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From: JLI@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: wierd problems during HD boot
Message-ID: <8617@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Date: 14 Aug 89 01:01:33 GMT
References: <598@aablue.UUCP>
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services
Lines: 43

In article <598@aablue.UUCP>, jb@aablue.UUCP (John B Scalia) writes:
> I've just been wrestling with the wierdest problem I've ever encountered
> while putting together a PC; thus, I find myself turning to the net again
> for help.
> 
> What I'm building is a little Everex Step 286/12-2, and I'm trying to
> install one of Miniscribe's little half-height 80MB drives, a 3085.
> 
> The problem I'm encountering is that the unit, while booting from the
> hard disk doesn't seem to want to read config.sys or its autoexec.bat
> file. I've tried doing low levels with both Disk Manager from Ontrack
> and Everex's own disk utilities. Both give the same end results.

  This is a wierd one indeed.  You may want to try a different HD
controller ( I mean different model).
> 
> In either case I low level, partition, and logically format the drive
> into what should be C:, D:, & E: drives. When I boot the unit, everything
> looks normal, except stupid things, like my environment size and the path
> I want, never get set.
> 
> Anybody got any ideas? Everex can't help since this isn't one of their
> "factory" drives, but I don't have any choice but to use this (unless you
> know of another HH 80MB drive that I could substitute).
> 

  We had different problems with Miniscribe drives (8450, 8438) companied
with WD 1003V SR2 and WD 1006V SR2 controllers.  The drives can be format-
ted fine, and passed 48-hour burn-in test.  However, after a few days of
use, they showed a lot of bad sectors which increase rapidly (only need
10 - 20 days, they became totally dead).  After reformatting them, every-
thing returns to normal, but this cycle will come again.  Believe me or
not, almost every drive we installed in passed few months came back for
service (more than 50 of them) with the same problem.

  I cannot draw any conclusion here, just an observation. After we replaced
HD controllers (with DTC etc.), we haven't seen any (almost) returns.
By the way, we only have problem with AT typed machines.  They worked fine
on XTs.
  Could there be some sort of timing problem?

Qiwu Liu
U of KS