CompuServe Thread

#Disaster Revisited!!!

8 messages in this thread
#6068From: TIM STONISNov 13, 1990 8:54 PM
Well, my firends, I am the bearer of bad tidings but I hope you all can help. In my orginal "Hard Disk Disaster!!!!," I took all advice and obtained QB tools. However, failure. I have a weird problem. As I said, the problem developed when I was installing excellence!. Well, I tried reinstalling it and again, it caused a read/write error when I tried to write the files. However, no validation error this time. But, every time I tried to save to the hard drive I got a read write error. The file still saved but when I wanted to read it, I got the error. If I delete the file, QB tools scans and all is find… So, any new saved files corrupt the drive, I don't get it. BUT, one wierd thing is that I have deleted the entire excllence! directory contents, but when I try to delete the empty directory, I get an object in use error. LIAR!!! The object is not in use. How can I get it through that mr. amiga is wrong. Qb tools is no road map for this one… Is this some sort of virus? PLease don't tell me I have to back up my drive… Do I look like I'm made of disks? 🙂 Ohhh, well. Thanks everyone… -Timothy Stonis
#6074From: David ArtNov 13, 1990 9:20 PM
Tim, Try rebooting and then deleting the directory. There may be a stray lock left open. Having a CLI or Shell window open and CD'd to the directory would cause it. Also, you might have an Assign statement that has that directory locked. Type Assign in a Shell and see if there's something assigned to that directory. (I suspect that there might be.) If there's a LOCK on something, AmigaDOS will not let you delete it. (Actually, I think that it's pretty worthwhile to have a lock system that works. As a user, it's easy to forget, but, the OS won't let you. 8) If you want to check the number and type of locks in your system, Khalid wrote a program called (approriately enough 8) LOCKS. It should be in the System Tools DL, although I haven't searched for it since the forum split. Hope this helps. 8) David
#6097From: Don Curtis/SYSOPNov 14, 1990 12:18 AM
Timothy, The 'object in use' message is more than likely the result of the fact you've got an ASSIGN on that directory. Don
#6102From: TIM STONISNov 14, 1990 12:38 AM
Don, You hit the nail on the head! Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I figured that out myself… I have narrowed the problem down. As long as excellence! is not installed on my HD, all is well, I can read and write at my leisure. However, when I try to install the dictionary, I get the read/write error. Therefore, I suppose its a fault with excellence!. I'll talk to them about it… Thanks for all your help. Sincerely, -Timothy Stonis a.k.a.- Mr. Hard Drive Disaster… (If there is a God, he hates my hard drive!)
#6188From: Don Curtis/SYSOPNov 15, 1990 12:15 AM
Tim, It may not be Excellence!…but simply the fact that the dictionary file is large…so hits a portion of your HD that you don't normally hit. Try this…copy 4 or 5 large files (100K or more) to dummy files such as: copy <large file> :test.file1 copy <same file> :test.file2 and so forth…see if you get the error. When you're done, simply delete those dummy files to recover the room. Don
#6836From: TIM STONISNov 22, 1990 1:09 PM
Don, I don't know if it is because the file is too large or what but, when I copied the dictionary file to another floppy and then back to the hard drive, it worked fine… A freak, I don't know… In any case, I'm glad my problems are solved… Thanks. -Timothy Stonis
#6150From: Bob RakoskyNov 14, 1990 6:30 PM
Tim, I see from subsequent messages that you have resolved some of your problems. There is one statement in your message that bothers me, and I thought I'd comment on it. You stated: "Please don't tell me I have to back up my drive … Do I look like I'm made of disks?". Now, I can very well understand that sentiment (as I've two 320 meg hard disks – 1 on the Amiga and 1 on a PClone – which takes A LOT of disks to do a backup), but I think you're looking for trouble without any type of backup. Trust me, sooner or later, you will wish you had made the effort to take a periodic backup. It is inevitable. My advice is not coming from self-serving motives, but from a lot of experience with computers and hard-disks. While at one point, I was selling a commercial HD backup program, this is no longer the case and I have nothing to gain from your choosing to or not to backup your hard disk. But I sure don't want to be in a position of saying "I told you so" a month or seven from now. Hope this helps… …BobR White Wolf Productions
#6186From: TIM STONISNov 15, 1990 12:12 AM
Thanks Bob… I decided to backup my drive by copying the files I did have floppy copies of… I'm goinf to reformat and try things again. Your advice is well taken, this experience has revealed to me the realities of HARD DISK FAILURE. Thanks… -Timothy stonis