Can't Format my 770!

[mcoupe]

I have an IBM ThinkPad 770. It sat mostly unused over the Winter, and has now developed a significant problem. The hard drive is (or thinks it is) damaged.

A few days back, it started doing a scandisk on startup. Unusual as I nearly always shut down normally. These scandisks got longer and more detailed until three nights ago, when the scandisk status map is displayed and it slowly grinds across the disk. I plugged it in to the wall and let it grind its way all the way through - TWO days. It kind of froze at the end of the process, dern its fool hide!

I can create a bootable disk on another machine (both are Win98se). No valuable data on the 770. So I tried to format c:. After a few seconds I get a warning message "Not enough memory." and it ends. I added LH smartdrv to a new autoexec.bat and

device=himem.sys /testmem:off
DEVICE=EMM386.EXE NOEMS
files=10
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
lastdrive=z

to a new config.sys. No joy, same message. Any way to save this hard drive?

I usually try "format c: /u /q" or variations thereof.

Oh, and I'm getting a bad feeling about hidden files and drivers on this machine. . . No CD's came with it.

Thanks!

Chris

[pomdas]

Hi Chris,

you did not write which kind of harddisk you use. If it is an original IBM harddisk, you might have the problem, I had two times ago with this trash: the parking position of this drives is very bad and not a good security function for your disk. Some light shaking with your ThinkPad may already cause to make your disk unusable anymore.
To find out if there is a problem with your disk, most vendors od harddisks (IBM too) provides testing software for free.

Regards
Tom

[pkiff]

I have an IBM ThinkPad 770.[...]The hard drive is (or thinks it is) damaged.[...]I can create a bootable disk on another machine (both are Win98se). No valuable data on the 770. So I tried to format c:. After a few seconds I get a warning message "Not enough memory." and it ends. [...] Any way to save this hard drive?

If your format command is not working when you boot from a floppy, then I would recommend trying to use fdisk to wipe out all the current partition(s). Then create a new partition, then try to format again.

Of course, since you are getting all these errors, then your first step should really be to use a Drive Fitness Test disk to check to see if the drive is worth trying to save at all. If your 770 came with some flavour of IBM Hitachi Travelstar drive, then you should be able to download the most recent version of Hitachi's DFT disk utility direct from Hitachi:
Hitachi Support - Downloads and Utilities - Drive Fitness Test

Good Luck!

Phil.

[mcoupe]

Tom -

Thanks for the quick reply! I do have an IBM hard drive in my 770. Three part numbers:

FRU 12J0426
ASM 12J1273
12J1970

4 GB

It is the laptop I use to transfer data from my racecar to my desktop, so it MAY have had some rough handling. . .

I don't know where to get IBM diagnostic software, help would be appreciated!

Chris

[mcoupe]

Thanks, Phil! But the link you sent me to is a windows-only file called SETUPOGT.EXE. Since Windows won't come up, I can't run it.

Chris

[JHEM]

Thanks, Phil! But the link you sent me to is a windows-only file called SETUPOGT.EXE. Since Windows won't come up, I can't run it.

The utility makes a BOOTable floppy, run it on whatever other machine you're using, then BOOT your 770 from the newly made floppy.

James

[pkiff]

Thanks, Phil! But the link you sent me to is a windows-only file called SETUPOGT.EXE.

This is not the correct file you need to download from the page I sent you to. The file you named is the "OGT Diagnostic Tool". I pointed you to the "Drive Fitness Test". These are different utilities listed on the same page. You need to read through the page again, and locate the link for the Drive Fitness Test and follow the instructions there. The file you want is a link named: "Diskette creator for Windows OS" (2,127 K).

After you download the correct file, then as James suggests, you will need to create a bootable diskette from it before you can use it to boot up your 770 and test your drive.

Phil.