Big Crash With Firewire!!!!, I'm desperate Options

[iroiri]

Hi Guys!

First of all, thank you so much for the insights on Panther 10.3.9 - you guys are geniuses!

On a more frustrating note, today something REALLY strange happened to me:

As I was backing up some files from my OS 9.2.2 hard drive to an external firewire drive, the computer crashed. So I restarted and I got that frightening blue folder with the little question mark blinking, obiviously looking for the boot up drive.... After a few restart with the same results, it automatically booted up on my second hard drive, that has X on it. No firewire on sight, and no OS 9 either!!!!!
What's going on???????????

Please, S.O.S. big time, I have to deliver a project by tomorrow!!!!

Grazie!
Iro

[lepetitmartien]

It's a mix up between OS X and the hard drive. OS 9 and OS X don't handle drives the same way and from time to time, it shows…

You must start up from your OS X install CD, use it to repair drives and permissions while you're at it (the tools are in the 2nd menu from left) and tell the mac again on which drive it must start up.

Another proof the Apple legend of double boot computers is not that great. The best way to avoid such adventures is to have separated OS 9 and Classic for OS X, to keep the OS 9 from being recognized as a Classic environment (remove the 34 files with Classic in their name in the system folder) and the most important: have OS 9 (not classic) and OSX on different drives and if possible different controllers (not the same IDE chain or one in SCSI the other in IDE). As you're not bothered with such possibilities, one of the cause of your problem may be unclean mains added to the 9/X drive handling.

Also, when you work in OS 9, try to use the OS X firewire drive as less as possible. Keep it at least off if not unplugged. Have it only on when you need it.

Hope this helps