HD Problem

I just together a new system on Monday. All was going great until during out Tuesday evening Golf game.

I started hearing a clicking sound but my Niece was on the other PC so I did not give it much tnought All of the sudden the machine just LOCKED up and will not reboot from the HD at all.

Sometimes I can read it after booting from the floppy and sometimes I can't. Fdisk will not touch it and neither will Norton DiskDoctor.

It is a WD 40gig 7200 rpm on a MSI KT7 MOBO with a Duron 1200 and 256 meg of RAM.

The Golf was GREAT while it lasted.

Is it possible that I did have a little warning when I tries to install some software ( Links LS 2001 ) and kept getting file error messages ?

Regardless, it is going back to where I got it as soon as I can get there.

BillyBob

 

OOPS !!!

I may have this in the wrong place. I guess I was angry ( still am ) and did not pay attention.

Move if you wish.

BillyBob

 

Hey BillyBob,

Have you tried WD "s diagnostic utility?

Tin

 

Thanks for the excellent idea Tinknocker. But I have ( had ) one slight problem. it would not work.

That is the first thing I thought about and was going to do but the HD would not allow it.

It would boot to the WD floppy but would not go any further.

Am now working with a new HD and trying get get ME installed. I had other things to do today or I would have had it done already.

BillyBob

 

BillyBob,

The first new XP machine kept giving me file error messages ever time I loaded my software in. It kept insisting on running checkdsk all the time. I didn't pay much attention except to resent the distraction.

After an all day marathon of loading all my backups to the new box, the hard drive took a dump just like yours did.

They replaced the whole machine outright since it was only two days old but my point is, when you start getting all those file errors, hang on, it's probably fixin' to dump on you.

Good luck with the new medium.

 

Hello from the new machine.

So Far So Good !!! ​

 

CONGRATS BillyBob,

BTW when did you get this new machine. Seems the last time I recall you discussing a new machine was an AMD K-6.

Tin

 

I just got all the parts this past Monday. It is now working just fine and dandy. I thought the AMD K6 2/500 was fast BUT !!

Got the HD swaped Tuesday.

I just put in an ATI Rage AGP card today. ANd all I can say for a $50 video card is WOW !!!!. all the $$ I had left The biggest problem was finding the CORRECT drivers for ME and my VIA Chipset.

Zephyr

Do you * possibly * make the same mistake that I did ? I made a SEROUS error in judgment when I did not use the WD disk to check and set up the drive the first time. It seems that is no longer the case of just plugging in a drive and GO.

When I tried the Golf game install again I just got errors on two files ( two Course files ) that I have always had errors on.

I also found ( at the suggestion of a Friend ) to turn off DMA for the HD and CDROM for a large install like that. Worked much better.

I also did not go to the Windows update site and get the update that puts the 4-5 second hold into the shutdown.

BillyBob

 

No, mine was an OEM machine from HP. I don't build when they're so cheap.

It sounds like you have a winner there!

Good luck.

 

Thanks Zephyr

I should have realized that yours must have been an OEM when you said that they replaced the whole thing.

It may not be a winner but for $450 I don't think I could buy a better one. And I would miss all the fun of buliding it. I have not built one yet that I did not have some kind of a problem with. But usually it is software ( drivers mostly ) rether then hardware.

But most of my enjoyment is getting them put together.

I had a few BSOD but I knew what caused them so was able to get out of them fairly easily. Every one was driver related.


BillyBob

 

Glad to hear it ....... another AMD man. Not trying to give unsolicited advice here, but keep up with your 4 in 1 driver updates and you'll stay a happy camper. Also, although I don't have much experience with your MB, there is a flaw in 9X relative to Seagate Tape Drive inf and iosubsys VXD drivers that can periodically give you a green line across the top of your screen and cause a lockup with the VIA chipset (no, I don't have a Seagate Tape Drive either). If you encounter this at boot up, post and I'll give you the specific files (7 of em) to rename for the fix.

You done good Dad! Enjoy...

Rockster2U aka RocksterOnRoad

 

Oh yeah, would also disagree with using WD software to set up your HD. Maybe old fashioned here, but FDISK and FORMAT still is the cleanest way to go and it prevents a lot of other potential problems if you move drives around in the future.

Rockster2U aka RocksterOnRoad

 

Fisrt off. All readers please understand that what is written below is from the way I understand things and is in no way intended to argue with or offend anyone as I have run into something new.

Of course you would not use WD software to check another make of drive.

But using the software provided with the drive initially checks for errors, bad sectors etc.

I undestand that on these newer and larger so called Smart drives it puts the info ( any bad secters etc. ) into a memory on the drive. And I believe uses this info for future self maintainance of the drive.

I also understand that in the future that if all works correctly and using WinME all bad sectors etc are repaired ( or marked ) by the drive ( or ME I am not sure which ) and we never even know it.

Once the checks are done it will assist in setting up the partitions.

Once that was done ( at least in my case ) it called for the Win98 boot disk and actually used Win98 Format to format the drive.

Then after all of this is done initially I believe you may use Fdisk and format at your free will. I did use format because ME did not install correctly the first time. And it did not the second time either. But when I re-installed it from the files on the HD all went well.

I believe this has something to do with High speed processor getting ahead of the CDROM and * MAY * skip over files.

I have always had better Windows installs ( even with 95 or 98 ) when installing from the HD.

I do not know for sure about other OS but if using ME, get that thing online ASAP and get the patch that buts the 4 second wait into Windows shutdown.

I can not say for sure but it seems as though that wait is also applied to a Windows restart. And I beileve for the same reason.

Also I found in the BIOS a setting to put a 4 second wait into shutdown when using the power button.

I do understand the resaon for the wait. So that any info can get written to the HD before it shuts down.

Even though I may not completely understand all of this but, if it is as was discribed to me, I will say this;

"If you are building a new system using the newer components and wish it to be as reliable as possible, Don't cut corners. "

Even though some of the above may not be completely understood by me ( the HD part mostly ) it does make sense

I did find one thing on this new system that I LOVE and that if set correctly in the BIOS, it WILL NOT restart if the power goes off. And that was put to the test yesterday.

BillyBob

 

One thing I forgot.

When installing a new system IGNORE the updated drivers at the bottom of Windows update page.

I downloaded the audio update intentionaly (killed the onboard audio ) so I could put ME system restore to a test before I got this HD loaded too heavily as I had never used it before. It worked.

BillyBob

 

BillyBob congrats on new box! I do several around Xmas & 'bout a dozen more the rest of yr. Fun ain't it Always something new to challenge ya!

So this is a WIN-ME & WIN98 system rite?

 

Thanks Rancher

So this is a WIN-ME & WIN98 system rite?

I am not sure how you mean that but, only ME on this new machine.

The other two have 98 FE on them.

I thought that I might have a problem with the LAN. But I did not. ME set the darn thing up and it worked immediately.

Much to my surprise and happiness

And with the Router installed and the LAN running at 100, files are coming from the other machine almost as fast as if they were on my own HD.

But now that I have the important things on here ( AV & Firewall AND THE GOLF GAME etc ) I am going to let it get itself worked in a few days before I do much else.

The old machine is still as it was so I do not have to be in a big hurry.

AMEN to that my Friend.

BillyBob

 

OK, different strokes for different folks.

HD mfg utilities like WD or MaxBlast write a small file at the beginning of your HD and one of these days you might find it to be quite an encumbrance. This is necessary for older systems that had Bios restrictions re HDD size and no, they aren't interchangeable between mfg's. They also make formatting easier for most users and include their own versions of diagnostics ... again, making life easier for most users. Whether its EZBios or whatever your HDD mfg uses, this can create problems if you want to use a drive thats been setup with this type of software in another machine configuration. To get rid of it, you have to FDISK the drive while its setup as slave. If you aren't running multiple drives or hot swapping drives with other machines or running RAID, you'll probably never encounter the nuisance this software creates. In that case its fine.

As to the shutdown delay, this is a standard 9X patch developed by MS to accomodate faster HDD's with larger memory buffers so the HDD could finish writing before shutdown. Your Drive has a 2mb buffer. The instant off versus 4 second delay bios setting may give you peace of mind, but it has no bearing on the HDD cache. (I know, logically it sounds like it should).

Regardless, enjoy you new treasure .... if it works for you, then its set up perfectly. And, thats what really counts!

Rockster2U aka RocksterOnRoad

 

wd hard drive ute

That's called a "bios overlay" & i agree it can come back to haunt you if ya have to reformat, ever! However lowlevel frmt will deal with it (24hrs yawn) but maybe BillyBob didn't use the large drive ute, just the format part of menu

 

No I did not have to install the Overlay.

Just ran the diag and setup the partitions. The drive is actually formated with Win98 Format.

But as to the Overlay, I use them only as an absolute LAST RESORT for exacty the reasons stated. It is no big deal to get rid of an overlay. You just have to remove ( or at least disable ) it with the same software that installed it before removing the drive. I have used an overlay several times and never had a problems. But again, I do stay away from them if I can.

RocksterOnRoad

You must have lost your thinking cap

Why would you even think about me installing an overlay with this new board ?

That is one of the main reasons I built this new system as one HD on the older machine that my Wife had, had one HD with 30-40 ( and climbing ) bad sectors on it and was not big enough anyway. And the BIOS on it was limited to 8.4gig and was not upgradeable.

Plus that the ANCIENT Cyrix 686/150 was severly limiting the software that I could install. Link LS 2001 would not even load.

BillyBob

 

whew

BillyBob you got it rite on..............