn't ever light up, and I didn't hear the sound of the hard >disk spinning.) In both case, a warm boot woke the drive up and solved the >problem. > >I transport the system with me in/out of town (150km each way) every week. I >always put it in its original packaging, but with no other special precautions >(for shock absorption etc.). > >Questions: > >- Does the problem have to do with the frequent transit? If so, what special > precautions do I need to take when transporting it? > >- Will the problem get worse if I do nothing? (i.e. Should I bring in the > system for service before warranty expires?) I can live with the situation > if the problem will not get worse. > >- And (of course) how to fix the problem? > > >Thanks, >Steven REPLACE the drive, while it is still under warranty!!! * * * * * * ====================== Meir Green * * * * * * ====================== (Internet) mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== meir@msb.com mig@asteroids.cs.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== (Amateur Radio) N2JPG
tony@clio.sts.uiuc.edu (Tony) (06/19/91)
scfsiu@watsol.uwaterloo.ca (Steven C. F. Siu) writes: >Questions: >- Does the problem have to do with the frequent transit? If so, what special > precautions do I need to take when transporting it? >- Will the problem get worse if I do nothing? (i.e. Should I bring in the > system for service before warranty expires?) I can live with the situation > if the problem will not get worse. >- And (of course) how to fix the problem? I have a drive that if it is left off for more than 20 minutes will not restart. To get it started again I have to open up the drive and spin it by hand. My solution is to just leave the computer on all the time. My suggestion to you is to get a new drive or have yours fixed. Tony Chen tony@clio.las.uiuc.edu