On Tue, Mar 25, 2003 at 11:18:18PM +0000, Jordan Elver wrote: > Hi Tom, > > > Generally cold starts where you hear whining and buzzing are from > > cheap fans that use sleeve bearings instead of ball bearings. OTOH, > > these don't prevent bootup other than if the fans are so impaired as > > to cause overheating before the system can complete the bootstrap > > process. > > > > Harddrives (and CD drives) can also produce similar sounds when > > cold, and it's not a good sign. Same deal, bearings. You can check by > > placing a rod of some sort (heck, I've used a spoon), in contact with > > the drives side and the other end against the bone just by your outer > > ear opening. This greatly amplifies the sound you hear from the > > insides of the drive, and pinpoints which drive. You might get away > > with it for a while, but it's a sure sign of pending mechanical > > failure of the device. > > Right, that settles it. Definately doing a major backup soon! I've been > telling myself I should of by now for ages :) > > > I lost an important 30g, 8 month old, IBM, 7200rpm to this symptom > > ;( In that case, the drive was run 24/7, till I went out of town > > for a week. It would never spin up again, system wouldn't boot. Lost > > whatever I didn't have already backup'd to CDr's. > > Thanks for everyones help. I shall now sit and wait for it to fail!
One of the easiest ways I have found to make a backup is to get another hard disk, plug it into your machine (assuming you still have a spare IDE socket or whatever), partition it, make a file system, mount it, and copy everything. Then take it out of your machine and put it on a shelf, so it's not clobbered when everything else is. I got one of these special HD caddies that let you slide the HD in and out easily when the power is off. They're designed for people whose data are so precious that they take them home with them so that if their local burglar coms to call at the office, they may lose the computer but keep the data. I'm planning on getting *another* HD like this in case disaster strikes while I am making a backup! A university I worked at decades ago were backing up an IBM 360 by copying from one disk drive to another) when, unbeknownst to them, there was a thunderstorm raging outside. A lighning strike caused a power surge when both disks were seeking at the same time - complete wipeout! They had to get new original software from IBM. Normally one might think a new hard disk is too expensive, but there's a chance that you'll nedd a new one soon anyway. Anyway, if you already have a workable backup system, use it before it is too late! Start with the most important data, and then the rest. Don't wait until you have the ideal backup system. I once had a HD start to go wonky, and it died completely in the three days it took be so set up a backup system. I lost a lot of stuff. I had to recreate a bunch of financial information from original documents and get an extension on my tax filing date -- the people at the tax department were very understanding about suddenly dead computers! -- hendrik > > Cheers, > Jord > -- > Jordan Elver > I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just some > b*stard with a torch, bringing me more work. -- David Brent (The Office) > > > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
