#Hardframe & R/W Errors
18 messages in this thread
I have a question for those with Hardframe controllers. Lately, I've been
getting increasing notices of R/W errors on a partition that gets a lot of
action on it (writing, deleting, moving, ect). A friend of mine also seems to
have this problem with his BBS system that uses the Hardframe controller. Both
of us are using Quantum drives (80Meg and 105Meg). He also noted that he's
used his Trumpcard for over 6 months, including running his BBS on it for two
of those months with NO problems.
First, has anybody else had a problem with R/W errors on their
harddrives/Hardframe combo? Also, has the Hardframe driver/software changed
(I've got the Setup Software v1.55 disk).
Thinking I could change the MaxTransfer in the Mountlist file, I just noticed
that nowhere in my mountlist is there any entry for the harddrive. Oh well…
This problem isn't a big deal for me. However, for my friend who runs a BBS,
it is a big deal. The r/w error requesters pop up and tie his system waiting
for a response. He just began using a program that selects "Cancel"
automatically. He'd prefer NOT having R/W errors at all, especially after just
getting his BBS up with his new 105Meg Quantum.
Any reply would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan McCoy
Dan,
I have the hardframe and an 80 Mb Quantum, both about 2 weeks old, and
I'm getting R/W error requesters also. I also have version 1.55 of the setup
software. Anyone from Microbotics care to comment on this? I have an A2000 with
4.X motherboard.
Tim
Dan:
I'm really very sorry I saw your message. Not because you left it, but because
I've been having the same problem with various combinations of drives and
HardFrame controllers. The one thing we all have in common is that we are
using very fast drives. The Quantum's have RAM caches, just like our CDC's and
Maxtor's, and have a very high transfer rate. Every so often, we pop up a
Read/Write error where there doesn't seem to be one, and retry or cancel seems
to let things chug merrily onward.
I suspect that we're looking at a bug in the HF code. <sigh>
Ariel
This is great news (sort of). Thanks for responding Tim and Ariel. Perhaps we
can get an answer shortly. Ariel brought up a point. So far, every time the
requester has popped up and I select RETRY, everything goes along smoothly with
no further requesters.
Just to give more info, I'm running the Hardframe with a Quantum 80S,
ProRam2000 w/ 4MB, and a flicker fixer for hardware. Software wise, I'm
running SnipIt, MachII2.5 or 2.6, Gomf3.0, VirusX3.2, and FixIntuition in the
background.
Thanks for the responses. Here's hoping for some answers.
Dan McCoy
I too suffered R/W errors with my HardFrame & Quantum drive, until I lowered
the Max Transfer setting. I don't remember the exact number, but I believe it
was around 200K. You'll have to set this on the RDB (Rigid Disk Block), unless
you're bypassing the auto-mount and using a physical mount list.
WCM
I'll probably be lowering the MaxTranfer setting the next time I need to do a
low level format or I'm tired of the requesters. Just experimented to see if
the Prep script allows you to modify the current setup. Sure does! I changed
the MaxTransfer for the partition that has been giving me the problems and will
see how it goes.
Thanks for the information. Have lots of fun!
Dan, we're still looking for answers from this end, but it's slow going. If you
hear anything from Microbotics, please do pass it on.
Ariel
If I get anything, I'll let you know. One thing we can try is the next time we
format our drives and go through the set-up again, we can lower the MaxTransfer
to something lower than the default value. Fortunately, we can change the
MaxTransfer WITHOUT having to re-run the setup stuff. The Prep script allows
you to modify the current RDB setup and partition info and allows you to save
your new setup that will be used when you reboot. I just lowered the
MaxTransfer of the partition that's been giving me problems and I'll see how it
works…
Regardless, I'm still enjoying the HardFrame and Quantum combo!
To all nervous hardframe owners:
I called Microbotics and was told that I had indeed noticed a bug in their
software. The 131072 max transfer rate is incorrect – change it to 130560. The
former rate causes R/W errors on large reads (like when you open DPaint). As to
why mine died, the technician was fairly sure it was the hardframe rather than
the drive and suggested re-seating all the socketed chips.
Tim
Tim,
Are you sure RDprep defaults to a MaxTransfer of 131072 bytes? I'm certain
I just accepted the default number when I prepped my drive, and my MaxTransfer
is indeed set to 130560 bytes (just checked). Not quite 128k
anyway…interesting.
Hope you get your HD problem sorted out quickly and properly.
-Dave
Ari,
Your R/W error problem is mighty puzzling. I've had a HardFrame and a
Quantum 80s for almost a year now and have _never_ experienced a R/W
error…other than phantom ones caused by a bad RAM board that I long ago
replaced. What version of the HardFrame driver software do you have? Mine is
version 1.5. Could be a subtle bug that only pops up with certain
hardware/software combos. I have a fairly stock 2000: 68000 CPU, single floppy
drive, 2-meg ASDG/Micron/Progressive Peripherals expansion RAM board,
HardFrame, Quantum 80s.
-Dave
Well, in an attempt to fix the R/W error problem, I went to RDPrep to lower the
Max Transfer rate. That's when I noticed that the default rate displayed in the
program is 131072, but the default rate listed in the documentation is 130560.
Just for grins, I tried setting to 130560 (just slightly lower) and I haven't
had a R/W error since. I'll keep you posted…
Tim
Tim,
Hmmm, that's interesting…I hadn't noticed that the program and the docs
differed regarding MaxTransfer. I'm using the default rate: 128k. The fact
that you were getting R/W errors while I'm not seems to indicate a hardware
defect of some sort in your (and apparently others as well) HardFrame or
perhaps a software bug that only shows up under certain
conditions/configurations. Beats me anyway…hope it gets sorted out quickly.
-Dave
Well, I guess it will be awhile before I can do anymore testing…my hard drive
just failed completely! I was not getting R/W errors so I proceeded to load
about 20 Mb of stuff onto the drive. At some point, I opened a drawer which was
quite full and the drive made a loud clunk. Up came the R/W error requester and
it wouldn't go away. When I reboot, I get "Insert WB 1.3" screen. When I run
RDPrep, I get the Guru. When I run FormatHF, it says "No drives found on any
HardFrame/2000 in system." This is one sick puppy.
Tim
Dave:
We're using Rev 4.0 HardFrame's with 1.5C (and some Beta's from Joanne)
Firmware. Our machines have GVP Impact 030 accelerators w/4 meg, HF's with
some Maxtor 4070 (150 meg) and CDC Wren V (209 meg) drives, Ameristar Ethernet
boards, and a mix of various other things. The test machines have A2286 Bridge
Cards and 2 other AT bus peripherals on them as well.
Dave, while I understand the puzzlement you probably feel hearing about our
various troubles relative to your lack of them. My machine with a Rev 3 HF and
Wren V works flawlessly. However, if I swap either the Wren *OR* the HF with a
new unit, the combo fails. In my opinion, after experimenting with a few
combinations of HF's and SCSI drives, the HF firmware is still a little rough
around the edges. If you stick with a standard Amiga and an average hard drive
(Seagate, Miniscribe, maybe the Quantum) you're safe. Drift towards
industrial-strength stuff and you're likely to trip over an incompatibility.
Even Joanne is surprised by some of the stuff here driver does.
Now, don't take this as a condemnation of the HF, we love the speed and so far
it's our SCSI controller of choice. It's just that it hasn't been refined past
middle-of-the-road consumer acceptance. At the company I work for, we're
pioneers in attaching it to strange devices (can you say 2.2 Gigabyte 8mm
Archival Storage device? 🙂 and that's why we've got all these arrows in our
backs. ;^)
Ariel
Ariel,
Sounds like you guys have some pretty hefty systems there. <drool, drool>
I guess I'm not so much puzzled by your HardFrame problems as surprised that,
since a number of folks are evidently having trouble, I haven't until now heard
any negatives about the HF at all…and the thing has been out well over a
year. Guess not too many people with industrial-strength setups have been using
HFs.
I understand that you aren't condemning the HF…and I certainly wouldn't be
offended if you were, since the unit's software obviously needs some work. All
I can say is: 1) I hope the firmware gets fixed soon; and 2) I'm glad my HF
works! 8^)
-Dave
Ariel:
Just out of curiosity, just where is it you work? (If you'd rather not name
the company, could you name the city? If I'm ever there, I'd love to see the
setup you all have.)
Ray Lewis
Ray:
We're located in a suburb of Washington D.C., Lanham, MD. It's a small company
that does image processing applications for the financial community. If you're
going to be in town, leave me an Email prior to your visit and we'll arrange
something.
Ariel