I think my WD 40GB hard drive may have gone south on me. I've spent the better part of the weekend trying to install XP on the WD HD in my new DAW. Sorry but this is gonna get a little lengthy. The hardware: Sonata case P4P800 mobo P4 2.8 x 800 w/ Zalman ALCU 2 x 512MB Kingston CL2 DDR Powercolor Radeon 9200 SE 64MB AGP 48x Mitsumi ATAPI CDROM Delta 1010 I have tried innumerable methods to load the OS without success. The drive appears to be recognized properly by the BIOS. If I go into the BIOS and select the Primary IDE Master it shows the drive as being a WD400BB, DMA-5, etc. I first set up the BIOS to boot from the CDROM. Seemed to go OK (I had formatted the drive as NTFS while it was in my other machine.) WinXP copied a bunch of files and then rebooted. When it rebooted, it booted off the CD was back at the beginning like nothing ever happened. So I tried again. This time, when it rebooted, I went into the BIOS and switched it to boot off the HD. All I got was a flashing DOS prompt that would not respond to any keyboard input. So I reset it to boot off the CD and started over. This time when it rebooted I left the BIOS alone and just pulled the CD out of the drive. Same result, just a flashing DOS prompt. I tried several sets of cables just to be sure that was not the problem, but same result. I also installed my SCSI CDROM and installed the OS off that drive but still got the old DOS prompt. I tried installing off a Win98 boot disk per the instructions on the Microstuff web page but received the following message: An internal Setup error has occurred. Could not find a place for a swap file. Setup cannot continue. So I boot off the floppy again. I tried: dir c: Invalid drive specification dir d: Invalid drive specification dir e: Invalid drive specification (The drive has three partitions.) I tried fdisk and it reported that the drive had three partitions and that they were formatted NTFS. OK, so I downloaded the WD Data Lifeguard utility and copy it onto a floppy. Everything looks OK. But just in case, I use the WD utility to repartition and format the drive. Load the OS and get the flashing DOS prompt. So I pull the WD drive out and install it into my everyday machine as Secondary IDE Master. When I boot this machine the BIOS does not recognize the drive (even though this drive had been used with this CUSL2 mobo previously.) But when I get the system running, I go to My Computer and there is the WD drive. I click on the three partitions and view the properties and each state the hardware is operating properly. I tried screwing with the jumpers on the WD drive just in case there was a poor contact but that did not help. It is still not recognized by the BIOS So in desperation, I put another drive, a 40GB IBM into the new DAW. Boot from the CD and the OS loads flawlessly. And now the DAW is up and running with the IBM drive (which was going to be my data drive in the DAW.) So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old and has very, very low hours on it. Nick <><
Use the WD disk and use it to write O s to the drive and that will do a complete erase of the HD and start over. "NickPeter" <> wrote in message news:RwQAb.3553$... > I think my WD 40GB hard drive may have gone south on me. I've spent the > better part of the weekend trying to install XP on the WD HD in my new DAW. > Sorry but this is gonna get a little lengthy. > > The hardware: > > Sonata case > P4P800 mobo > P4 2.8 x 800 w/ Zalman ALCU > 2 x 512MB Kingston CL2 DDR > Powercolor Radeon 9200 SE 64MB AGP > 48x Mitsumi ATAPI CDROM > Delta 1010 > > I have tried innumerable methods to load the OS without success. The drive > appears to be recognized properly by the BIOS. If I go into the BIOS and > select the Primary IDE Master it shows the drive as being a WD400BB, DMA-5, > etc. > > I first set up the BIOS to boot from the CDROM. Seemed to go OK (I had > formatted the drive as NTFS while it was in my other machine.) WinXP copied > a bunch of files and then rebooted. When it rebooted, it booted off the CD > was back at the beginning like nothing ever happened. So I tried again. > This time, when it rebooted, I went into the BIOS and switched it to boot > off the HD. All I got was a flashing DOS prompt that would not respond to > any keyboard input. So I reset it to boot off the CD and started over. > This time when it rebooted I left the BIOS alone and just pulled the CD out > of the drive. Same result, just a flashing DOS prompt. I tried several > sets of cables just to be sure that was not the problem, but same result. I > also installed my SCSI CDROM and installed the OS off that drive but still > got the old DOS prompt. > > I tried installing off a Win98 boot disk per the instructions on the > Microstuff web page but received the following message: > An internal Setup error has occurred. > Could not find a place for a swap file. > Setup cannot continue. > > So I boot off the floppy again. I tried: > dir c: > Invalid drive specification > dir d: > Invalid drive specification > dir e: > Invalid drive specification > (The drive has three partitions.) > > I tried fdisk and it reported that the drive had three partitions and that > they were formatted NTFS. OK, so I downloaded the WD Data Lifeguard utility > and copy it onto a floppy. Everything looks OK. But just in case, I use > the WD utility to repartition and format the drive. Load the OS and get the > flashing DOS prompt. > > So I pull the WD drive out and install it into my everyday machine as > Secondary IDE Master. When I boot this machine the BIOS does not recognize > the drive (even though this drive had been used with this CUSL2 mobo > previously.) But when I get the system running, I go to My Computer and > there is the WD drive. I click on the three partitions and view the > properties and each state the hardware is operating properly. I tried > screwing with the jumpers on the WD drive just in case there was a poor > contact but that did not help. It is still not recognized by the BIOS > > So in desperation, I put another drive, a 40GB IBM into the new DAW. Boot > from the CD and the OS loads flawlessly. And now the DAW is up and running > with the IBM drive (which was going to be my data drive in the DAW.) > > So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old and has > very, very low hours on it. > > Nick > <>< > >
On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 20:09:11 -0600, "kitekrazy" <> wrote: > Use the WD disk and use it to write O s to the drive and that will do a >complete erase of the HD and start over. Yup, I went through almost exactly the same thing two days ago, and that was the solution. The drive had a corrupt boot sector as it turned out. I have ten new grey hairs. -OF >"NickPeter" <> wrote in message >news:RwQAb.3553$... >> I think my WD 40GB hard drive may have gone south on me. I've spent the >> better part of the weekend trying to install XP on the WD HD in my new >DAW. >> Sorry but this is gonna get a little lengthy. >> >> The hardware: >> >> Sonata case >> P4P800 mobo >> P4 2.8 x 800 w/ Zalman ALCU >> 2 x 512MB Kingston CL2 DDR >> Powercolor Radeon 9200 SE 64MB AGP >> 48x Mitsumi ATAPI CDROM >> Delta 1010 >> >> I have tried innumerable methods to load the OS without success. The >drive >> appears to be recognized properly by the BIOS. If I go into the BIOS and >> select the Primary IDE Master it shows the drive as being a WD400BB, >DMA-5, >> etc. >> >> I first set up the BIOS to boot from the CDROM. Seemed to go OK (I had >> formatted the drive as NTFS while it was in my other machine.) WinXP >copied >> a bunch of files and then rebooted. When it rebooted, it booted off the >CD >> was back at the beginning like nothing ever happened. So I tried again. >> This time, when it rebooted, I went into the BIOS and switched it to boot >> off the HD. All I got was a flashing DOS prompt that would not respond to >> any keyboard input. So I reset it to boot off the CD and started over. >> This time when it rebooted I left the BIOS alone and just pulled the CD >out >> of the drive. Same result, just a flashing DOS prompt. I tried several >> sets of cables just to be sure that was not the problem, but same result. >I >> also installed my SCSI CDROM and installed the OS off that drive but still >> got the old DOS prompt. >> >> I tried installing off a Win98 boot disk per the instructions on the >> Microstuff web page but received the following message: >> An internal Setup error has occurred. >> Could not find a place for a swap file. >> Setup cannot continue. >> >> So I boot off the floppy again. I tried: >> dir c: >> Invalid drive specification >> dir d: >> Invalid drive specification >> dir e: >> Invalid drive specification >> (The drive has three partitions.) >> >> I tried fdisk and it reported that the drive had three partitions and that >> they were formatted NTFS. OK, so I downloaded the WD Data Lifeguard >utility >> and copy it onto a floppy. Everything looks OK. But just in case, I use >> the WD utility to repartition and format the drive. Load the OS and get >the >> flashing DOS prompt. >> >> So I pull the WD drive out and install it into my everyday machine as >> Secondary IDE Master. When I boot this machine the BIOS does not >recognize >> the drive (even though this drive had been used with this CUSL2 mobo >> previously.) But when I get the system running, I go to My Computer and >> there is the WD drive. I click on the three partitions and view the >> properties and each state the hardware is operating properly. I tried >> screwing with the jumpers on the WD drive just in case there was a poor >> contact but that did not help. It is still not recognized by the BIOS >> >> So in desperation, I put another drive, a 40GB IBM into the new DAW. Boot >> from the CD and the OS loads flawlessly. And now the DAW is up and >running >> with the IBM drive (which was going to be my data drive in the DAW.) >> >> So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old and has >> very, very low hours on it. >> >> Nick >> <>< >> >> >
On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 20:34:37 -0500, "NickPeter" <> wrote: >So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old and has >very, very low hours on it. I have had the very same problem with WD drives. (I never did get the last one to work!) Notice that I said the LAST one. I won't use WD discs anymore. I only use Maxtor or Seagate. I've never had any trouble with either of these two brands. They may cost a little more, but the aggravation factor is MUCH lower. Jim ****************************************** Remove SPAMGUARD from my address to reply. ******************************************
In <news:>, kitekrazy said: > > Use the WD disk and use it to write O s to the drive and that will do > a complete erase of the HD and start over. That'd be my suggestion. A full diskwipe, and start as fresh as you can. ((U)) M > "NickPeter" <> wrote in message > news:RwQAb.3553$... >> I think my WD 40GB hard drive may have gone south on me. I've spent >> the better part of the weekend trying to install XP on the WD HD in >> my new DAW. Sorry but this is gonna get a little lengthy. >> >> The hardware: >> >> Sonata case >> P4P800 mobo >> P4 2.8 x 800 w/ Zalman ALCU >> 2 x 512MB Kingston CL2 DDR >> Powercolor Radeon 9200 SE 64MB AGP >> 48x Mitsumi ATAPI CDROM >> Delta 1010 >> >> I have tried innumerable methods to load the OS without success. >> The drive appears to be recognized properly by the BIOS. If I go >> into the BIOS and select the Primary IDE Master it shows the drive >> as being a WD400BB, DMA-5, etc. >> >> I first set up the BIOS to boot from the CDROM. Seemed to go OK (I >> had formatted the drive as NTFS while it was in my other machine.) >> WinXP copied a bunch of files and then rebooted. When it rebooted, >> it booted off the CD was back at the beginning like nothing ever >> happened. So I tried again. This time, when it rebooted, I went >> into the BIOS and switched it to boot off the HD. All I got was a >> flashing DOS prompt that would not respond to any keyboard input. >> So I reset it to boot off the CD and started over. This time when it >> rebooted I left the BIOS alone and just pulled the CD out of the >> drive. Same result, just a flashing DOS prompt. I tried several >> sets of cables just to be sure that was not the problem, but same >> result. I also installed my SCSI CDROM and installed the OS off that >> drive but still got the old DOS prompt. >> >> I tried installing off a Win98 boot disk per the instructions on the >> Microstuff web page but received the following message: >> An internal Setup error has occurred. >> Could not find a place for a swap file. >> Setup cannot continue. >> >> So I boot off the floppy again. I tried: >> dir c: >> Invalid drive specification >> dir d: >> Invalid drive specification >> dir e: >> Invalid drive specification >> (The drive has three partitions.) >> >> I tried fdisk and it reported that the drive had three partitions >> and that they were formatted NTFS. OK, so I downloaded the WD Data >> Lifeguard utility and copy it onto a floppy. Everything looks OK. >> But just in case, I use the WD utility to repartition and format the >> drive. Load the OS and get the flashing DOS prompt. >> >> So I pull the WD drive out and install it into my everyday machine as >> Secondary IDE Master. When I boot this machine the BIOS does not >> recognize the drive (even though this drive had been used with this >> CUSL2 mobo previously.) But when I get the system running, I go to >> My Computer and there is the WD drive. I click on the three >> partitions and view the properties and each state the hardware is >> operating properly. I tried screwing with the jumpers on the WD >> drive just in case there was a poor contact but that did not help. >> It is still not recognized by the BIOS >> >> So in desperation, I put another drive, a 40GB IBM into the new DAW. >> Boot from the CD and the OS loads flawlessly. And now the DAW is up >> and running with the IBM drive (which was going to be my data drive >> in the DAW.) >> >> So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old >> and has very, very low hours on it. >> >> Nick >> <><
You could also use ptedit.exe ( if you have partition magic ) or possibly delpart.exe ... a free utility that sometimes can *nuke* a pesky partition that won't go away. sk "kitekrazy" <> wrote in message news:... > Use the WD disk and use it to write O s to the drive and that will do a > complete erase of the HD and start over. > "NickPeter" <> wrote in message > news:RwQAb.3553$... > > I think my WD 40GB hard drive may have gone south on me. I've spent the > > better part of the weekend trying to install XP on the WD HD in my new > DAW. > > Sorry but this is gonna get a little lengthy. > > > > The hardware: > > > > Sonata case > > P4P800 mobo > > P4 2.8 x 800 w/ Zalman ALCU > > 2 x 512MB Kingston CL2 DDR > > Powercolor Radeon 9200 SE 64MB AGP > > 48x Mitsumi ATAPI CDROM > > Delta 1010 > > > > I have tried innumerable methods to load the OS without success. The > drive > > appears to be recognized properly by the BIOS. If I go into the BIOS and > > select the Primary IDE Master it shows the drive as being a WD400BB, > DMA-5, > > etc. > > > > I first set up the BIOS to boot from the CDROM. Seemed to go OK (I had > > formatted the drive as NTFS while it was in my other machine.) WinXP > copied > > a bunch of files and then rebooted. When it rebooted, it booted off the > CD > > was back at the beginning like nothing ever happened. So I tried again. > > This time, when it rebooted, I went into the BIOS and switched it to boot > > off the HD. All I got was a flashing DOS prompt that would not respond to > > any keyboard input. So I reset it to boot off the CD and started over. > > This time when it rebooted I left the BIOS alone and just pulled the CD > out > > of the drive. Same result, just a flashing DOS prompt. I tried several > > sets of cables just to be sure that was not the problem, but same result. > I > > also installed my SCSI CDROM and installed the OS off that drive but still > > got the old DOS prompt. > > > > I tried installing off a Win98 boot disk per the instructions on the > > Microstuff web page but received the following message: > > An internal Setup error has occurred. > > Could not find a place for a swap file. > > Setup cannot continue. > > > > So I boot off the floppy again. I tried: > > dir c: > > Invalid drive specification > > dir d: > > Invalid drive specification > > dir e: > > Invalid drive specification > > (The drive has three partitions.) > > > > I tried fdisk and it reported that the drive had three partitions and that > > they were formatted NTFS. OK, so I downloaded the WD Data Lifeguard > utility > > and copy it onto a floppy. Everything looks OK. But just in case, I use > > the WD utility to repartition and format the drive. Load the OS and get > the > > flashing DOS prompt. > > > > So I pull the WD drive out and install it into my everyday machine as > > Secondary IDE Master. When I boot this machine the BIOS does not > recognize > > the drive (even though this drive had been used with this CUSL2 mobo > > previously.) But when I get the system running, I go to My Computer and > > there is the WD drive. I click on the three partitions and view the > > properties and each state the hardware is operating properly. I tried > > screwing with the jumpers on the WD drive just in case there was a poor > > contact but that did not help. It is still not recognized by the BIOS > > > > So in desperation, I put another drive, a 40GB IBM into the new DAW. Boot > > from the CD and the OS loads flawlessly. And now the DAW is up and > running > > with the IBM drive (which was going to be my data drive in the DAW.) > > > > So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old and has > > very, very low hours on it. > > > > Nick > > <>< > > > > > >
> I have had the very same problem with WD drives. (I never did get the > last one to work!) Notice that I said the LAST one. I won't use WD > discs anymore. I only use Maxtor or Seagate. I've never had any > trouble with either of these two brands. They may cost a little more, > but the aggravation factor is MUCH lower. Horses for courses - I've had more Seagate drives fail than any other brand I've tried. Everyone has a horror story about one brand or other.
The entity known as Kevin Perry, posted: >> I have had the very same problem with WD drives. (I never did get >> the last one to work!) Notice that I said the LAST one. I won't use >> WD discs anymore. I only use Maxtor or Seagate. I've never had any >> trouble with either of these two brands. They may cost a little >> more, but the aggravation factor is MUCH lower. > > Horses for courses - I've had more Seagate drives fail than any other > brand I've tried. Everyone has a horror story about one brand or > other. WD did at one time have some real problem drives out there. I had one go ka-chunk ka-chunk, and actually held the phone up to the drive for a WD support tech, who instantly recognized the death sound of their drives. They sent me a replacement drive that failed the same way within two months. I also had two other friends in the video biz see the same thing. I have 12 Maxtors in service ranging in age from a couple months to several years old, and never a hiccup. -- Remove YourHeadFromYourAss to Reply by email _______ _____ ___ _____ ____ / ___/ / / __/ |/ / |/ / _ )/ __ \ / (_ / /__/ _// / / _ / /_/ / \___/____/___/_/|_/_/|_/____/\____/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glennbo These go to eleven Non-Linear Sound http://www.soundclick.com/glennbo Hear My Music http://www.soundclick.com/jambits
> WD did at one time have some real problem drives out there. I had one go And of course IBM had a run of bad drives. There are ranges that suffer widely, but some manufacturers just don't seem to get on with some people above and beyond this
I worked for a company that supplies chips to all of the hard drive manufacturers. All take reliability very seriously. However, one of them always stood out in my mind as more serious about it than others. This happened to be Maxtor. I own about 20 drives. They are all Maxtor. I considered switching when they reduced their warranty to 1 year, but decided against it. Paul Glennbo wrote: > The entity known as Kevin Perry, posted: > > >>>I have had the very same problem with WD drives. (I never did get >>>the last one to work!) Notice that I said the LAST one. I won't use >>>WD discs anymore. I only use Maxtor or Seagate. I've never had any >>>trouble with either of these two brands. They may cost a little >>>more, but the aggravation factor is MUCH lower. >> >>Horses for courses - I've had more Seagate drives fail than any other >>brand I've tried. Everyone has a horror story about one brand or >>other. > > > WD did at one time have some real problem drives out there. I had one go > ka-chunk ka-chunk, and actually held the phone up to the drive for a WD > support tech, who instantly recognized the death sound of their drives. > They sent me a replacement drive that failed the same way within two > months. I also had two other friends in the video biz see the same thing. > > I have 12 Maxtors in service ranging in age from a couple months to several > years old, and never a hiccup. >
"Kevin Perry" <> wrote in message news:br25cv$26i79d$-berlin.de... > > WD did at one time have some real problem drives out there. I had one go > > And of course IBM had a run of bad drives. There are ranges that suffer > widely, but some manufacturers just don't seem to get on with some people > above and beyond this Someone oughtta say that the Service one receives is an important factor. On that score, IBM, WD, and Maxtor have had great service in the past; .... but no one talks ablut IBM lately.... those 60 GB hi-failure drives several years ago kinda put the damper on IBM for awhile.... BUT, I also remember the troubles <now long since fixed> of WD and Maxtor<now fixed>. Bottom line, my recent (2 years) experience, both personal and reading here, is that if I get a bad Maxtor or WDC, a phone call will have a replacement on the way Immediately.... no waiting for the defective unit to be received by the company. I have 4 WDC 120 GB drives in short and long term use, and several 80 GB <boot> Maxtor drives. YMMV, Bob P.S. One shouldn't blame the companies for one's lack of good regular Backups. We all have "been there".... <sigh> ....
The entity known as BlackHawk, posted: > P.S. One shouldn't blame the companies for one's lack of good regular > Backups. Backup? Is that the beeping sound big trucks make when not going forward? <g> -- Remove YourHeadFromYourAss to Reply by email _______ _____ ___ _____ ____ / ___/ / / __/ |/ / |/ / _ )/ __ \ / (_ / /__/ _// / / _ / /_/ / \___/____/___/_/|_/_/|_/____/\____/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glennbo These go to eleven Non-Linear Sound http://www.soundclick.com/glennbo Hear My Music http://www.soundclick.com/jambits
> Is that the beeping sound big trucks make when not going forward? <g> Nah, it's what a failing drive does to you...puts your back up.
IBM doesn't make PC hard drives any more. They sold that business to Fujitsu I believe. -- Martin "BlackHawk" <> wrote in message news:... > > "Kevin Perry" <> wrote in message > news:br25cv$26i79d$-berlin.de... > > > WD did at one time have some real problem drives out there. I had one > go > > > > And of course IBM had a run of bad drives. There are ranges that suffer > > widely, but some manufacturers just don't seem to get on with some people > > above and beyond this > > > Someone oughtta say that the Service one receives is an important factor. > On that score, IBM, WD, and Maxtor have had great service in the past; ..... > but no one talks ablut IBM lately.... those 60 GB hi-failure drives several > years ago kinda put the damper on IBM for awhile.... > BUT, I also remember the troubles <now long since fixed> of WD and > Maxtor<now fixed>. > > Bottom line, my recent (2 years) experience, both personal and reading here, > is that if I get a bad Maxtor or WDC, a phone call will have a replacement > on the way Immediately.... no waiting for the defective unit to be received > by the company. > I have 4 WDC 120 GB drives in short and long term use, and several 80 GB > <boot> Maxtor drives. > > > YMMV, > > Bob > P.S. One shouldn't blame the companies for one's lack of good regular > Backups. > We all have "been there".... <sigh> .... > >
I've had IBM, Maxtor, and WD drives fail. It seems all the HD manufacturers go through periods of bad drives. I guess the only ones who can give reliable up to date info on this are poeple that deal with a large quanitiy of drives or have some latest inside knowledge. Unfortunately this information seems to change every few months, making it difficult for guys like us to really know what dogs to avoid at any moment in time. I remember many years ago when HD's have lifetime warranties, then it went to 5 years, 3, 2, 1 year, now about 3 months. That ought to tell you something. Always backup, expect a HD to fail, it's likely it will. Make sure you have a new HD image any time you make changes to your boot drive. Many times I've had HD's seem to fail, but after restoring an older disk image they were up and running, sometimes you'll need to use diagnostic software to zero a drive, other times the drive is unsalvageable. I have 4 computers networked and backup every night to a 120 gig HD using Vice Versa. It mirrows the entire HD or any specific folders you select. Once it's setup all you have to do is double click an icon and let it go. In addition I have images of all my C drives handy. I eventually Archive song project folders on HD's, I also double archive these folders on another HD in case the whole Archive drive fails. My next step will be to backup over the internet to HD in another city. Years from now we'll have every project we've ever done saved to our watch, that's a day I look forward to These threads are always interesting to me and I follow them, hoping maybe I'll make a good guess on my next HD purchase. It's a crap shoot guys, so you better backup -- Gerry Peters Midi Magic Studio http://gprecordingstudio.com Album Productions and Songwriter Resources "Martin Schiff" <> wrote in message news:... > IBM doesn't make PC hard drives any more. They sold that business to Fujitsu > I believe. > > -- Martin > > "BlackHawk" <> wrote in message > news:... > > > > "Kevin Perry" <> wrote in message > > news:br25cv$26i79d$-berlin.de... > > > > WD did at one time have some real problem drives out there. I had one > > go > > > > > > And of course IBM had a run of bad drives. There are ranges that suffer > > > widely, but some manufacturers just don't seem to get on with some > people > > > above and beyond this > > > > > > Someone oughtta say that the Service one receives is an important factor. > > On that score, IBM, WD, and Maxtor have had great service in the past; > .... > > but no one talks ablut IBM lately.... those 60 GB hi-failure drives > several > > years ago kinda put the damper on IBM for awhile.... > > BUT, I also remember the troubles <now long since fixed> of WD and > > Maxtor<now fixed>. > > > > Bottom line, my recent (2 years) experience, both personal and reading > here, > > is that if I get a bad Maxtor or WDC, a phone call will have a replacement > > on the way Immediately.... no waiting for the defective unit to be > received > > by the company. > > I have 4 WDC 120 GB drives in short and long term use, and several 80 GB > > <boot> Maxtor drives. > > > > > > YMMV, > > > > Bob > > P.S. One shouldn't blame the companies for one's lack of good regular > > Backups. > > We all have "been there".... <sigh> .... > > > > > >
"BlackHawk" <> wrote in message news:... > but no one talks ablut IBM lately.... those 60 GB hi-failure drives several > years ago kinda put the damper on IBM for awhile.... How ironic, just had an IBM drive flat out die on me tonight, thank God I ghosted it over the weekend !! We have 16 drives in service at the moment all Maxtor except for two....now one IBM, better put the last IBM on life support, I'm gonna pull it real soon <g>. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.547 / Virus Database: 340 - Release Date: 12/2/2003
IBM got out of the business. I wonder why? ;-) Sold it to Hitachi who has had there own set of problems. Not as many a s Fujitsu though. Paul Sharon Memphis wrote: > "BlackHawk" <> wrote in message > news:... > > > >>but no one talks ablut IBM lately.... those 60 GB hi-failure drives > > several > >>years ago kinda put the damper on IBM for awhile.... > > > How ironic, just had an IBM drive flat out die on me tonight, thank God I > ghosted it over the weekend !! We have 16 drives in service at the moment > all Maxtor except for two....now one IBM, better put the last IBM on life > support, I'm gonna pull it real soon <g>.
Thanks for all the responses and sorry for my delay in not responding sooner. Apparently, a road crew cut the phone lines and my entire subdivision has been without phones (and internet connection) until this evening. I tried several of the suggestions but it looks like the HD is toast. The WD drive utility won't recognize the drive anymore. And the BIOS in neither of my machines will recognize the drive. It is a real shame because this drive has had so little use. I'm certain it has less than 20 hours on it. Nick <>< "kitekrazy" <> wrote in message news:... > Use the WD disk and use it to write O s to the drive and that will do a > complete erase of the HD and start over. > "NickPeter" <> wrote in message > news:RwQAb.3553$... > > I think my WD 40GB hard drive may have gone south on me. I've spent the > > better part of the weekend trying to install XP on the WD HD in my new > DAW. > > Sorry but this is gonna get a little lengthy. > > > > The hardware: > > > > Sonata case > > P4P800 mobo > > P4 2.8 x 800 w/ Zalman ALCU > > 2 x 512MB Kingston CL2 DDR > > Powercolor Radeon 9200 SE 64MB AGP > > 48x Mitsumi ATAPI CDROM > > Delta 1010 > > > > I have tried innumerable methods to load the OS without success. The > drive > > appears to be recognized properly by the BIOS. If I go into the BIOS and > > select the Primary IDE Master it shows the drive as being a WD400BB, > DMA-5, > > etc. > > > > I first set up the BIOS to boot from the CDROM. Seemed to go OK (I had > > formatted the drive as NTFS while it was in my other machine.) WinXP > copied > > a bunch of files and then rebooted. When it rebooted, it booted off the > CD > > was back at the beginning like nothing ever happened. So I tried again. > > This time, when it rebooted, I went into the BIOS and switched it to boot > > off the HD. All I got was a flashing DOS prompt that would not respond to > > any keyboard input. So I reset it to boot off the CD and started over. > > This time when it rebooted I left the BIOS alone and just pulled the CD > out > > of the drive. Same result, just a flashing DOS prompt. I tried several > > sets of cables just to be sure that was not the problem, but same result. > I > > also installed my SCSI CDROM and installed the OS off that drive but still > > got the old DOS prompt. > > > > I tried installing off a Win98 boot disk per the instructions on the > > Microstuff web page but received the following message: > > An internal Setup error has occurred. > > Could not find a place for a swap file. > > Setup cannot continue. > > > > So I boot off the floppy again. I tried: > > dir c: > > Invalid drive specification > > dir d: > > Invalid drive specification > > dir e: > > Invalid drive specification > > (The drive has three partitions.) > > > > I tried fdisk and it reported that the drive had three partitions and that > > they were formatted NTFS. OK, so I downloaded the WD Data Lifeguard > utility > > and copy it onto a floppy. Everything looks OK. But just in case, I use > > the WD utility to repartition and format the drive. Load the OS and get > the > > flashing DOS prompt. > > > > So I pull the WD drive out and install it into my everyday machine as > > Secondary IDE Master. When I boot this machine the BIOS does not > recognize > > the drive (even though this drive had been used with this CUSL2 mobo > > previously.) But when I get the system running, I go to My Computer and > > there is the WD drive. I click on the three partitions and view the > > properties and each state the hardware is operating properly. I tried > > screwing with the jumpers on the WD drive just in case there was a poor > > contact but that did not help. It is still not recognized by the BIOS > > > > So in desperation, I put another drive, a 40GB IBM into the new DAW. Boot > > from the CD and the OS loads flawlessly. And now the DAW is up and > running > > with the IBM drive (which was going to be my data drive in the DAW.) > > > > So what on earth is wrong with this WD drive? It is not that old and has > > very, very low hours on it. > > > > Nick > > <>< > > > > > >
