Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!jarthur!ssdbruce From: ssdbruce@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Bruce Crabtree) Newsgroups: comp.sys.att Subject: 3b1 Disk Problem - Help Message-ID: <8575@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Date: 22 Sep 90 02:01:56 GMT Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711 Lines: 111 Dear Benevolent Network, Yet another unix-pc has bitten the dust. I am writing this in the hope that someone might provide some suggestions for me. My machine is a 3b1 with 3.5 M memory and a 67 M disk running version 3.5. (3.5 was installed on it when I got it.) The problem started when the floppy disk would not read properly. Following suggestions from postings in this group I opened the case, removed the floppy drive, cleaned off any dust I saw, and reinstalled it. After I installed the floppy disk, I closed the case and ran the 3.5 diags to check it. No problems were reported so I rebooted from the hard disk. After booting, a message appeared indicating something to the effect that window 0 could not be opened. The message was followed by the '#' prompt leading me to believe that I was in single user mode. Unfortunately, probably due to the late hour, instead of running fsck or trying to understand the problem I rebooted again. This time the machine would not boot. Using the diagnostic program I was able to determine that several sectors of the hard disk could not be read. Fortunately I had access to a 7300 running 3.51 and was able to create a bootable disk with fsck on it as described in the FAQ posting (thanks Lenny). After creating the disk with fsck on it I attempted to boot the system using the floppy boot disk. When prompted I inserted the disk with fsck on it in the drive and pressed as described in the instructions in the FAQ. The following text appeared on the screen during this procedure.. Version 3.5 Real Memory = 3670016 Available Memory = 3325952 Main board is P3...P5 Floppy Unix Please insert Floppy File System disk - disk 3 of 12 Press any key when ready (I insert the disk created as described in FAQ and press .) #HDERR ST:51 EF:1 CL:FF00 SN:FF00 SC:FF02 SDH:FF20 DMACNT:FFFF DCRREG:F0 MCRREG:8900 #HDERR ST:51 EF:1 CL:FF00 SN:FF00 SC:FF02 SDH:FF20 DMACNT:FFFF DCRREG:F0 MCRREG:8900 panic: iinit Please record panic message. Press hardware reset to reboot. Since it didn't work I decided to try again and let it continue. I then booted again using the floppy boot disk and the disk with fsck on it but this time I pressed the space bar instead. The following text appeared on the screen: Version 3.5 Real Memory = 3670016 Available Memory = 3325952 Main board is P3...P5 Floppy Unix Please insert Floppy File System disk - disk 3 of 12 Press any key when ready (I insert the disk created as described in FAQ and press the space bar.) #HDERR ST:51 EF:1 CL:FF00 SN:FF00 SC:FF02 SDH:FF20 DMACNT:FFFF DCRREG:F0 MCRREG:8900 #HDERR ST:51 EF:1 CL:FF00 SN:FF00 SC:FF02 SDH:FF20 DMACNT:FFFF DCRREG:F0 MCRREG:8900 #HDERR ST:51 EF:1 CL:FF00 SN:FF00 SC:FF02 SDH:FF20 DMACNT:FFFF DCRREG:F0 MCRREG:8900 panic: iinit Please record panic message. Press hardware reset to reboot. From postings I see in this group I thought perhaps the power supply was to blame. I open the case and measured the voltage to the disk. The voltages were 12.1 and 5.0 volts across each pair of the disk power cable. By this time I decided to shut the machine down and come back to it when I had more time. After being shut down for about 4 days I tried to boot up and run the diagnostics. This time I got a 'unable to Reacal' disk error and could not continue. I believe this was do to a stiction problem. Thanks to the network I know about this problem and was able to get a 20 Mb miniscribe working enough to back it up. This time when I disassembled the 3b1 I found that the 67 Mb disk drive is indeed a miniscribe and may therefore have a stiction problem. Unfortunately, unlike the 20 Mb disk, the stepper motor appears to be sealed inside the disk unit so I can't access it directly to nudge it. Now I realize that I am in over my head and humbly turn to the net for advice. I believe that I will need to replace the hard disk, but I would like to understand more about what has happened. My questions are: 1. How do I get the 67 Mb disk unstuck if I can't reach the stepper motor? 2. Is there a way to recover any data from the 67 Mb disk? 3. What was preventing me from booting off the floppy? 4. What can I do to prevent this from happening again? Thank you for you assistance, Bruce Crabtree ssdbruce@jarthur.claremont.edu -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce Crabtree ssdbruce@jarthur.claremont.edu Software Systems Design, Inc [W] 1-714-624-2306 Claremont, CA