Re: [OT] hardware problem
On Wednesday 20 October 2004 07:17, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
> Hi Debian!
>
> I have a problem and would like suggestions on how to isolate what is
> wrong.
>
> 1. I am running a Abit KT7A with 2 Maxtor HDD's 80GB + 40GB
> Model=Maxtor 6Y080P0, FwRev=YAR41BW0, SerialNo=Y2FAZ3HE hda
> Model=Maxtor 6E040L0, FwRev=NAR61590, SerialNo=E1FS8RWE hdb
> and 3 256MB 168 pin memory cards.
>
So how long did you have this arrangement working fine? That is, how long
did you have two drives and 3 DIMMs working with no problems?
> 2. Last summer I bought a new power supply that has double ballbearings,
> the original one don't. I put it in and after 20 minutes one disk goes
> "bad". He can't access it. When you boot, you see garbage in the bios
> identification field. I put the old powersupply in and the problem goes
> away. I think the new powersupply is bad. I tried this twice and the
> results are the same.
>
Is the new power supply rated to handle the load? If not, you'll get all
sorts of strange problems.
You indicate that you replaced the power supply with the old one. Are all
the events mentioned below with the old power supply? I am answering as if
yes, but if these happened using the new one, that would be my first guess.
> 3. A few days ago, I suddenly have trouble copying an iso file from one
> partition on hda to another: it takes forever, what normally takes 10
> seconds or so, now takes 10 minutes.
>
Sounds like DMA was turned off. Are you running smartmontools? If so, what
does it say?
> 4. Yesterday I tried the new Sarge installer and it hangs in "Starting
> up the partitioner" booting with linux26. I file bug #277177. I try
> installing a 2.4.27 kernel and that works but on booting it he turns off
> DMA on the disks, says it has errors.
>
What are the specific error messages?
> 5. I leave the system powered down overnight, boot a Sarge partition on
> hda and now the system can't access hdb. I reboot and the bios id of the
> hdb disk is garbage. But just a second before I could boot 2.6.7 on a
> partition on that disk.
>
> I want to identify the problem, preferably without buying new hardware
> at first. I now think it is the mobo, but how do I know?
>
> Suggestions?
>
> Hugo.
You might also see what happens if you specify the hard drive geometry in
the BIOS setup, rather than having autodetect. If the BIOS is currently
not autodetecting the drives, then I would definitely suspect the
motherboard, unless you're cutting the power and the mobo battery is dead.
One easy thing to check, though, is your power supply connections. Make
sure none of them are loose.
Hope that helps,
Justin Guerin
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