#Validating a hard drive
15 messages in this thread
My system partition is not validating. Info shows the status as
"validating". I am unable to write to the system partition. Is there
any way to force a validation under 2.04?
-Jerry
This happens sometimes when the system goes down when a file is open for
writing. Generally the system corrects itself if you let the validation
finish. How long it will take depends on the size of the partition.
Until it finishes validating, you won't be able to write to the disk. Is
there constant disk activity when you boot the system? If so, give it
some time, and the problem should clear up.
Steve
Thanks for the information Steve and Betty.
The validation is never finished, even after a couple of days. I have had
this happen with other Amigas, drives, and version of AmigaDOS. Usually,
the validation clears itself up. If there was some kind of serious error
on the drive, I ended up saving off all the files, reformatting the
partition, then restoring the files. It didn't work this time.
Now I am unable to boot off the System2.0: partition. I reinstalled the
system from the 2.1 install disks but still no go. If I boot from a
KickStart disk and a WB 2.x disk, I can assign everything to the hard disk
partition, run the startup-sequence off that partition and everything works
peachy keen. The partition validates okay now, but it is not recognized as
a bootable partition.
So, validating is no longer my problem. I seem to be stumped by the simple
act of prepping a hard drive for use under AmigaDOS 2.x. I can't recall
ever having to format a drive for 2.0. Both of the 3000's I use came
already installed.
I have tried a number of things in HDTOOLBOX to no avail. The partition is
bootable and I have tried changing the boot priority. Is there a program
that I have to run to install the boot code on a hard drive partition, like
INSTALL does on a floppy? I tried running INSTALL but it won't work on a
hard drive.
I seem to be having trouble with booting and automounting in general. I
have one Syquest cartridge which is automounted by the system at bootup.
It was formatted by someone else. None of the Syquest cartridges I have
formatted are recognized by the system at bootup. I must boot with the one
good cartridge, then I can swap in any of the other cartridges.
-Jerry Thompson
Jerry,
I've been holding your message about your hard drive system partition not
validating, hoping someone else would answer. I used to work on drives a
lot, but have done little with them in the past year or so, so I'm a bit
rusty about dealing with such problems, and have not looked at the disk
structure in 2.04.
In earlier versions of the system, and I suspect it has not changed that
much, there is a single byte in the root block that can be changed with a
disk editor and which will then permit you to work on the disk. This has
to be done with a disk editor, and if you don't know what you are doing,
it can cause even more serious problems than you already have, so I
hesitate to go into detail if anyone else can help you.
I'm puzzled, however, that you say your status shows that your drive IS
validating. Sometimes, if your drive is in a rather bad state, validation
can take a very long time. Have you let it keep going until the drive
light goes out? If it will validate itself, even though it might take
several minutes, it is far better than trying to write to a specific byte
on the disk with an editor.
—Betty
It is possible (and has happened to me) that the drive may not be able to
complete the validation process. You'll probably get a requester saying
hat block so-and-so is sick; you can retry or cancel, retry buys you
absolutely nothing, and cancel terminates the validation action, but not
the STATE of the drive "being validated". As far as I've ever been able to
tell, there's nothing for a situation like that except, copy off,
reformat, and copy back.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
You're right, Ben. The person who wrote the message just said that his
drive kept saying it was validating, and did not give the details. He
didn't mention an error message concerning a bad sector, so I thought he
might not be giving it enough time.
It is possible to zero out the block that is giving trouble with something
like DiskEd, and it's also possible to reset the validation byte in the
root block, but you can really ruin things if you make a mistake. It's
much safer to back up, format, and restore, as you said..
—Betty
Betty,
Is there somewhere that describes all this voodoo? I looked all over the
place and couldn't find a thing.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
Actually, this has been described pretty well from day 1. I recovered an
entire floppy worth of files in 1985 that accidentally got deleted by using
the information that is present in the AmigaDOS Technical Reference Manual.
Armed with that book and a copy of Disked, it is possible to do anything.
However, armed with disked and a lack of knowledge about the system, it is
possible to mess up a disk beyond all possible repair…
Sounds like I missed the dingy, somewhere. :^) Well, thanks for pinting it
out. I've got that book, too.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
I just had a 40MB partition give out on me when the system lost power
during a long compile (don't play basketball near your powerstrip!). I went
into the rootblock with a disk editor and reset the "bitmap valid" flag,
copied all the files I could to another partition and then reformatted.
The disk validator systems are not documented too well, but they are for
the most part like fsck on UNIX in operation.
Another good read for learning about Amiga disk structures was written by
Dwayne Miller back in 1988. It was written to be used primarily with
Sectorama by David Joiner. Both program and notes are invaluable for
digging about amongst the bits and bytes of the disk structure although
some of this I suppose has changed with the FFS.
Pete from Dorset in Englands West Country – via Whap!
I'm not familiar with the innards of UNIX (except for the bad parts, which
I hear people moan about – like recompiling to add device drivers… :^)
Thanks for the info, though – I've gotten some excellent pointers on
this.
Interesting about your powerloss. The rare, but not extinct, basketball
de-zap problem. :^)
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
I found part of it in the AMIGADOS MANUAL under "The Filing System", and
some I got from the white RKM. It's probably in the newer ones, but I
haven't looked at them. In the 3rd edition of AmigaDOS Manual, it starts
on p. 335. Some of it I learned by playing with DiskEd (with the manual
in hand, of course.) I know most people don't like DiskEd, but I found it
far more helpful for studying the structure than the more traditional disk
editors.
Then, of course, there is the Abacus book, AMIGA DISK DRIVES INSIDE AND
OUT – but I haven't really read that one. I do have a copy, and have
looked at selected parts.
The first article I ever had published was about the disk structure – the
original TRANSACTOR, November 1986. I've been fascinated with disk drives
ever since Mike Todd taught me how the old Commodore drives worked. I
think it was 1982, and I know it was at a Commodore computer camp held at
Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba.
—Betty
Thanks, Betty.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
Jerry,
There is a program file called FIXDIS.ZOO. It will work on a hard drive,
but you must use it from within a Shell window and add the switch DOOM to
get it to see the hard drive devices.
Shell 1> run fixdisk doom
It has fixed a disk for me that neither Quarterback tools, or DiskSalv
even recognized as a valid Amiga device. I thought this SyQuest cartridge
was history and it fixed it for me! It should work for you.
Sometimes when a disk is 'Validating' according to the INFO command and
there is no disk activity or lit LED then it is never going to validate.
The only recourse left is a commercial product called Quarterback Tools, a
file in the libraries called DISKSALV or a couple others, like Fixdis.zoo.
Look in AmigaUser Lib: 9
FIXDIS.ZOO/Bin Bytes: 33683, Count: 177, 06-Sep-90
Title : FIXDISK, a disk recovery program
Keywords: FIXDISK RECOVER UNREADABLE DATA
FIXDISK seems like it'll be a good partner for DiskSalv. It can
recover some information from unreadable tracks on a disk. It has
other features that DiskSalv doesn't, but doesn't include everything
that DiskSalv can do.
Chris