Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!wuarchive!husc6!husc8!donaghey
From: donaghey@husc8.HARVARD.EDU (Thomas Donaghey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Defunct Hard Drives
Summary: My Disk Is Ill
Message-ID: <3672@husc6.harvard.edu>
Date: 29 Jul 90 18:37:59 GMT
References: <24103@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Reply-To: donaghey@husc8.UUCP (Thomas Donaghey)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Harvard University Science Center   Cambridge, MA
Lines: 32

I bought a Mac SE two years ago, with an internal 20meg HD. Some time ago
it went bad on me: refused to boot up and wouldn't show up on the desktop.
I'm going to need a useable HD in the fall semester, so I suppose I'd better
fix it.

When the disk is down, the computer refuses to start booting at all--even
off a floppy--for nearly half a minute.

Two days ago the disk came back up with lots of whining. The next day as I
was opening a folder it crashed and wouldn't reboot.

I managed to coerce it into booting up the day after, but it made funny "bloop
bloop" noises and, while booting up, the whine went up and down on a period of
about eight seconds, with drive activity (noisy) only at the up end of the
cycle. Took over a minute to boot up that way. When next I tried to boot up,
the boot started, then the whine began to lower in pitch and eventually the 
drive cut out altogether--and the computer refused to boot at all--even off a
floppy drive.

I'm definitely going to need to take the computer in. My question: do folks  
think it's just the hard drive, or might the motherboard also be in difficul-
ties? Does anyone know if the hard drive might be reparable? Just what am I
getting into here?

If anyone out there in netland knows anything about what might be wrong with
the system, please post to me at donaghey%husc8@harvard.harvard.edu or 
whatever the address is at the top of this screen. I'd love some assistance
or advice, but I don't know whether tying up the rn is such a good idea...

Thanks in advance.

Thomas Donaghey (donaghey%husc8@harvard.harvard.edu)