Bob, at 08:08 on Mon, Jul 25 1994, you wrote to Bill Grimsley ...

 BG> With the current winter extremes of temperature, try reseating
 BG> all your ISA cards, particularly the HDD controller (or even
 BG> relocate it to another slot). Chances are that it's the
 BG> controller, and not the WD250 that's throwing the error.

 BL> Thanks for that, Bill. That did occur to me, but it's only 
 BL> failed once since, and I'm waiting to see exactly what happens. 
 BL> I'll wriggle the shit out of every socket in the computer, the 
 BL> next time it fails.

Given the previous problems you've had with HDD controllers, and the fact
that the ISA socket has been flogged to death due to all that substitution
and eventual replacement, it's quite likely that the slot itself is a bit
dodgy, especially given the age of your motherboard.

I was talking with Dave Meeds last week (the dealer who sold me my
WD-A2250), and he told me that the failure rate of the current crop of WD
Caviars is amongst the lowest in the PC industry, which is another reason
I'd suspect the controller or the ISA slot. 

 BL> But the last time I lost a hard drive, it went the same way: an
 BL> occasional failure to boot, that slowly got more regular until 
 BL> it wouldn't boot at all.

Trouble is, the symptoms are almost identical, which makes it very hard to
point the finger definitively, until the failure is total.  However, if
you're really worried, I'll gladly give you $100 for your WD, sight unseen.
 I don't mind taking the chance.  ;-)

 BL> Bob (the inconsiderate prick) Lawrence.

 BG> I didn't know that there were _three_ of us! ;-)

 BL> ROFL! Who's the other one? You and I only make two... unless you 
 BL> are impressively endowed in the number of pricks department :-)

No such luck (then again, what would I do with two pricks anyway?).  I'd
have thought the answer to the above was obvious, BTW.  Perhaps you have a
gross misunderstanding of the fundamentals.  Try harder boy |-)

Is that enough of a clue for you ??  ;-)

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 2.2e