Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!udel!princeton!phoenix!mrwittma
From: mrwittma@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Martin R. Wittmann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Help!  PC no longer recognized hard disk
Summary: I think my HD is trashed!
Keywords: hard disk
Message-ID: <11452@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Date: 11 Nov 89 03:37:57 GMT
Reply-To: mrwittma@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Martin R. Wittmann)
Organization: Princeton University, NJ
Lines: 23

Hmmm... I have a slight problem.  A friend was using my PC at work and
*something* happened so that the PC NO LONGER ACKNOWLEDGES the existence
of my hard disk.  When I reboot (no floppy in A:), I'm thrown directly
into BASIC (This is a True Blue XT from '85).  When I boot from a DOS
3.2 system floppy and try to change to C: or get a 'dir c:', DOS tells
me this is an *invalid drive*.  The only additional symptom:
when I boot, I get a "1701" error.  

The hard disk (a good ol' Seagate ST225) has been making some extra
whines and groans for a long time now, but I can still here it
spinning and it isn't noticeably louder than before this strange
phenomenon occured.  Is this a hard disk crash, or did something flake
out on the motherboard or ???

This machine also has a PCSG Turbo286 accelerator board in slot 8, if
that makes any difference to the diagnosis.  It produces a "1801" error
every time I boot, which I ignore.

Any clues as to what's wrong or suggestions on useful diagnostic
procedures would be greatly appreciated.  I'll be checking this group,
but email would be better yet.

Many thanks,				Martin