CorelSCSI DOS Tools Error: Unable to mount the cartridge.....
ddustan@remove
in DOSTOOLS (When I try to repair history marks):
Repair halted. Unable to mount the cartridge in the currently
selected device.
Is there a way to fix this problem?
David Dustan
Northwest Hospital
Seattle, WA
Bryan Shearer
It's probably one of two things;
A) Dust. Dust contamination is one of the most common problems you'll
encounter with optical drives, as they are quite sensitive to it. To
clean the disc media, use denatured alcohol and a soft cloth, and wipe
(GENTLY!) in a straight line out from the hub of the disc towards its
outer edge. Do not wipe in circles, 'following the grain', as it were.
You can use compressed air to clean the drive; make sure you aim the air
towards the sides of the drive area, rather than the center.
B) The cartridge is full. This is another common problem, as WORM drives
are unique in that any time you write to them, you reduce the space
available on the drive, -even- if you are deleting files. Since DOS and
Windows cannot come to terms with this concept, they tend to get out of
whack with regards to the actual amount of space that is remaining on your
drive. (e.g. DOS thinks there is 100 MB of free space, when in actual
fact there may be only 2 MB left... or none!) For instance, should you
delete some files from a cartridge, DOS thinks "Ah, I've just recovered 20
MB of space due to that file deletion.", when in reality you've just used
up a tad more space on the cartridge due to the FAT being rewritten. One
way you can tell if your cartridge is full is to have a look at the media
itself, physically. When the data is being written to a WORM cartridge,
the FAT information is written from the outer edge of the disc, while the
actual file is being written from the inside hub, heading towards the
outside. In effect, the two are heading towards each other, and as you
use up your cartridge you can see a difference in the media coloration. If
you only see a tiny ring remaining, it means the two have almost met up
with each other, and the media is now full. (At this piont, further
attempts to write to the media can be extrememly dangerous to your
information!!!) If this is the case, you should physically write protect
the disc, and then use the worm tools to mount areas for access to your
information. (You won't be able to make these Active anymore, since that
requires a write to the FAT, but you will be able to access your data.)
I hope one of these suggestions is helpful!
Yours,
Bryan Shearer
Former and last remaining CorelSCSI Support Dude