Hello, Chris
 
|I've got an old MPE/V Micro/3000 with a disc with some bad sectors
|on it... I'm seeing Sysfail #651s almost regularly (HP7945 drive)
|which the ol' manual says to do a DUMP and determine the bad sectors
|so they can be reassigned/spared/whatever.
 
In my experience, the 7945 (55 meg) drive is the most unreliable disc
drive HP ever tried to support on the 3000.  I've seen them dying like
flies at sites all over the country, and that was back when they were
relatively new.
 
The only good news is that the mechanism is not a proprietary drive by
HP.  [On the other hand, I expect that has a lot to do with the reliabilty
problem.]  A few years ago, Paul Edwards in Dallas, was using a 37 with a
string of 7945 drives which failed frequently.  He found a company which
would refurbish the drives at what he considered a reasonable cost.  I have
no idea how much that was or who the company was.  Maybe he can provide
some info if anyone knows how to contact him.  [The last time I heard, he
was still working for Bradmark.  Is that still true?]
 
|I can't recall ever having done a DUMP on the micro before (if I
|have, it's been MANY years), but >DU 4,7 seems to have locked up
|on me (channel 4 device 7 is the 7978). Assuming I can get a valid
|dump out of it, is the bad-sector stuff gonna be readable? I've
|used the dump analyzer on 5x/6x/70s but not on a Micro...
 
START and DUMP both should refer to the address of ldev 1.
Only LOAD refers to the address of the boot tape drive.
 
|If I *can't* get the dump to go, is there any other way to catch
|the bad sectors? [can't seem to find a sadutil tape, which isn't
|surprising since I've never used it on this box before - it's been
|humming along for about 5 years for me]
 
Replace the drive and reload?  :}  7933 and 7937 drives seem to be pretty
common on the used market these days.  How inexpensive are they?
--
[log in to unmask] (Jeff Woods at Unison Software) [PGP key available]
We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its
efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day
who don't know anything and can't read.  -- Mark Twain (1835-1910)
 
__________________________________________________________________________
Jeff,
     The dump analysis methods used on the micro/37 family are the same
used on the other classic HP-IB machines i.e. run IDAT against the dump
tape and in the case of your SF65X check out the disc request table for
an unsuccessful transfer. The attempt that killed the system will probably
be at the top of the list (most recent entry) and have a 4 point something
as the status. If you don't have IDAT you could use DPAN whose output
works as a wonderful line printer exerciser wasting lots of paper.
      Normally a CS80 family disc drive with an unreadable sector would
flag the sector as suspect giving you a "SPARING" message at re-boot time.
Also normal is the fact that a disc drive that often loses sectors has a
media or mech defect. If you're going through the SF65X-sparing-SF65X
routine often enough to remember when the last occourance was, pitch
that 794X drive in the trash - they're slow anyway.
      You hinted that you already know what the cure is. The 7933 has
become impractical to ship versus it's value. They're noisy, large,
spin the electric meter too fast, and spit out lot's of heat.
      If the budget is tight or gone, a 7937H or caching 7937XP works
great on the micro. You'll be suprised how much better the system runs
minus the 7945.
_______________________________
plug alert......plug alert...
_______________________________
The 7937 drives can be had for a few hundred bucks or so. For a quote
with delivery, warranty, etc. call Mike Bernacchi at Ideal Computer
Services (800)862-8787. Get a price for the drive and then tell mike
that Bob J. said that he should throw in the cabinet.
 
Bob Jankalski - - Ideal Computer Services