Problems with diagnostic disk (was: 3B1 hard disk gone south?)

[Kris A. Kugel]

In article <772 at hico2.UUCP>, I write:
> This is getting bizzare. 
> 
> > > Now, the diagnostic disk won't boot EITHER.
> 
> One suggestion I got was that the diagnostic floppy could have 
> have been trashed, and suggested I test this with booting off 
> Foundation set #3.  (thanks to Peter Schmit) Well, this disk booted!.
> So I grapped the s4 diagnostics and Thad's install script.
> I created a new, bootable diagnostic floppy.  THAT won't boot.
> (it, and the munged diagnostic both boot on hico2, 
>  and while the bad diagnostic disk won't load properly
>  on hico2, NOTHING works right with either disk on ailing hico3.)

Ok, I think I've got past this.  I started to try to create a diagnostic
disk by hand, and I had done the /etc/iv.  Then I got Thad's previous
script, and used that to re-make the floppy.  If I understand correctly,
Thad's script forgot to put a loader on, so maybe there was some kind
of remenent of when I did the first iv.

The original diagnostic floppy might have had a bad block somewhere
in the boot area, the first time it failed the surface test
with drive 0 track 0 sector 0 bad. (or whatever, all zeros)
I'm not sure why the double-written diagnostic disk would boot
on hico2 and not on hico3, but it could have been an artifact of
its odd upbringing.

I re-made the diagnostics disk using instructions from Peter Schmidt
(...mit-eddie!winter!pschmidt)(Thanks again!), and the new diagnostics
disks worked fine! (one I had to make twice).  I'm also putting a
write-protect tab on everything.  Sooooo, now the floppy disk works
and the hard disk doesn't.  At least it's a simpler problem.