problem with external SCSI hard drive, and OS9 startup

Question

problem with external SCSI hard drive, and OS9 startup

I have 3 macs, one of which is a G3/266 desktop. In the past, I have used either OS X 10.2.8 or OS 9 to start up. The main difference is that OS X will not fully recognize the external SCSI hard drive, but OS 9 will. I should point out that this drive is old, and is formatted as HFS, not HFS plus, and it has 3 partitions.

When I start up in OS X with the SCSI drive turned on (before the recent problems), the icons for the SCSI hard drive appear, but trying to open anything on the SCSI drive leads directly to a freezeup.

In the past, starting up in OS 9 made the SCSI drive completely accessible and useful. I have important files stored on this drive. Until recently, I was able to startup from the OS 9 system on one of the partitions on the SCSI drive.

Recently, I have been unable to start up in OS 9. One apparent reason is that the external is partitioned into 3 volumes, and one of the 3 volumes is apparently corrupted in some way. I would be happy to erase the corrupted partition, however, I see no good way to do it. Unfortunately, while I have an apple OS9 cd, the computer will not start from it now, whether the SCSI drive is turned on or not. When trying to start up with the OS9 cd, it cycles for a while, then it restarts with the chime. It makes little sense to me how the computer could work in OS X but not OS 9, when the computer is so old there was no OS X when I bought it.

When I start up in OS X with the SCSI drive turned on, I see icons on the desktop for the two uncorrupted partitions. I have an OS 9 program, Hard Disk Toolkit, that I theoretically could use to mount or erase the bad partition, however, it does not run in Classic, and requires an actual boot in OS 9.

So, maybe somebody could answer one or more of these questions:

1. Is there a way to erase or repair the partition on the SCSI drive from OS X?
2. Is there a way to determine why the G3 will no longer start up from the apple OS 9 cd, so I can get it to start up, and then use Hard Disk Toolkit?

Thanks for whatever help you can give.

Jim Lawrence

G3/266 desktop Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Apr 5, 2006 8:49 PM

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Answer 1

eww

Level 9

53,052 points

Apr 6, 2006 5:10 AM in response to James Lawrence

Hi, James. From reading your other post this morning, I gather that you probably have the OS X-native DiskWarrior 3. If so, there is no reason not to use it to make repairs on the SCSI drive while you are booted into OS X, if it can "see" the disk's three partitions. Can it? All of them?

If it can, go ahead and rebuild the directory on each of those three volumes, then see whether all three volumes mount properly on the OS X desktop, and also whether you can boot normally into OS 9 with all three volumes mounted on the OS 9 desktop.

If DW can't "see" all three partitions on the SCSI drive to fix them, there must be a lower-level problem on that drive than the directory corruption that DiskWarrior addresses. Exactly what it might be, I'm not sure. And though I'm very familiar with SCSI issues in pure OS 9 (having used SCSI devices for many years before migrating to OS X), I'm completely unfamiliar with OS X's support for SCSI.

One small increment of success that you might aim for next is the ability to boot the computer into OS 9 from its internal hard drive, with the SCSI drive connected and turned on, so as to be able to use Drive Setup to update the driver on it and mount any unmounted partitions on the desktop. If you could do that, you might be able to make further progress.

If you already have OS 9 installed on your internal HD, skip this next step. If you don't, shut everything down and disconnect the external drive from the Mac (to get it out from underfoot) and perform a Clean Install of OS 9 on the internal drive, then check to make sure it's bootable.

Now shut everything down and reconnect the SCSI drive. Try booting into OS 9 from the System Folder on the internal drive. If successful, do any of the three volumes on the external drive mount on the desktop? Whether or not they do, open Drive Setup. Does it "see" the external drive? If so, select it, and choose "Update Driver" from the Functions menu. Then use it to try to mount the volumes on that disk.

Please post back with results, and I or someone else will try to help you on from wherever you've gotten to.

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Answer 2

Apr 7, 2006 12:28 AM in response to eww

I will try your suggestions and report back. Thanks.

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Answer 3

Apr 9, 2006 11:55 AM in response to James Lawrence

James Lawrence,

With a beige G3 a weak battery is the single most common cause of a whole gamut of problems. Unlike most other Mac models, problems caused by a weak battery can start showing up long before the date and time go wrong.

So, if you do not know how old the battery is, I suggest you replace it. Bear in mind that if a weak battery is causing your problems, anything else you try will probably not help. And even if it does, the problems will soon re-appear.

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Answer 4

Apr 9, 2006 2:52 PM in response to James Lawrence

DiskStudio - Create or remove a partition without reformatting your hard drive.
http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=33

With DiskStudio you can:

* Add new partitions to your hard drive.
* Delete partitions previously created by Apple's Disk Utility or DiskStudio.
* Erase and reformat existing partitions in a number of standard formats.
* Completely erase and repartition an entire hard disk.

Use DiskStudio to:

* Install a new copy of Mac OS X, but keep your original copy intact.
* Install a completely different operating system, such as Mac OS 9, on a new partition.
* Create a partition to hold special projects, such as audio or video files.
* Create a partition to hold scratch space for programs such as Adobe Photoshop.

When a hard drive is first set up for use, it is partitioned into one or more logical volumes. These appear on your desktop as though they were separate drives. Using the standard disk tools that come with the Macintosh, there is no way to change this partitioning scheme without completely erasing the entire drive and starting over. With DiskStudio, this is no longer necessary.

DiskStudio provides the tools you need to control how information is stored on your hard drive. An easy to use, non-destructive disk partitioner has been requested by more of our customers than any other type of utility. DiskStudio fills this important need for Mac OS X. With DiskStudio you will be able to quickly and easily change the way information is stored on your hard drives as your needs change over time.

System Requirements:

* PowerPC G3 or better. (Beige G3 machines not supported)
* Mac OS X 10.3 or greater.
* CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
* 256 Megabytes RAM or higher.

Cost is $50.

Check this site for battery part numbers and sources. Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial

Cheers, Tom

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Answer 5

Apr 9, 2006 5:48 PM in response to James Lawrence

Problem solved! The startup disk worked. I started up with the SCSI drive turned off, then after booting in OS 9, I started the SCSI drive, and used Norton Systemworks to repair the drive.

I thank all for their help.

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