[Tfug] Check file system and restore array

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Timothy,

On 2/9/2013 1:19 PM, Timothy D. Lenz wrote:
> Looks like I might have some time in the next few days to work on this,
> the reason I found and joined this list. Sorry for the long post, alot
> of info to explain where it's at. I'm sure there is detail not needed
> and stuff needed I I left out. Always seems to be.

Before you go too far down this road, convince yourself that the
*machine* is basically "sound".  Too many "apparently unrelated"
problems mentioned here (disks, floppy, power supply).

[Granted, floppies that sit idle for *long* periods of time can
develop problems -- but most of those can fix themselves with
a bit of "exercise".  If the floppy is *that* bad, I get suspicious
of other issues...]

I'm guessing machine runs 24/7/364 (shutdown for XMAS!  :> ).
How old is it?  Approximate "vintage" technology?

Any machine that misbehaves and has more than a year on the clock
I immediately check for bad caps (typ the bulk decoupling caps
proximate to the processor).  This could also have been the
"problem" with the power supply (if you have the old supply, you
could disassemble it and check -- but I suspect you didn't get
that back from the shop).

[Unfortunately, caps can often be hard to identify as "suspect"
(though certain brands are more prone to failure) unless you
have a good eye.  Even then, a cap can *look* perfect and still
"test bad" (very hard to test in situ)]

Pull the drives -- carefully noting which is which -- and install
*a* scrap drives in the machine and see if it runs reliably
(with less load on the *new* power supply).  If that appears to
work, add more drives and see if it *continues* to run normally.

[You can always recover the "old" system so long as you don't
dick with those drives that you've set *aside*!]

Nothing worse than rebuilding a system only to discover the
hardware is unreliable!

G'luck!
--don