Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!mimsy!brillig.umd.edu!spector From: spector@brillig.umd.edu (Lee Spector) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Hard Disc Failures Message-ID: <19291@mimsy.UUCP> Date: 28 Aug 89 13:49:26 GMT References: <870284@hpcilzb.HP.COM> <3989@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> Sender: nobody@mimsy.UUCP Reply-To: spector@brillig.umd.edu.UUCP (Lee Spector) Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Lines: 70 In article <3989@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> hammen@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Robert J. Hammen) writes: [stuff deleted] > >If you've had ANY problems with a recent Apple 40 or 80 MB drive, I'd >appreciate it if you could send me E-mail. Please include the following info: >[stuff deleted] > >I'll pass this info on to some of the folks at MacWEEK, and maybe we'll see >some action, since it's obvious that Apple is ignoring the problem. [My email seems not to have gotten through, and besides, I think people should really know about this.] My Mac IIcx is less than 2 months old and I've already had TWO Apple-supplied 80 Meg hard disks go bad on me. Details follow: FIRST DRIVE: Computer Type: Mac IIcx (w/4 Meg RAM) When purchased: 7/6/89 Size of Drive: 80 Meg. Manufacturer of Drive: Quantum (ProDrive 80) Serial # of Drive: I don't know which is the serial number - the drive had 3 different stickers with the following numbers: 80905240845, 0058, 980-80-9402 How long before you had problems: 3 weeks General Description of Problem: Failure to recognize disk at startup - just got flashing "?" icon. Booting from floppy showed no hard-disk icon on desktop. After several power-down / power-up cycles (disconnecting power cord in between) functionality returned. Sometimes this took > 10 cycles and over night. During failure the hard disk's light would flash periodically. After functionality had returned the "Apple HD SC Setup" program's "test" function showed no problems with the hard disk. SECOND DRIVE: Computer Type: Mac IIcx (w/4 Meg RAM) When purchased: Drive replaced 8/9/89 (computer purchased 7/6/89) Size of Drive: 80 Meg. Manufacturer of Drive: Quantum (ProDrive 80) Serial # of Drive: I don't know which is the serial number - the drive had 3 different stickers with the following numbers: 80907120322, 0032, 980-80-9401 How long before you had problems: 2 weeks General Description of Problem: Same as above, except this time the drive's light also died. --- As I mentioned in a previous post, my repair person said to try reviving the drive by booting with command and option depressed. I've been told that this rebuilds the desktop, but nobody seems to have any idea why that should help in this case. Maybe it doesn't. Nonetheless, I tried it once (on my second drive) and the thing DID boot... I would not have been too upset about a single disk failure, but having 2 disks develop problems within the first 2 months of the life of a (lightly used) machine is really disturbing. I might even be able to get used to the idea of having to go in for monthly drive replacements, but now my dealer says that the drives are back-ordered, and that I'll just have to keep using my current flaky drive at least until next week. Having 2 successive failures (along with reports from others) has convinced me that something is really wrong - there is a real problem with these drives, or with the way they are mounted, or with the ROMs, or with something. Let's hope that the problem is fixed as soon as possibe, and let's keep each other informed. Thanks, -Lee (spector@brillig.umd.edu)