At 07:29 AM 8/17/99 -0400, you wrote:
>What is DRUID? My friend that lost two Maxtor drives said that was what
>destroyed them??? My manual does not list that command(if that is what it
>is?).
>I have a Maxtor that is working great(better than I am on Linux), and sure
>do not want his problem. Thank you-
>
>Louis
>Louis J. Dupree Jr. W4NRG
>3015 Englewood Dr.
>Kinston, NC 28504
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>http://wwp.icq.com/187690
>
>
Hi Louis:
Looks like your friend is using RedHat and their "Disk Druid" program.
The druid is basically similar to the DOS fdisk program, something which
partitions a drive. I don't think the problem is really with druid but
rather with hardware.
IMHO, Maxtor drives are not up to the quality that the company once
espoused. Over the years they seem to have gone from quality is number one
priority to profits are number one. Personally, I will only use Western
Digital (IDE) or Seagate (SCSI) drives for myself and my business. They
may cost a bit more but I have NEVER had one fail if used properly.
A couple of things I would look at in the system that failed: 1) Is good
static protection being used (Maxtor seems more susceptable to static. 2)
A marginal IDE controller (timing on some controllers does not FULLY meet
IDE specs) - this is especially important on large drives. 3) Dust, many
systems, when opened, are coated with dust on the inside causing them to
run hotter which affects operation and can throw timing off.
Another possibility, though remote, is that the MBR got overwritten or
flaked. When this happens the drive will sometimes appear to be unusable.
It will seem to format properly but won't be able to boot. In that event
try fdisk /mbr to rewrite the MBR (master boot record).
Hope this helps,
Tom
--
Tom Taylor Sr. Development Technician
Telemedic Systems, Inc. 253.529.0526
Member: PSLUG http://sealinux.itsite.com
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
