Correcting "Drive Busy" error

[EdLeafe]

I've been having hard disk problems, but before I reformat I'd like to try to recover some files created since my last backup. I can start off the boot floppy now, but when it gets to the point where it tries to access the file system, I get a series of error messages:

hda: irq timeout: status=0xd0 { Busy }
ide0: reset: success

That repeats 4 times, followed by a few more error messages, followed by a "kernel panic" message.

My (largely uneducated) guess is that something in the file system is marked as in use, and needs to be cleared. I've shut the machine off completely, pulling the plug overnight, but it still comes up as "Busy". Someone yesterday suggested using toms root/boot disk, but I don't have any way to create the disk; my only operational systems at the moment are Win2K and Mac, neither of which can make the floppy.

I would appreciate any suggestions, especially those that aren't "drop back 10 and punt!" ;-)

-- Ed Leafe

 

[TheRAt]

I had a similar error on a drive on one of my machines... could never get it to read... fortunately it was only a /tmp partition, so I dumped the drive and installed a new one instead... If you have a replacement drive, why don't U install linux on it, then mount the 'broken' disk using the new system? AV
tnedor@yahoo.com

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[EdLeafe]

Thanks for the reply. I'm now getting wierd CMOS errors, too, so my hunch is that something is fundamentally wrong with the entire system. I've emailed the place I bought it from; with any luck they'll replace it without a hassle.

-- Ed Leafe

 

[TheRAt]

Good Luck. Hope U had some good backups of your stuff... AV
tnedor@yahoo.com

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