Partition Magic Error 108 problem

"Phil R." wrote in message ...

I have now put the bad drive back as a slave.

My results from the partinfo program follow, as pasted:

================================================== ================================================== =======
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 2434 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect StartSect NumSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 895 126 63 63
39,069,379
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values a
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 2431 244 55 63 39069379
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndHead expected to be 254, not 244.
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndSector expected to be 63, not 55.

You have Goback installed?

There are a couple of scenarios I can think of.

1.Goback itself is corrupt and not loading properly. If that's the case then doing
an uninstall or repair from DOS may fix it. That should reinstate the tables to
the MBR. See:
http://tinyurl.com/ndn5x


2.The relocated tables are corrupt. In that case you'd probably still need to uninstall
Goback, and go from there. The MBRWork tool might be able to find the partitions.


3.The disk is dying.
The fact that Seagate's diagnostic utility failed to report and also failed to finish
is clouding the issue, and it's hard to say anything on that for sure. You could slave
it back to the working system and check the SMART status. That might give you a clue.
However, if the disk is on its way out then you might be better served to sector
image the drive to another while you still have time, (or let a professional data
recovery outfit do the job) and work on the image. If the disk is on its way out, the
next access may be its last.



For future reference, you should uninstall or disable Goback in the MBR when using
any partitioning tool such as Partition Magic.

"PCR" wrote in message ...

]| ]| You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
]| ]| them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.
]
]That seems to be what it did say...
].......Quote.........
]I did this, got:
]Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
] 1 A Non-DOS 19077

It's not PM in this case. The whole table structure is hidden by Goback.
Goback relocates the tables and then allocates the whole disk to itself
(type 44).

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
|
| "PCR" wrote in message ...
|
| ]| ]| You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
| ]| ]| them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.
| ]
| ]That seems to be what it did say...
| ].......Quote.........
| ]I did this, got:
| ]Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
| ] 1 A Non-DOS 19077
|
| It's not PM in this case. The whole table structure is hidden by Goback.
| Goback relocates the tables and then allocates the whole disk to itself
| (type 44).
|

So, "FDISK /MBR" would restore boot code, but that code wouldn't be able to find the partition table? I see you say MBRWork might be able to recover it, & the damage may have originated by using Partition Magic before uninstalling GoBack. But the Seagate tool shouldn't be choking on this? That still needs to be resolved. OK, then. Too bad GoBack doesn't have an option to cure itself.

I see you did suggest GoBack might have a self-repair function. OK, then.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"PCR" wrote in message ...
"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
|
| "PCR" wrote in message ...
|
| ]| ]| You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
| ]| ]| them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.
| ]
| ]That seems to be what it did say...
| ].......Quote.........
| ]I did this, got:
| ]Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
| ] 1 A Non-DOS 19077
|
| It's not PM in this case. The whole table structure is hidden by Goback.
| Goback relocates the tables and then allocates the whole disk to itself
| (type 44).
|

So, "FDISK /MBR" would restore boot code, but that code wouldn't be able to find the partition table? I see you say MBRWork might be able to recover it, & the damage may have originated by using Partition Magic before uninstalling GoBack. But the Seagate tool shouldn't be choking on this? That still needs to be resolved. OK, then. Too bad GoBack doesn't have an option to cure itself.

"Bill Blanton" wrote:

"Phil R." wrote in message ...

I have now put the bad drive back as a slave.

My results from the partinfo program follow, as pasted:

================================================== ================================================== =======
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 2434 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect StartSect NumSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 895 126 63 63
39,069,379
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values a
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 2431 244 55 63 39069379
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndHead expected to be 254, not 244.
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndSector expected to be 63, not 55.

You have Goback installed?

Yes. But two problems he (1) Goback installed on the affected disk can't
be accessed because the operating system is not seen because the drive is not
seen because the mbr is corrupted (?) (2) Goback installed on the (current)
primary hdd shouldn't know about the affected hdd because it had not been
used as as slave to the current hdd before it went down. That said, today I
had a hell of a job booting up the m/c until I disconnected the affected hdd:
Goback kept making me re-boot. Any ideas?


There are a couple of scenarios I can think of.

1.Goback itself is corrupt and not loading properly. If that's the case then doing
an uninstall or repair from DOS may fix it. That should reinstate the tables to
the MBR. See:
http://tinyurl.com/ndn5x


I'll give that a whirl and report back...


2.The relocated tables are corrupt. In that case you'd probably still need to uninstall
Goback, and go from there. The MBRWork tool might be able to find the partitions.


3.The disk is dying.
The fact that Seagate's diagnostic utility failed to report and also failed to finish
is clouding the issue, and it's hard to say anything on that for sure. You could slave
it back to the working system and check the SMART status. That might give you a clue.
However, if the disk is on its way out then you might be better served to sector
image the drive to another while you still have time, (or let a professional data
recovery outfit do the job) and work on the image. If the disk is on its way out, the
next access may be its last.


How do I sector image the affected hdd? I would try to write the results to
a series of cds, of course... if I knew how. I imagine Nero5 would do the
job, but I'm not sure how, since I may not be able to reference the hdd...



For future reference, you should uninstall or disable Goback in the MBR when using
any partitioning tool such as Partition Magic.

Thanks for that, I'll bear it in mind.

--
"When I am right, no-one remembers: when I am wrong, no-one forgets..."

--
"When I am right, no-one remembers: when I am wrong, no-one forgets..."


"Phil R." wrote:

"Bill Blanton" wrote:

"Phil R." wrote in message ...

I have now put the bad drive back as a slave.

My results from the partinfo program follow, as pasted:

================================================== ================================================== =======
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 2434 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect StartSect NumSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 895 126 63 63
39,069,379
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values a
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 2431 244 55 63 39069379
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndHead expected to be 254, not 244.
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndSector expected to be 63, not 55.

You have Goback installed?

Yes. But two problems he (1) Goback installed on the affected disk can't
be accessed because the operating system is not seen because the drive is not
seen because the mbr is corrupted (?) (2) Goback installed on the (current)
primary hdd shouldn't know about the affected hdd because it had not been
used as as slave to the current hdd before it went down. That said, today I
had a hell of a job booting up the m/c until I disconnected the affected hdd:
Goback kept making me re-boot. Any ideas?


There are a couple of scenarios I can think of.

1.Goback itself is corrupt and not loading properly. If that's the case then doing
an uninstall or repair from DOS may fix it. That should reinstate the tables to
the MBR. See:
http://tinyurl.com/ndn5x


I'll give that a whirl and report back...


I followed the directions and got...

GoBack (115)
Some critical sectors needed by GoBack on disk #1
are bad. Since BoBack can't operate with the sectors
being bad, GoBack will attempt to remove itself from
this disk
[OK]

Version 3.04.53

followed by:

GoBack (135)
GoBack does not yet have the ability to restore
the MBR and BPB when it is in doubt about its
backup copies]. If the MBR can be restored by
another utility from a backup copy, your data
should be intact. You may boot to floppy to bypass
the GoBack host driver
[OK]

Now, although I have the latest _update_ for GoBack installed on my current
hdd, it's under NSW 2002. The faulty hdd has NSW 2005 installed. I have the
CD but cannot extract the required file from the GoBack setup file - the
system wants me to install. I am loathe to do this because of the licence
agreement, which IIRC says I can't run it on more than one computer. Is
GoBack 3.04.53 the latest version? Since Winzip won't unzip it for me, is
there another (free) utility that I can obtain / use?

2.The relocated tables are corrupt. In that case you'd probably still need to uninstall
Goback, and go from there. The MBRWork tool might be able to find the partitions.


3.The disk is dying.
The fact that Seagate's diagnostic utility failed to report and also failed to finish
is clouding the issue, and it's hard to say anything on that for sure. You could slave
it back to the working system and check the SMART status. That might give you a clue.
However, if the disk is on its way out then you might be better served to sector
image the drive to another while you still have time, (or let a professional data
recovery outfit do the job) and work on the image. If the disk is on its way out, the
next access may be its last.


How do I sector image the affected hdd? I would try to write the results to
a series of cds, of course... if I knew how. I imagine Nero5 would do the
job, but I'm not sure how, since I may not be able to reference the hdd...



For future reference, you should uninstall or disable Goback in the MBR when using
any partitioning tool such as Partition Magic.

Thanks for that, I'll bear it in mind.

--
"When I am right, no-one remembers: when I am wrong, no-one forgets..."

"Phil R." wrote:

"Bill Blanton" wrote:

"Phil R." wrote in message ...

I have now put the bad drive back as a slave.

My results from the partinfo program follow, as pasted:

================================================== ================================================== =======
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 2434 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect StartSect NumSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 895 126 63 63
39,069,379
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values a
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 2431 244 55 63 39069379
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndHead expected to be 254, not 244.
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndSector expected to be 63, not 55.

You have Goback installed?

Yes. But two problems he (1) Goback installed on the affected disk can't
be accessed because the operating system is not seen because the drive is not
seen because the mbr is corrupted (?) (2) Goback installed on the (current)
primary hdd shouldn't know about the affected hdd because it had not been
used as as slave to the current hdd before it went down. That said, today I
had a hell of a job booting up the m/c until I disconnected the affected hdd:
Goback kept making me re-boot. Any ideas?


There are a couple of scenarios I can think of.

1.Goback itself is corrupt and not loading properly. If that's the case then doing
an uninstall or repair from DOS may fix it. That should reinstate the tables to
the MBR. See:
http://tinyurl.com/ndn5x


I'll give that a whirl and report back...


I followed the directions and got...

GoBack (115)
Some critical sectors needed by GoBack on disk #1
are bad. Since BoBack can't operate with the sectors
being bad, GoBack will attempt to remove itself from
this disk
[OK]

Version 3.04.53

followed by:

GoBack (135)
GoBack does not yet have the ability to restore
the MBR and BPB when it is in doubt about its
backup copies]. If the MBR can be restored by
another utility from a backup copy, your data
should be intact. You may boot to floppy to bypass
the GoBack host driver
[OK]

Now, although I have the latest _update_ for GoBack installed on my current
hdd, it's under NSW 2002. The faulty hdd has NSW 2005 installed. I have the
CD but cannot extract the required file from the GoBack setup file - the
system wants me to install. I am loathe to do this because of the licence
agreement, which IIRC says I can't run it on more than one computer. Is
GoBack 3.04.53 the latest version? Since Winzip won't unzip it for me, is
there another (free) utility that I can obtain / use?

Scrub that! I've found - and tried to use - the gb_prog.exe file on the nsw
2005 disk with the same result as above - but Version no, same as on bad hdd,
is 4.0.290.


2.The relocated tables are corrupt. In that case you'd probably still need to uninstall
Goback, and go from there. The MBRWork tool might be able to find the partitions.

If I try to use MBRWork option A, is that likely to overwrite my data? If
so, other suggestions, please?

3.The disk is dying.
The fact that Seagate's diagnostic utility failed to report and also failed to finish
is clouding the issue, and it's hard to say anything on that for sure. You could slave
it back to the working system and check the SMART status. That might give you a clue.
.. . . However, if the disk is on its way out then you might be better
served to sector
.. . . image the drive to another while you still have time, (or let a
professional data
.. . . recovery outfit do the job) and work on the image. If the disk is on
its way out, the
.. . . next access may be its last.

.. . How do I sector image the affected hdd? I would try to write the results
to
.. . a series of cds, of course... if I knew how. I imagine Nero5 would do the
.. . job, but I'm not sure how, since I may not be able to reference the hdd...

I'd still like to know the answer to this one...

"Phil R." wrote in message ...
"Bill Blanton" wrote:

You have Goback installed?

Yes. But two problems he (1) Goback installed on the affected disk can't
be accessed because the operating system is not seen because the drive is not
seen because the mbr is corrupted (?) (2) Goback installed on the (current)
primary hdd shouldn't know about the affected hdd because it had not been
used as as slave to the current hdd before it went down. That said, today I
had a hell of a job booting up the m/c until I disconnected the affected hdd:
Goback kept making me re-boot. Any ideas?


There are a couple of scenarios I can think of.

1.Goback itself is corrupt and not loading properly. If that's the case then doing
an uninstall or repair from DOS may fix it. That should reinstate the tables to
the MBR. See:
http://tinyurl.com/ndn5x


I'll give that a whirl and report back...


I followed the directions and got...

GoBack (115)
Some critical sectors needed by GoBack on disk #1
are bad. Since BoBack can't operate with the sectors
being bad, GoBack will attempt to remove itself from
this disk
[OK]

Version 3.04.53

followed by:

GoBack (135)
GoBack does not yet have the ability to restore
the MBR and BPB when it is in doubt about its
backup copies]. If the MBR can be restored by
another utility from a backup copy, your data
should be intact. You may boot to floppy to bypass
the GoBack host driver
[OK]

That along with the Seagate diag failure doesn't bode too well..



Scrub that! I've found - and tried to use - the gb_prog.exe file on the nsw
2005 disk with the same result as above - but Version no, same as on bad hdd,
is 4.0.290.


2.The relocated tables are corrupt. In that case you'd probably still need to uninstall
Goback, and go from there. The MBRWork tool might be able to find the partitions.

If I try to use MBRWork option A, is that likely to overwrite my data? If
so, other suggestions, please?

I'll try to descibe the steps, but can't really advise you try it. Not that MBRWork isn't
capable, but that if you have bad sectors (and it sounds like you do), then the result
will probably be worse than where you are now.

1 - Backup the first track on a hard drive.
3 - Reset the EMBR area to all zeros.
4 - Reset the MBR are to all zeros.
A - If no partitions exist in the MBR and no EMBR exists then this option
will allow you to recover lost FAT, HPFS, NTFS, and Extended partitions.
5 - Install standard MBR Code

reboot.



3.The disk is dying.

The fact that Seagate's diagnostic utility failed to report and also failed to finish
is clouding the issue, and it's hard to say anything on that for sure. You could slave
it back to the working system and check the SMART status. That might give you a clue.
. . . However, if the disk is on its way out then you might be better
served to sector
. . . image the drive to another while you still have time, (or let a
professional data
. . . recovery outfit do the job) and work on the image. If the disk is on
its way out, the
. . . next access may be its last.

. . How do I sector image the affected hdd? I would try to write the results to
. . a series of cds, of course... if I knew how. I imagine Nero5 would do the
. . job, but I'm not sure how, since I may not be able to reference the hdd...

No, you'd need to use something more low level than Nero. The idea is to
clone the bad drive to a new HD drive (not CD) of equal or greater capacity,
and then try to fix the logical damage on the clone. This way you don't corrupt
the original, physically or logically, anymore than it is. That would be the
way to go if you want to continue trying to fix it yourself. It does sound \
like you need a new HD anyway.


Here are a few that I know of. There are many more.

Steve Gibson's Spinrite (good, but very expensive).
http://grc.com/spinrite.htm

DiskPatch
http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/

HDClone
http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html

You can also (apparently) do this from a linux distro (though I don't
have any experience with that). Maybe Flatto could chime in..

If you're successful in cloning the disk, configure the new drive as
primary master, put the old drive aside, and then run the Goback uninstall,
gb_prog.exe, on the clone.

| I'll try to descibe the steps, but can't really advise you try it. Not that MBRWork isn't
| capable, but that if you have bad sectors (and it sounds like you do), then the result
| will probably be worse than where you are now.

Worse? Hopefully, MBRWork will only write to the area already in horrible shape. SURE, best try to clone the drive first!

I wonder, could it be worthwhile to enter BIOS Setup & set it to Auto-detect the hard drive, in case something happened in there?

You must press a key at boot to enter BIOS Setup. If you don't know the
key to press, try "Esc" at the manufacturer's logo. Then, the key to
press to enter BIOS setup will show up. Quickly press it. For this
Compaq, it is F10.

......Quote of Candlin about...............
......keystrokes to get to BIOS Setup....
Usually DEL, but F1, F2, F10 are also common.

Other keystrokes which might work a

AMI BIOS: Del key during the POST
DTK BIOS: Esc key during the POST
Award BIOS: Ctrl-Alt-Esc
Misc BIOS: Ctrl-Esc
Phoenix BIOS: Ctrl-Alt-Esc or Ctrl-Alt-S
IBM PS/2 BIOS: Ctrl-Alt-Ins after Ctrl-Alt-Del

If all else fails, shut down, power off, unplug the keyboard,
and power up again, as some older systems will default
to the CMOS Setup if a keyboard is not found.
.......End of Quote............................

|
| 1 - Backup the first track on a hard drive.
| 3 - Reset the EMBR area to all zeros.
| 4 - Reset the MBR are to all zeros.
| A - If no partitions exist in the MBR and no EMBR exists then this option
| will allow you to recover lost FAT, HPFS, NTFS, and Extended partitions.
| 5 - Install standard MBR Code
|
| reboot.

6 - Set a partition active (avail on the command line too)

What about option 6, BEFORE the reboot? Set the Primary partition to be Active.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
| "Phil R." wrote in message ...
| "Bill Blanton" wrote:
|
| You have Goback installed?
|
| Yes. But two problems he (1) Goback installed on the affected disk can't
| be accessed because the operating system is not seen because the drive is not
| seen because the mbr is corrupted (?) (2) Goback installed on the (current)
| primary hdd shouldn't know about the affected hdd because it had not been
| used as as slave to the current hdd before it went down. That said, today I
| had a hell of a job booting up the m/c until I disconnected the affected hdd:
| Goback kept making me re-boot. Any ideas?
|
|
| There are a couple of scenarios I can think of.
|
| 1.Goback itself is corrupt and not loading properly. If that's the case then doing
| an uninstall or repair from DOS may fix it. That should reinstate the tables to
| the MBR. See:
| http://tinyurl.com/ndn5x
|
|
| I'll give that a whirl and report back...
|
|
| I followed the directions and got...
|
| GoBack (115)
| Some critical sectors needed by GoBack on disk #1
| are bad. Since BoBack can't operate with the sectors
| being bad, GoBack will attempt to remove itself from
| this disk
| [OK]
|
| Version 3.04.53
|
| followed by:
|
| GoBack (135)
| GoBack does not yet have the ability to restore
| the MBR and BPB when it is in doubt about its
| backup copies]. If the MBR can be restored by
| another utility from a backup copy, your data
| should be intact. You may boot to floppy to bypass
| the GoBack host driver
| [OK]
|
| That along with the Seagate diag failure doesn't bode too well..
|
|
|
| Scrub that! I've found - and tried to use - the gb_prog.exe file on the nsw
| 2005 disk with the same result as above - but Version no, same as on bad hdd,
| is 4.0.290.
|
|
| 2.The relocated tables are corrupt. In that case you'd probably still need to uninstall
| Goback, and go from there. The MBRWork tool might be able to find the partitions.
|
| If I try to use MBRWork option A, is that likely to overwrite my data? If
| so, other suggestions, please?
|
| I'll try to descibe the steps, but can't really advise you try it. Not that MBRWork isn't
| capable, but that if you have bad sectors (and it sounds like you do), then the result
| will probably be worse than where you are now.
|
| 1 - Backup the first track on a hard drive.
| 3 - Reset the EMBR area to all zeros.
| 4 - Reset the MBR are to all zeros.
| A - If no partitions exist in the MBR and no EMBR exists then this option
| will allow you to recover lost FAT, HPFS, NTFS, and Extended partitions.
| 5 - Install standard MBR Code
|
| reboot.
|
|
|
| 3.The disk is dying.
|
| The fact that Seagate's diagnostic utility failed to report and also failed to finish
| is clouding the issue, and it's hard to say anything on that for sure. You could slave
| it back to the working system and check the SMART status. That might give you a clue.
| . . . However, if the disk is on its way out then you might be better
| served to sector
| . . . image the drive to another while you still have time, (or let a
| professional data
| . . . recovery outfit do the job) and work on the image. If the disk is on
| its way out, the
| . . . next access may be its last.
|
| . . How do I sector image the affected hdd? I would try to write the results to
| . . a series of cds, of course... if I knew how. I imagine Nero5 would do the
| . . job, but I'm not sure how, since I may not be able to reference the hdd...
|
| No, you'd need to use something more low level than Nero. The idea is to
| clone the bad drive to a new HD drive (not CD) of equal or greater capacity,
| and then try to fix the logical damage on the clone. This way you don't corrupt
| the original, physically or logically, anymore than it is. That would be the
| way to go if you want to continue trying to fix it yourself. It does sound \
| like you need a new HD anyway.
|
|
| Here are a few that I know of. There are many more.
|
| Steve Gibson's Spinrite (good, but very expensive).
| http://grc.com/spinrite.htm
|
| DiskPatch
| http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/
|
| HDClone
| http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html
|
| You can also (apparently) do this from a linux distro (though I don't
| have any experience with that). Maybe Flatto could chime in..
|
| If you're successful in cloning the disk, configure the new drive as
| primary master, put the old drive aside, and then run the Goback uninstall,
| gb_prog.exe, on the clone.
|
|
|
|
|

"PCR" wrote in message ...

|
| 1 - Backup the first track on a hard drive.
| 3 - Reset the EMBR area to all zeros.
| 4 - Reset the MBR are to all zeros.
| A - If no partitions exist in the MBR and no EMBR exists then this option
| will allow you to recover lost FAT, HPFS, NTFS, and Extended partitions.
| 5 - Install standard MBR Code
|
| reboot.

6 - Set a partition active (avail on the command line too)

What about option 6, BEFORE the reboot? Set the Primary partition to be Active.


I don't know that there was an OS on the drive, but if so, yea, that
might be a good idea.

(it's a lot of work to manually insert quotes when you use QP.