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From: root@crash.cts.com (Bill Blue)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix.misc
Subject: Re: IDE drives
Message-ID: <7882@crash.cts.com>
Date: 9 Mar 91 01:59:59 GMT
References: <1991Mar1.180233.5808@aucs.AcadiaU.ca> <1991Mar4.004458.12492@drolet.CAM.ORG> <287@sporty.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA
Lines: 26

In <287@sporty.UUCP> root@sporty.UUCP (Super STUD) writes:
}In article <1991Mar4.004458.12492@drolet.CAM.ORG> drolet@drolet.CAM.ORG (Jean-Jacques Drolet) writes:
}>In <1991Mar1.180233.5808@aucs.AcadiaU.ca> 870646c@aucs.AcadiaU.ca (Barry Comer) writes:
}>
}>>Does anyone know if the format done by xenix during installation will
}>>screw up the low level information that exists on IDE drives?
}>>later
}>>Barry Comer
}>
}>I have Xenix System V installed on a 180-MB IDE Itama hard disk drive, and
}>everything works fine.
}
}I installed an IDE drive.  I selected a destructive scan (wont hurt, nothing
}on the drive, eh?).  WRONG  The system worked for a bout 24 hours before I
}started getting tons of errors on the hard drive.  I had to install a new HD.
}
}DO NOT SELECT DESTRUCTIVE SCAN.  You can, however, scan non-destructively.

Don't be silly.  None of Xenix's high-level operations, including
destructive scan, have any impact on the lowest level formatting of
the drive.  You should always scan destructively on a new drive to
make sure you catch all possible bad blocks.  If your hard drive
failed after 24 hours, it was because it was bad, period.  Not because
you selected destructive scan.

--Bill