Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!erd From: erd@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Ethan R. Dicks) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Warm Reboot and Hard Disk Noise Message-ID: <12083@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 30 Apr 88 17:04:52 GMT References: <8804300422.AA18746@decwrl.dec.com> Organization: The Ohio State University Dept of Computer and Information Science Lines: 53 In article <8804300422.AA18746@decwrl.dec.com> macdonald@mtwain.dec.com (Paul MacDonald - CUP/ML - 223-3439) writes: >Whenever (like everytime) I do a warm reboot, my hard disk makes a really >harsh buzz-like noise for about two seconds. This only occurs when I use >the CTRL-Left Amiga-Right Amiga key sequence. Powering off and then on again >to boot the machine does not result in this buzzing. Any thoughts? > >Paul Well, I have seen plenty of these messages, so I thought I would put in my two bits worth (inflation, ya know ;-) I do not have a standard hard disk configuration, as many of you know. I have a WEDGE, which must be Mounted, and not installed via Binddrivers. My drive is a real Seagate ST-225, and it makes noise too. Most of these messages concerning noise say "my disk drive sounds like a buzzsaw when I execute bindrivers... is it broken?" Paul, you did not say what controller, what hard drive, or how you configure the drive in your startup-sequence, but I will take a stab at guessing your configuration. You probably have a hard disk which automatically _PARKS_ its own heads on power off, but did not answer YES to the question on parking your heads after 3 seconds of inactivity, while running the prep program (if you have an A2090). Your drive buzzes on warm start, (like mine too), because the controller forgets where the heads are when reset, and must get the heads back to a known place. Since on the Amiga, the most likely place for the heads to be is over the root track, and most Amiga owners only have one BIG partition, that's a lotta tracks to cover when pulling the heads to the edge of the disk. The noise you hear is as a result of either the hddisk.device stepping the tracks very fast to 0, or a command sent to the drive itself, telling it to reset the heads (I don't know which, because I don't know much about the hddisk.device) An interesting difference in systems, my drive does not 'buzz' harshly, but quietly (probably due to driver differences), and it does not buzz when the drive is Nounted. My drive resets to do its thing when I try to access it for the first time, when (I think) AmigaDOS puts a lock on the root track. If I Mount the other partitions, they do not show up on the Info device table until I at least cd to the partition. I assume this is also standard behavior for A2090 multiple partitions, but I don't know, since I have not yet met anyone who partitions their A2090 configuration. Any comments? Sorry to be long winded, but I hope this clears up any more questions about why hard drives make obnoxious noises on startup. If I am wrong on any point, I'm sure _some_ kind person will be glad to correct me ;-) -ethan -- Ethan R. Dicks | ###### This signifies that the poster is a member in Specialized Software| ## good sitting of Inertia House: Bodies at rest. 2101 Iuka Ave. | ## Columbus OH 43201 | ###### "You get it, you're closer."