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Temporary Fix Only
Authored by: Auricchio on Feb 07, '02 12:03:14PM
So this problem is an OS X installer problem, where it overwrites a preinstalled disk driver. You install a third-party driver, install OS X, then must reinstall the third-party driver for later use under OS 9.x.

OS X never uses the driver from the device's driver partition, nor does it care what's there.

As far as why that third-party driver becomes corrupted or inoperable, my first guess is to blame that driver. OS X never rewrites or modifies the partition map or the driver partition(s) in normal operation. It's possible that the third-party driver is checking something in the HFS partition on the drive. This is bad form, because it's making an assumption about something in file-system data. A driver has no business doing anything with filesystems; it should read and write blocks, period. Perhaps the driver is stashing some data item in an "unused" field in the HFS meta-data. Drivers have done this before under MacOS, stashing passwords, encryption keys, etc.

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Temporary Fix Only
Authored by: 128K Mac on Feb 07, '02 10:10:55PM

I think you've used Silverlining or HDTK once or twice over the years when it comes to caching a little data here and there. ;)

I thought for some time that Intech's HDST wasn't doing that. I'm beginning to wonder. One of my four own personal SCSI drives is a Seagate LVD 160 18GB that starts bobbing and dipping, mounting then unmounting then....., about once a month with OSX. I never observed such behavior with OS9.

Reboot into OS9/Classic (HDST won't run in Classic) and update it's driver and the thing's good for another month. It's soul mate started life with some Apple driver and format, has remained such, and never been a problem.

I have had off/on again luck with CharisMac Anubis from time to time and really should check the new "OS X compatible version" I vaguely recall reading about. Anyone had any experience with v. 3.21 or later, especially with ATA in addition to SCSI? FireWire?

My main use for FWB HDTK 4.52 (thereabouts) is formatting a drive that's been burned with LaCie Silverlining (or APS Power Tools, same thing). HDTK seems to be about the only thing that can rid a drive of the abominable caching/monitoring/whatever garbage that SL installs.

I ramble. And rant ends. Good comments. /methinks too many 3rd party format util vendors are playing little games instead of doing the work to make something right. Am especially anxious right now to get hands on the OS X version of SoftRAID, due this summer I believe.



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