Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cti1!greg
From: greg@cti1.UUCP (Greg Fabian)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: MacIIci with flaky 80Mb Quantum -- what's best?
Message-ID: <328@cti1.UUCP>
Date: 3 Dec 90 18:59:05 GMT
References: <1990Nov30.231138.26311@athena.mit.edu>
Organization: Comprehensive Technologies Int., Arlington VA
Lines: 31

sorensen@athena.mit.edu (Alma G. Sorensen) writes:

>I have a MacIIci, with the 80 Mb drive from Apple. (It says quantum
>on the inside.) I bought it in March 90.  Every so often, when I turn
>the machine on, the disk access light flashes  a few times, and then
>stays on -- but the machine doesn't boot, and eventually the 
>disk icon with the X in the middle comes up.  Clearly, it can't
>find the hard drive.

I haven't experienced this problem on a Mac, but I have had a similar
experience on an IBM PC clone.  Turns out the hard disk was not spinning
up to speed so the computer would not boot.  It was possible to boot the
machine off of a floppy, but you could never get to the hard drive.   The
drive LED blinked three times.

SPINRITE for the PC tells you how fast the drive is spinning.  If there
is a similar utility for the Mac (I'm sure there is) it could tell you
if you have enough RPM (usually 3,600 for a hard disk).  If your disk
is not spinning up, you will more than likely have to replace it.

Good luck

-- 
Greg Fabian

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