PLI Syquest Drive Problem

John Hemmerly (JMH_JR@PICKERINGTON.K12.OH.US)
Sat, 4 May 1996 00:48:07 EDT

I have had a PLI 270 meg Syquest removable cartridge for a little over a year
now. I keep all of our district software, system, diagnostic and repair
packages etc. on cartridges. It has been very helpful and time saving, for the
most part. About a month after I got it, it literally blew up. Sounded like a
firecracker went off. I think a capacitor blew up inside. It still worked
after that, but I sent it in for repair which they say they did. It was still
under warranty. Friday it just quit working. It spins up and you think it is
going to be fine but when you start up the computer begins to start but stops
unable to find its start-up disk. The read/write light indicates something is
going on but nothing can be heard in the drive.

I have switched SCSI cables, tried it on several different computers, tried
different cartridges, no luck.

My questions are;

1. Does anyone else have a PLI drive like this, do you have problems with it?

2. Can I use my cartridges in a drive other than PLI? I know these Syquest
Cartridges are getting to be old technology, I hate to spend money getting this
fixed. It doesn't seem to be very reliable, two crashes in a year don't fill me
with confidence.

3. What is the most reliable big storage device you would use for moving from
machine to machine as a service tool?

Thank you,

John Hemmerly
Technology Resource Leader
Pickerington Local Schools
Ohio
jmh_jr@pickerington.k12.oh.us