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Power Computing provided the information in this article and it was deemed accurate as of 14 November 1997. Apple Computer, Inc. is not responsible for its content. This article is being provided as is and will not be updated in the future.
DISCUSSION First, it is important to remember that a 'flashing "?"' is a symptom where the Macintosh can not locate a suitable system folder or boot device. There can be a number of causes for the symptom - from a system folder being removed from a startup device to minor disk corruption. A Known PowerBase Issue: ------------------------ On PowerBase computers, Power Computing identified an issue with a limited number of ATA (IDE) 1.2 GB hard disk drives used with PowerBase computers. In this particular instance, on restart, the computer would display a flashing '?' as if the hard disk was not available. Turning the power off and restarting would result in the disappearance of the flashing '?' and a successful reboot. Customers with this particular issue can contact Power Computing Technical Support or their reseller for further assistance with this issue. This was an issue with the disk drive and firmware revision which can be addressed by servicing the disk drive. Power Computing Technical support can verify problematic disk drives and resolve the issue. Yet Another Flashing '?' Issue: ------------------------------- Since the release of MacOS 8, some Apple Macintosh customers have reported symptoms with ATA(IDE) hard disk drives. Usually, customers report minor disk corruption which can be repaired by the Disk First Aid utility. However, upon a subsequent reboot and test with Disk First Aid, the corruption usually reappears. In the most extreme circumstances, upon reboot the computer displays a flashing '?'. In these circumstances, when the user restarts from a System CD to try to run Disk First Aid and repair the drive, the Macintosh will ask to initialize the drive. Apple has released Drive Setup version 1.3.1 (ATA driver version 3.07) to address this particular issue on Apple brand Macintosh computers. What Should PowerBase Customers Do? ------------------------------------ At this time, Power Computing has NOT received reports of this issue affecting PowerBase customers. The only reported PowerBase issue, outlined above, is non-destructive to data on the hard disk. Power Computing has not tested or qualified Drive Setup 1.3.1 with PowerBase computers. If you wish to update the drive using Drive Setup 1.3.1, Power Computing recommends that you back up the drive before updating . However, if a PowerBase user experiences the 'known' issue where the drive no longer is available after a flashing '?' and the data appears to be corrupt, Power Computing recommends the user attempt to repair the data using Disk First Aid and Drive Setup 1.3.1. This involves starting up from the Power System CD, attempting to repair the drive with Disk First Aid, and updating the drive with Drive Setup 1.3.1. Do not initialize the drive until you attempt to update the driver. Further instructions for repairing the drive and installing the new driver are included in the read me file for Drive Setup 1.3.1. Drive Setup version 1.3.1 is available on Apple Computer's Software Updates FTP and Web sites (via www.support.apple.com). Machines Affected: POWERBASE |
| Document Information | |
| Product Area: | Computers |
| Category: | Power Computing Corp. |
| Sub Category: | Troubleshooting |
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