CompuServe Messages

Nevin, One possibility is that you've set up the drive for more cylinders than are actually available for use. I've fallen into this trap before, and encountered symptoms similar to what you are reporting. When you did the high-level format of the drive partitions (AmigaDOS format command), did you use the "Quick" option or not? If you did, than this is likely your problem (as the Quick format doesn't do much, and won't fail even if you "lied" about the size of the drive, within limits). I have found that some drives claim to have more cylinders available than are actually available. This is because some of the cylinders are reserved (for bad-block remapping, and sometimes for the software needed by the drive's controller). If I remember correctly, the number reported by my large Miniscribe disk to the Hardframe's rdprep program was not correct, and I had to manually adjust it when I partitioned the drive. The only way I found to really get things set up stably is to use trial-and-error. Try setting up the drive with the number of cylinders you think it should be. Then do an AmigaDOS format of the last partition (do a "full" format, not a QUICK one). If the format command fails, take note of the cylinder it failed on, and treat that as the high-cylinder. I've used this method while setting up a number of HD's of various size and manufacture, and I've yet to have a problem. By the way, Miniscribe is no longer in bankruptcy. They were bought out by Maxtor. I don't know if Maxtor is doing anything in way of support for the Mini's or not. If you really need, a friend of a friend of mine was a former repair tech for Miniscribe, and I think he has gone "independant" in the HD repair business. If you'd like, I can make a couple of phone calls to see if he wants his name/address publicized or not and pass this on if it's OK with him. Hope this helps… …BobR White Wolf Productions