6.1 Hangs on Dell 8300

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Peter Wilson

Member
Feb 27, 2024
7
2
I worked in the computer field from 1992 and got out in 2012. Mainly doing tech support windows based. I have been using SpinRite since V1 I think. Tonight I just happened to need to use it again on a Dell 8300. This evening I went to good old grc,.com and discovered that there was a v 6.1 found my serial number from V5 on a CD and input and downloaded sr61.exe created a bootable CD and stuck it in the 8300 and it has been loading for 15 or 20 minutes. This hang, I suppose that is what it was, persisted until I powered the machine off. The bootable CD that I created is entitled SPINRITE_V6_ BOOT and shows one file on it SPINRITE,EXE it is 258 KB (254,624 bytes). I presume that it is a functional boot CD since I have never had a problem with any product from Steve and/or Gibson research. Z=Same thing I suppose. Certainly my old CD of SpinRite 6 that I used subsequently has performed flawlessly for years.

I tried to use my bootable CD of SpinRite 6 on the same computer and got a DOS screen (by DOS screen I mean Black background White text) saying "FreeDOS kernel version 1.1`.32a (Build 2032a) {Sept 24 2003 231:58:48 Kernel Compatibility 7.10 - WATCOMC - Fat32 support" Then it gives me the (C) Copyright 1995-2003 Paasquale J. Villani and the FREEDOS Project. All Rights Reserved blah bidyblahblah GNU General Public License AND THEN IT DISPLAYS InitDiskDrive is too large to handle, using only first 8 GB drive 82 heads 16 sectors 63 , total=0x5d550a3b0-000000001 The text "Drive is too large to handle..." is repeated down the screen about 7 times and then there is a flashing hyphen. I now realize that this is a normal error response for 6 trying to initiate a 3 or 4 terabyte drive. This is way beyond my capabilities to solve I am asking for assistance. I know that it is not in full release but this was an unexpected response. I have a 4TB drive and a 3TB drive on this system with Linux and Windows 7 and 10 that I have used for at least 7 years. I use this computer as a VPN machine when I need a VPN or I need to use it for Handbrake on Videos. Which is possibly why it has lasted for so long I guess. Anyway I am stuck. Any help is appreciated.
 
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If you right-click on sr61.exe, go to Properties, then Details, what do "File version" and "Product version" show? It sounds like you're running into an issue that was fixed in Release 2.
 
The bootable CD that I created is entitled SPINRITE_V6_ BOOT and shows one file on it SPINRITE,EXE it is 258 KB (254,624 bytes).
Hi Peter (@Peter Wilson)! Welcome! ... and thanks for your many years of support of SpinRite.

As Colby suggested, it looks like you have the first release of SpinRite. That one had exactly that problem for the various images it uses to create diskette, ISO and IMG. (USB thumb drive creation worked.)

That was fixed by the second release, and SpinRite's EXE size is: 264,624. If you go (back) to the /prerelease.htm page, that's the one you'll obtain. (y)

Sorry for the trouble!
 
You are both correct and I thank you for the prompt reply. SpinRite 6.1 is now working on the 500 gig. Thanks
 
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