ronnie wrote: well, it is hit or > miss or nothing to get it to boot from the cd drive AND turn off extensions.
This is a key bit of diagnostic: if it won't boot from the CD, then something is worng with the hardware OTHER than the HDD, because there is nothing the HDD has to do with that. Double check all your MB connections, reseat the processor card, the memory, etc. Here's what to try: 1) Turn off the computer, hold the CUDA switch down for 10-15 seconds and see if you can boot to the CD holding down the C key. If yes, try the HDD, if that works then all is well. Likely this will not work. 2) Turn off the computer, and pull the PRAM battery. Hold the cuda switch down for 30 seconds and then let the computer sit, unpowered for about 30 minutes. Re-install the PRAM battery, and press the CUDA switch again. Now boot. This should have completely cleared the PRAM memory Now you should be able to boot to the CD, at least, consistently. If not, like I said you have a CD that has failed as well as a HDD or (more likely) it is a logic board or SCSI chain problem. I'm lucky, I have both a SCSI controller and MacDrive on my PC at work, so when I thought my HDD had gone bad, I was able to pull it, put it into an external SCSI enclosure I had laying about and mount it on the PC. I could browse the disk which proved that the disk was ok...In my case it was a processor upgrade going bad. In short a lot of things can look like disk problems and not be. You have to think about the common point of failure when you have multiple problems like you have (a HDD that won't boot or repair and a CD that only boots intermittently.) I don't know about the 7300, but removing all the external SCSI devices, leaving only the internal drive and CD might help. With the 7600 there ate two SCSI busses and controllers, but on the 7200 there's only one. It's a good idea to simplify a system as much as possible when troubleshooting anyway. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group -- The LowEndMac list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> LowEndMac list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/lowendmac.html> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/lowendmac%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
