The worst "OK" possible!

[neokm]

While you guys and gals are on zip-drives and 60 Gb HdD's and beyond, I'm still putzing around with my faithful SyQuest drives.  I have two of them - a 200mb and an 88mb.  I love them both dearly and they have always saved me - (until today) - when I was prompted " This SyQuest Disk cannot be used because it can't be found" (my argument box demanded that I agree "OK").

This was the worst OK possible. I was devastated.  

I spent most of the day dealing with work-arounds in the SyQuest Utilites without success.   I think I understand now what happened - but, when I did, it was too late to open up the disk andreclaim my most prized photo and data files.  The lesson I learned - I will forever from now - back up my back-ups on those files I classify as precious.

Having said all that - I am presently in search from the TS memberships infinite wisdom as to an answer to this question:

Can I transfer an entire Hard Drive onto another in the following way:

(This is an old beige power mac)

1) Connect my 'empty' Hard Drive to the 50-pin
CD connect - after I change the ID to the CD SCSI number, then - - -

2) transfer the entire data onto it, then - - -

3) reset the hard drive ID back to 0 and reinstall the HdD on another mac.

I recall doing this back when 160mb HdD's were considered 'big'.  Now I'm up to 500mb data transfer.  I also need to know is I can expect to have transfer issues with third-party software, ie. Adobe - and will have to do separate installs.  

So maybe I should not try to do the whole sha-a-bang, and do the "one-at-a-time" file transfers - picking and choosing as I go.

I really enjoy bringing you guys back to the good old head scratching 90's and look forward to your response.

Mike
 
 [ 02-10-2003, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: neokm ]

[kelly]

If that's a SCSI CD-ROM, then yeah, no problem.  

If it's an IDE CD-ROM then no.

Which Beige machine exactly?

[neokm]

It's a SCSI-CD Kelly, and it's on my old trusty 6115CD which is amazingly simple and easy to get to.  My thought is this - - - I have several old Hard Drives (160, 2/250's and a 500) and I was thinking that I might try put them to use as a 'double-back-up' to my SyQuest back-up's.  I was in mourning yesterday because I lost all my photos taken over the last two years.  Of course I could use another SyQuest Disk but then if I lose my SyQuest unit I'll be in the same boat - these are getting hard to find - even on ebay.

[snuffysbluff]

neokm....
I have two 88/40 drives with about 40 disks and four 230/135 MB ezflyers with about 20 disks. Old art files are on most of them.
I always liked Syquest.

Why not get an external SCSI box and stick a big HD in it for backup? I used to do that before I got a burner. I only ran it a couple of times a week to backup a backup drive on the 'puter. It sat idle most of the time.

Then I got a burner and the syquests and external are idle all the time.

[neokm]

Snuff -
Always open to new ideas - I didn't think of your suggestion - but it sounds like I should be looking for a larger box. I have a spare 88 that I bought on ebay a year ago just to be safe.  As you stated - we go to all this work for the 'just-in-case senerio' and without even wondering where the time goes - - - a 3-year span of technology goes by without ever using what we thought we needed.

Yesterday was a real effort for me just to 'reacquaint myself' with my SyQuest which has for 4-years worked flawless - and I thought I knew it cold until I encountered fatal prompts.  

I mentioned that the files I lost were "back-ups" which would suggest that they were one generation removed from the original on file. - - - This was NOT the case - - -the SyQuest was my only file safety net and all I had tucked away.  

From now on I am going to make sure I have a double set - no matter what.

Thanks to you both -(Snuff and Kelly).

PS.  I'm really liking my new Wacom Tablet.  (former post) It is a real challenge and I can only compare it to when I was in Parochial School as a youngster when my teachers were determined to make me 'right handed'  - but they never did.  Now it seems I am having similar withdrawal/coordination problems with my trusty mouse.  But fear not  - the PEN will prevail.  (I'll bet (Pen)dragon has mastered both!?)

Mike

[kelly]

Mike. How big is your SCSI Drive?  

This would probably work.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm...em=OWCCASEKIT35

This is cheaper but I don't think it includes a Cable.

http://www.jdr.com/interact/item.asp?itemno=CASE-SCSI

[snuffysbluff]

You can put up to a half height hard drive into an external Syquest 80 box. Not difficult.

I've put them in everything from a CDROM box to a Cigar box with a fan plugged into a wall socket and the power from a 5-pin plug wired from the 'puter...Then there was the time I put the works from a 7200/75 into two Fedex boxes to make the ugliest 'puter I could and impress the heck out of those not "in the know" with my computer building abilities.
       
You learn a lot just messin' around. Sometimes you learn when not to mess around.  
 
 [ 02-12-2003, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: snuffysbluff ]

[neokm]

I logged on tonight - not expecting to see any response to my "ok" thread - - - I spent a good deal of today sorting out my (numerous) SyQuest 200 and 88 Disk contents.  

Here's what I did.  by now this is ancient history to you guys and gals running on G4's - - - but, I've got to say to all those running with 'old Beige G-3s with  a box full of old hard drives hanging around -  HERE'S  HOW TO (at least one of them) TO GOOD USE.

I yanked out my CD unit and plopped in an old 500mb HdD which still had old OS 7.6 stuff on it.  I reassigned the drive number to 3 (which was my former resident CD) and pulled off the 'terminator' jumper - but I made sure to make a diagram in advance so I would know how to re-establish my original use - ( I have a tendency to get so caught up in notes that it can't  figure out what I meant - 6-months later).

Anyhow - - - I reformated (deleted) all what was on it by going to my "Disk Utilities" - then I copied 441mb data strictly for my OS 9.1 System Folder and a few other related items.  Then - I copied all of the remaining 160mb of other applications and pertinent software onto my 200mb SyQuest .  Hopefully, I can keep all three of my puters running with a universal SOLID BACKUP.  Granted, I can expect 'third-party conflicts ie. Internet Explorer Remote Access, DataViz, Acrobat and so on - but I think these are easy 'work-arounds' as opposed to having to reinvent the 'whole wheel'

It isn't so bad living in the past!!! (Just don't ask me for any MPEG's)

MIke

[kbeartx]

I have, on several occasions, powered down, removed the cover from my beige G3 DT, disconnected the IDE CD_ROM drive, connected an IDE drive using the CD's drive and power cables, left the IDE drive just sitting atop the CD drive, and reconnected the power (leaving the cover off).  

This configuration allows me to temporarily have an extra IDE HD and no CD-ROM.  

This is very useful when upgrading drives and transferring data from an old drive to a new one - I just run the Mac like this for as long as it took to copy the old drive's data to the new one and assure mice-elf that the transfer was complete and none of the data was damaged in the transfer.

Then, when I was ready, I removed the old drive (in this model it's mounted on the bottom of the chassis) and installed the new one in its place.

As long as you keep the old drive intact and around for awhile, you can always repeat this procedure, connecting the old drive where the CD-ROM is, if it turns out that anything was lost or damaged and needs to be re-copied.

The beige G3 DTs also have an internal SCSI bus, and it seems to me that using old 250, 320, and 500 MB SCSI drives (connecting them temporarily, similar to the procedure I described above for the IDE drive, just long enough to copy the data, then storing them somewhere outside the Mac) for 'safety copies' of critical data is a Good Idea.

 - kbeartx