Blinking ? on disk
Hello, y'all, Early season question for the list. I'm the person with the Mac lab of LCII's, 575's, and 580's. When the teacher whose room houses the lab went in a few days prior to the opening of school, she and a student turned a few (6-8) of the Macs on. All came up with the disk icon with the blinking ?. All but one that is. The lone LCII came up fine. I have 7.5.5 on all. I have not gone in to do anything about this yet. Just wondered if anyone wants to suggest anything to look for when I do start trying my magic. She did power down and reboot a couple of machines but the blinking disk ? icon came up again. If I remember correctly, that icon means Can't find a usable system disk. I have access to Norton Utilities. The lab was running quite well with just a few printing problems when we shut down in the spring for end-of-school. Jim -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
This sounds like someone formatting the whole lot of them to get even with the teacher... Try starting up from floppy (disk tools disk) and see wether there is still a system folder with all the goodies inside (or else wether the whole thing is just erased). Hello, y'all, Early season question for the list. I'm the person with the Mac lab of LCII's, 575's, and 580's. When the teacher whose room houses the lab went in a few days prior to the opening of school, she and a student turned a few (6-8) of the Macs on. All came up with the disk icon with the blinking ?. All but one that is. The lone LCII came up fine. I have 7.5.5 on all. I have not gone in to do anything about this yet. Just wondered if anyone wants to suggest anything to look for when I do start trying my magic. She did power down and reboot a couple of machines but the blinking disk ? icon came up again. If I remember correctly, that icon means Can't find a usable system disk. I have access to Norton Utilities. The lab was running quite well with just a few printing problems when we shut down in the spring for end-of-school. Jim -- Check out the System 6 Heaven: http://www.euronet.nl/users/mvdk/system_6_heaven.html Subscribe to the LEM system6 list: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] - -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
At 19:03 -0500 on 18/08/01, Jim Raper wrote: Hello, y'all, Early season question for the list. I'm the person with the Mac lab of LCII's, 575's, and 580's. When the teacher whose room houses the lab went in a few days prior to the opening of school, she and a student turned a few (6-8) of the Macs on. All came up with the disk icon with the blinking ?. All but one that is. The lone LCII came up fine. I have 7.5.5 on all. Check the PRAM batteries; if the PRAM battery dies, the Startup Disk control panel setting will be erased and the Mac can forget what its System disk is. Try holding cmd-opt-shift-delete to see if that can get them to recognise the HD as the startup disk, assuming nothing happened to corrupt the drive. p _ the pickle The FAQ http://macfaq.binhost.com/ The Archive http://www.jmug.org/software/thepickle/ _ -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
Hello, y'all, Early season question for the list. I'm the person with the Mac lab of LCII's, 575's, and 580's. When the teacher whose room houses the lab went in a few days prior to the opening of school, she and a student turned a few (6-8) of the Macs on. All came up with the disk icon with the blinking ?. All but one that is. The lone LCII came up fine. I have 7.5.5 on all. I have not gone in to do anything about this yet. Just wondered if anyone wants to suggest anything to look for when I do start trying my magic. Did those HD hum and make seeking noises when turned on? If not, slap hard on sides of the Macs few times asap when turned on. If that trick did work and hear HD spin up and make seeks and boots fine, replace HDs. That's signs of dying HD and sticking heads to the platters is also worn HD. This is caused by poor cooling on those HD especially those that runs hot. Cheers, Wizard -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
on 8/18/01 1:19 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Did those HD hum and make seeking noises when turned on? If not, slap hard on sides of the Macs few times asap when turned on. If that trick did work and hear HD spin up and make seeks and boots fine, replace HDs. That's signs of dying HD and sticking heads to the platters is also worn HD. This is caused by poor cooling on those HD especially those that runs hot. Sounds like good advice, but this should be a last resort. Check everything software wise and all the connections before you resort to beating your Macs. :) -- Alex Allee [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Visit EnigMac! Updated 07/29/2001 www.freehost.nu/members/enigmac/ _ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
--- Jim Raper [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, y'all, Early season question for the list. I'm the person with the Mac lab of LCII's, 575's, and 580's. When the teacher whose room houses the lab went in a few days prior to the opening of school, she and a student turned a few (6-8) of the Macs on. All came up with the disk icon with the blinking ?. All but one that is. The lone LCII came up fine. I have 7.5.5 on all. I have not gone in to do anything about this yet. Just wondered if anyone wants to suggest anything to look for when I do start trying my magic. She did power down and reboot a couple of machines but the blinking disk ? icon came up again. If I remember correctly, that icon means Can't find a usable system disk. Are they networked? And if so, how? William = Renegade Infidel http://www.artaudsociety.com -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
From: Jim Raper [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Blinking ? on disk Hello, y'all, Early season question for the list. I'm the person with the Mac lab of LCII's, 575's, and 580's. When the teacher whose room houses the lab went in a few days prior to the opening of school, she and a student turned a few (6-8) of the Macs on. All came up with the disk icon with the blinking ?. All but one that is. The lone LCII came up fine. I have 7.5.5 on all. I have not gone in to do anything about this yet. Just wondered if anyone wants to suggest anything to look for when I do start trying my magic. She did power down and reboot a couple of machines but the blinking disk ? icon came up again. If I remember correctly, that icon means Can't find a usable system disk. I have access to Norton Utilities. The lab was running quite well with just a few printing problems when we shut down in the spring for end-of-school. Jim Try starting up from an external volume like a CD or a ZIP and re-bless the System folder in the machines in question before going into deeper, time-consuming stuff. Just remove the Finder and System files from the System folder and then put them back in. Then restart from the machine. I have found this to work quite often when any of the 30 odd LC III's w/7.5.5 I have running in an elementary school lab do this ? thing. I have no idea why or how this problem arises though. Bob F -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blinking ? on disk
--- Alex Allee [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: on 8/18/01 1:19 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Did those HD hum and make seeking noises when turned on? If not, slap hard on sides of the Macs few times asap when turned on. If that trick did work and hear HD spin up and make seeks and boots fine, replace HDs. That's signs of dying HD and sticking heads to the platters is also worn HD. This is caused by poor cooling on those HD especially those that runs hot. Sounds like good advice, but this should be a last resort. Check everything software wise and all the connections before you resort to beating your Macs. :) If the drives aren't spinning at all, then try a game of Whack-a-Mole with them. Remove drive from Mac. Hold by edges firmly with thumb and fingers of one hand. Two firm whacks with the edge of your other palm, allowing the hand holding the drive to rotate at the wrist, will usually unstick the motor bearings. Plug drive back in and see if it spins up. This is a good basic physics demonstration on the principles of inertia. :) (Inertia tries to hold the platters still while the rest of the drive rotates around them.) Old dead hard drives (that will still spin) also work great for demonstrating the principles of gyroscopic forces. P.S. Do not hit the drive so firmly as to knock it out of your hand. That would be bad. ;-) = The earth swarms with inhabitants. Why then should nature, which is fruitful to an excess here, be so very barren in the rest of the planets? Bernard de Fontenelle, 1686 [EMAIL PROTECTED] My ICQ# 16024947 __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html Vintage Macs list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml The FAQ:http://macfaq.binhost.com/ 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
