Mike wrote:
> us older Mac users must rely on Apple or other third party.How can you tell which disk driver(s) is/are being used for your hard drive(s) ? The drivers supplied with new drives are for PCs so
Mt. Everything (freeware available at http://www.download.com and other places) will scan each bus and list data about each device. Select a device and click the "Info" button and part of the information displayed will include the name of the driver used. SCSI Probe works well, but I like M.E. better. (personal choice)>>
Actually I have M.E. and have used it for that in the past. Forgot about that feature, though, probably because M.E. can't see the drive for me to select it.
>How do we know what version of Drive Update to use? Does a new drive need the newest driver available or are we better off sticking with a version more suited to our OS, for instance, if you still use 8.6?
You can use the Apple drive formatting software that came with your OS for any Apple supported drives, or the third party drive formatting programs for non-Apple supported drives. Formatting removes all old formatting and data and replaces it with your new data, so it doesn't matter what was on the drive. The older OS will read formating done with newer software as long as the formatting type is supported...>>
"Apple supported," HA! C'mon, we're talking about non-OSX PCI Mac users here. Also, buy an ATA Maxtor (as I did) and see how much they give a crap that you are a PCI Mac user. No drivers, no support and just a few blurbs of instruction devoted to Macs in their installation guide. Granted if you have a Mac it's not that complicated, but if you experience problems Maxtor is no help? Neither is Apple anymore.
Anyway, my question concerns drivers. Many updates to Drive Setup have come out since the version that came with my OS 8.6 (what's that 1997 vintage?). The drive is a late 2002 ATA Diamondmax plus 9 model. I used a driver and formatting from Drive Setup 2.0.3 from OS 9.1 since I was planning to put, and did put 9.1 on the new drive. Worked well for months. I had 8.6 on my old SCSI drive which I used as the start up HD , too, sometimes. I would think the newest driver available would be best for a new drive.
Are they stored on ROM or in some secret HD location? When you use Drive Update or other app to install a new driver, jus' where do it go? Other hardware drivers can be seen in extensions so they are a more tangible known quantity. (Makes me feel warm and fuzzy and in> control of my PPC.) >
The data is stored on the hard drive in a Master Directory and some associated files. These use a small amount of actual hard drive space, which is unavailable for any other storage. Once proper formatting is done, the driver can be updated at any time.>>
Not if your directory gets corrupted and your data gets splattered all over the place.
If you are experiencing HD problems (not mounting or booting correctly, etc.), how can you tell if it is driver related? I would guess they can get corrupted just like the rest of your data? Seems to me you need a good driver to get your drive to mount correctly but you cannot update or replace (reload?) a driver UNLESS your drive is mounted. Am I wrong about this apparent catch 22?
Mt. Everything (see above) has a generic driver built in which allows the drive to be mounted in an emergency, but the formatting software will usually allow installation of a temporary driver to mount the drive also. The formatting can then be accomplished, which includes a new driver.>>
Unfortunately M.E. can't see the drive. Once my other drive boots and extensions load no icons appear on my desktop and everything hangs as the system tries to mount that Maxtor. A frozen watch cursor is usually the end of the line. BUT there have been signs of life for the Maxtor on a few attempts when I get the window, "This disk is unreadable. Do you want to initialize"? I click to initialize and it takes forever scanning the volume until the system freezes totally. I have to disconnect the Maxtor drive power connector to be able to boot the computer and my original SCSI.
-- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; 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/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
