Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!ucbvax!PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU!GTHEALL
From: GTHEALL@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (George A. Theall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro
Subject: Rainbow EchoMail Digest
Message-ID: <9009111817.AA10173@remote.dccs.upenn.edu>
Date: 11 Sep 90 19:17:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 96

Rainbow EchoMail Digest                         Sep 11, 1990

In this issue:
  RE: RD53 WRITE FAULT ERRO      (2 messages)
  PAGEMAKER 3.0


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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:     09-08-90 (11:18)
To:       BOB FULLER
Subject:  RE: RD53 WRITE FAULT ERRO
From:     ANDREW TAYLOR

1) I assume that, as you have a Turbow installed you must be using
Suitable Solution's (Hereafter referred to as "SS") official
version of MS-DOS 3.1.  If not, then recall that it is
essential to run SS's HDRPT program EACH time MS-DOS is booted,
to patch MS-DOS's error-  handling routines.  See my
now-classic discourse on the matter in the back issues of the
"d:Bug" Newsletters, which you are of course treasuring.

2) Your problems sound like marginally bad sectors developing on the
disk: it can happen (see above-mentioned diatribe again).  The
solution [I believe] is to find and "lock-out" those sectors.
The Norton Utility Disktest ("DT") does just that for you,
though with DOS 2.05 /2.11 /3.1P (for pirate!!) it only
functions IF you have run HDRPT first.  Jerry Miller claimed to
have fixed the Error Handling problems in his version of 3.1.
In fact he must have done: with DOS 3.1P, my system crashed
when it tried to read a file with a bad sector in it, so the
Write Error messages indicate to me that error-  handling is OK.

3) In brief: find and "lock out" the bad sectors, using DT, if you have
it.  If you don't have it, I believe that the MS-DOS RECOVER
utility does the same thing.  Useage:

RECOVER Filename, where Filename is the name of the suspect file. My
understanding is that RECOVER moves as much of the data as it
can read from "Filename" to a new location and and "lock-out"
any offending sectors.  Running RECOVER without a Filename
causes it to act on your whole disk and make a great mess of it.

Your symptoms sound like marginally bad sectors, so you might want to
run DT several times.


Andrew


- --- Opus-CBCS 1.12
 * Origin: Glacier Peak Rainbow, Bellevue, WA - 206/644-8431 (1:343/3.0)
------------------------------
Date:     09-08-90 (15:06)
To:       GEOFF REED
Subject:  PAGEMAKER 3.0
From:     FRANK MALLORY

 GR>   I use pagemaker 3.0 on my rainbow that I loaned a friend, it's
 GR> a little slow, but it works...

That's good news!  Are you running it under Code Blue, Windows, with
Turbow,  or what?


- --- msged 1.99L MSC
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md. - 301-622-2247 (1:109/417)
------------------------------
Date:     09-09-90 (07:36)
To:       ANDREW TAYLOR
Subject:  RE: RD53 WRITE FAULT ERRO
From:     BOB FULLER

        Thanks for your suggestions.

        I    run HDRPT as part of my autoexec.bat.  I did copy several
of the directories from F: E: as a test and also experienced the problem.

        Last year Mark B. told me that one of the problems with DEC
HD cables and large drives seemed to be that the cable provided too
much resistence for the larger drives needs.  Although I
haven't had a problem to this point, I'm wondering if
oxidaton at the cable-drive-computer contact points could be
giving me these symtoms.

        What version of Norton works best on our Rainnows?


- --- Opus-CBCS 1.12
 * Origin: Glacier Peak Rainbow, Bellevue, WA - 206/644-8431 (1:343/3.0)
------------------------------