Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!dali!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!sppy00!glf
From: glf@sppy00.UUCP (HILL GREGORY L.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: SuperMac 30meg hard drive problem
Message-ID: <863@sppy00.UUCP>
Date: 30 May 90 20:04:12 GMT
References: <20584@marius.udel.EDU>
Reply-To: glf@sppy00.UUCP (FELDMAN-HILL GREGORY L.)
Organization: Online Computer Library Center, Dublin, Ohio.
Lines: 41

In article <20584@marius.udel.EDU> smedley@cis.udel.edu (Trevor Smedley) writes:
>
>I have a SuperMac DataFrame 30 which has acted rather strangely on two
>occasions now.  Both times it has sounded like it slowed down and then
>sped up a few times.  The slowing down sound was just like when it gets
>turned off, and the sppeding up was like when it gets turned on.  
> [ ... ]
>Is there much chance that this could be a system software problem?
> [ ... ]
>Has anyone else ever noticed this and found out what it was.  I guess
>it's about time I backed up the disk, "just in case."
>

Trevor,

You didn't say how old the DataFrame is, but ...

I had a DataFrame 20 external drive that was about 3 years old.  It was
doing EXACTLY that same thing.  It started slowly, happening only once
a month or so.  I could never pin it down to anything I (or the weather) was
doing.  I would also get, not very often at first, a dialog box saying
something to the effect of "Can't load the Finder (RESTART)."  

As time went on, the problems came more and more often.  
I tried a bazillion things to isolate a software glitch, but the bottom line
was that the drive failed.  My local 'authorized' service guy guessed 
that either the controller card fried or the actual drive mechanism itself
failed.  Since he wanted about $200 (including labor) for
a new card, or $350-$400 for a new drive, I figured I could get a bigger,
faster, brand new drive with a warranty for about the same money (give 
or take a hundred or so).

So, back up that disk!  IMHO, you're about to loose a drive.

Sorry 'bout that,
   Greg F-H
-- 
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Greg Feldman-Hill     {seismo|cbosgd}!osu-cis!sppy00!glf  -or-  glf@sppy00.UUCP
OCLC - Online Computer Library Center ...  Dublin, Ohio
   "If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants."   A. Einstein